Thank you to everyone who replied to my question last month! It was great to learn how many of you already enjoy using magnesium oil and/or were looking for something closer to what I described! Thanks to popular response, I've decided to offer all three options: unscented, lavender, and peppermint. To do this, I've decided to produce an unscented base made with magnesium chloride, distilled water, and aloe vera juice, and add either lavender or peppermint essential oil only as requested to create scented varieties. Choosing this approach, instead of making a version formulated with menthol crystals, will help to reduce labour ultimately resulting in the most affordable price possible ☺️
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With respect to packaging, I've decided to go with a plastic bottle to avoid risking any reactivity with aluminum, and to ensure it can ship year round (considering Winnipeg can experience weather below freezing any time between September and May!)

For those unfamiliar, magnesium oil is an aqueous solution featuring magnesium chloride dissolved into water that many -- myself included -- find helps to relax and soothe foot and leg muscles before bedtime. Some commercially available formulas include arnica and menthol, but since this is already in my cooling muscle balm I've found it useful to keep this formula simple (particularly since I don't personally enjoy cooling products in winter months ❄️)

• Magnesium is an important mineral that helps the body regulate nerve and muscle function. It also plays a role in maintaining healthy blood sugar and blood pressure, and building healthy bones. There are many different forms of magnesium, some of which cause some people digestive upset when taken as a nutritional supplement beyond whatever they happen to consume as part of a balanced diet (i.e. nuts and seeds, dark leafy greens, etc). This is one reason why some people find the topical application of magnesium oil helpful -- muscles can experience relief, without less effect on the whole body.
• aloe vera gel juice is an effective moisturizer that stimulates the synthesis of collagen and elastin, both of which support skin regeneration
• lavender essential oil is aromatherapeutically relaxing; peppermint essential oil is aromatherapeutically invigorating while also cooling to the skin

Please note: I currently have 5 lbs of magnesium chloride, which will make a little more than 40 x 4 oz bottles. In order to ensure this doesn't sell out before I procure more magnesium chloride, I've temporarily set limited inventory: 15 x unscented, 15 x lavender, 10 x peppermint. If the variety you prefer is sold out, please select what is available then leave a note confirming your actual preference ☺️ I haven't made any yet; I just want to be sure I won't run out before the next shipment of ingredients arrives. Thank you so much!!

As an endorser of Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, it is my pleasure to help promote National Clean Beauty Day because it's an invitation for those with ties to the United States to urge their congressional representatives to co-sponsor and support the Safer Beauty Bill Package.
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Many of you already know, the US hasn't meaningfully updated its cosmetics safety laws in over 80 years. This lets irresponsible companies manufacture and sell beauty and personal care products containing chemicals linked to cancer, hormone disruption, and developmental harm without being required to disclose the harmful realities of their ingredient choices. Canada does not currently have an NGO campaigning to improve the cosmetic formulation standards, and that's why paying attention to what is happening in the United States is so important: advancements there can have benefits elsewhere by raising the bar on what we consider acceptable.
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As BCPP makes clear, no matter where we live, work, or shop, we all deserve personal care and beauty products that are free from cancer-causing and other harmful chemicals. It's incredibly frustrating to know it's legal to make and sell products that include asbestos, lead, and mercury, as well other toxic chemicals linked to cancer, hormone disruption, infertility, learning disabilities, and other negative impacts on human health. And, when we're now seeing 1 in 8 people developing breast cancer in their lifetime, we know we can't wait any longer to take action.
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The objective of the Safer Beauty Bill Package is to close dangerous gaps in US federal law with a view to protecting everyone, especially women of colour and professional salon workers, who face the highest levels of unsafe exposures because of the cosmetic products marketed to them, or commonly found in their workplaces.

The EU already bans most of these chemicals. So do California, Washington, Oregon, and Vermont. It's time for a federal standard that protects everyone, everywhere.

To learn details about this campaign, and to add your signature, please visit:
​https://www.bcpp.org/take-action/tell-congress-we-need-safer-beauty-for-all/​

And, to keep up with BCPP's campaigns, follow https://www.instagram.com/bcppartners/ and/or explore the hashtag #SaferBeauty4All

Strawberries

It has been so nice harvesting strawberries this summer, a little every day! Strawberry face mask is coming soon!

Lavender and tobacco flower

Half of last year's lavender plants overwintered well ... I'm not sure what dug up the other half! But, the lavender blooming right now is stunning, and hopefully there will be more in the months to come. Tobacco flower has been an extraordinary delight to grow! We've planted two varieties: jasmine, and night-scented. They're remarkably beautiful plants! I keep meaning to take photos, but the mosquitoes are so abundant that I find myself running in and out in short bursts instead of lingering ha ha I've been tincturing the tobacco flowers to, hopefully, create perfume. The leaves will be dried and donated to a local Indigenous mutual aid group called CommUNITY.204 to be distributed as desired for use in ceremony, and/or gift to elders 💚😊