Making your own Natural Body Wash

So you want to know how to make use of CDL Naturals Castile Soaps and mix them with essential oils? Check out this video:

#WomenForNature

This month of March, we pay tribute to the many women who've served as inspiration for many people in the appreciation of all things natural. We give our love and admiration to the catalysts for change in our lifestyle, choices, family, society and the environment. We've dedicated the whole month of March to each and every woman trying to make a difference, bringing people around them closer to nature.

We look up to Dr. Anneth Rigon's love and passion for bamboo and distinctive local flora. Her research and social initiatives led to our collaboration on several indigenous plants, essential oils and community works. An educator by heart with a spirit of an adventurer, being out on farms or hiking through forests and hills is always fun with her. The bamboo tea we have in our store is among the products of her work.

Her name is Balot. She's a working mom of two, an aspiring writer, APAS and RID warrior, a student of aromatherapy and the woman behind Lana Lane PH. We admire her boundless curiosity, vibrant energy and intimate knowledge of essential oils. She's one of the many who's had real, life-changing experience by becoming conscious of her health choices and going natural. Now she's paying it forward and helps many women through her blogs, writeups and products.

Spontaneous, fun, resourceful and energetic. That's how we describe Jirbie of #couchwasabi. Start talking about essential oils, natural stuff and beauty products with her, you will find out what we mean. A student of aromatherapy, she's been very generous of sharing her knowledge to people on how to use essential oils in everyday life. Among her favorite is the Ylang-ylang which she finds very beneficial for women in sooooo many different applications. Its always fun being in her workshops, never a dull moment, full of information and lots of ideas.

We came across Marianne and her husband on our trip to Sorsogon. Around their place is the rich, volcanic soil in the vicinity of Mt. Bulusan where lush foliage and tall Pili trees live. She, with the help of several women in their community, gather Pili fruits for the extraction of Pili oil. This is a photo of her sorting Pili and the pulp will be separated from the nuts later on. To them, it is important to get only the best fruits to yield the best oils which we use on the Manila Castile soaps and our Pili carrier oil.

In the early days of Casa de Lorenzo, we got acquainted with Gil Anne. She's a licensed aromatherapist and among the founders of https://www.facebook.com/groups/essentialoilsphils. We adore her practicality, no-frills straightforwardness and the ability to guide fellow moms into the fragrant world of essential oils. A mom of 3 and a part time tutor, she made an effort to make her home plastic-free and runs the house in an environmentally conscious manner down to the small details. May her drive and enthusiasm for all things natural be inexhaustible for the many years to come.

We are blown away by Dana's deep appreciation to many things natural. Profound is an understatement if we'd describe her soulful familiarity with music, crystals, energy healing and yoga. When she was young, she dreams of having an apothecary filled with herbs, flowers and oils, which served as inspiration to her own mixes and infusions. A kindred spirit in the admiration of nature, we look forward to the things she and many other women do so we all can appreciate our environment better.

To many she's #theessentialqueen, and we see in Vicky why so. An early adopter of Doterra products, long before everyone began talking about essential oils, she's been actively spreading the word of its wellness and health benefits. Full of charm, vibrance and all that positive energy, we love hanging around with her. An awesome resource on things to do with essential oils, there's no dull moment with her highness. Maybe next time, we’ll invite her for tea.

A Chevening scholar taking up her Masters in Sustainable Development at the UK’s University of Surrey’s Center for Environment and Sustainability, Jen Horn takes pro-environmental behavior seriously. As the founder, chief collaborator and community-builder of MUNI Community, she brings people together, with the call of concern for nature and the environment, and infuse this with the mindfulness in all things we do in our everyday life. MUNI and its members have been actively creating conversations to cultivate sincere empathy and responsibility for the planet we live in, while pushing it further by encouraging everyone to be participative and engaged citizens geared towards causing change in a larger scale. This means getting actively involved with matters of lifestyle, commerce, community and even governance. We are very much inspired Jen, and we look forward to MUNI connecting with more Filipinos.

To introduce Ana is both a challenge and an honor. We can run out of words to describe and space to put what we can say. Charming, inspiring, knowledgeable and extremely resourceful, she lives and walks the talk. A full time mom, dedicated wife, and the heart and soul of #bodyfoodallnatural, we look up to her with amazement. She combines art, science and nature into wonderful handmade creations like a master crafter. She is selective of her methods, meticulous of her ingredients, particular about her impact to the environment, and intense about what she teaches in her classes. Students of #bfan_makersacademy swear Teacher Ana set the bar so high, it will be hard to match.

Imelda Sarmiento, fondly called "Ime," is one of the most gracious and lovable personalities we've met. There is not one person we know who have poured so much passion and genuine dedication to the environment like this woman has. Her advocacy, spark awareness and interest to the Philippines' Native Trees. Working with like-minded individuals and organizations, she is planting and promoting the almost neglected trees indigenous to our country. As the lead person for Green Convergence Philippines native tree causes, the book Philippine Native Trees 101 was published and succeeded by 202 and 303. We Filipinos are very blessed, because people like Imelda are standing up for the preservation of 3,600 native tree species unknown to most of us. For the men and women who have lived along with nature, these trees are part of their memories, lifestyle and identity. Hopefully, we the younger generations, find a sense of belongingness and nationality with these trees. Filipinos living in the Philippines filled with Philippine native trees sounds about right, don't you think?

Our Unscented Castile Soaps

The CDL Naturals Unscented Castile Soaps are a DIYer's best buddy. Create your own blend of soaps and add your own fragrance or scents for a truly customized appeal. With our Unscented Castile Soaps, you can mix and match according to your preferences and the possibilities are endless.

How to Make Your Own Liquid Castile Soap Blend

We're sharing with everyone an infographic we've made to serve as a guide for using our unscented castile soaps to make your own soap blends. Its like a condensed field guide that shares all you need to know in successfully making your own soap blends, what not to do and if anything goes wrong, how to fix it.

Hope that this can help everyone using CDL Naturals Unscented Soaps to make exciting DiY soaps added with your own personal blend of essential oils suited for your individual preferences and needs.

New DIY Bundle

We are announcing the return of our DIY Bundle, but this time with better combination of Castile Soap, Essential Oil and Carrier Oils!

Combining (1) 1 liter CDL Naturals Unscented Castile Soap, (1) 150mL CDL Naturals Carrier Oil, (1) 50mL CDL Naturals Sanitizer Base and (1) 10mL CDL Naturals Aromatics (Essential Oil). With these products, one can start doing a lot of natural and organic skin care stuff.

Essential Oils of the Philippines

Ever wondered what are the essential oils from the Philippines? Here's a few of the essential oils that are made and available locally:

Lemongrass Essential Oil - originating from the grass locally known as "tanglad," this essential oil has been known to treat fungal infections, act as an antibacterial agent and soothe tired muscles of the body. Currently there are studies being undertaken to pursue it's anti-cancer potential. Lots of promising uses for lemongrass essential oil.

Calamansi Essential Oil - who doesn't love the smell of calamansi? The sharp, sour but juicy and fresh smell we Filipinos are all familiar with. Yes, Calamansi has essential oils in the rind and its perfect for a lot of uses. Some swear it has skin whitening properties, can neutralize odors and to a certain extent, purification. Calamansi essential oil is both refreshing and invigorating, and can help improve mood. The oil is extracted by cold pressing the rind or by distillation.

Elemi Essential Oil - people have called this the "Poor man's frankincense" because its olfactory characteristics are very similar to Frankincense and its easy to come by. Elemi comes from Pili trees and its relatives which are prominent in the Bicol region. These trees bear fragrant resins that are harvested then processed to get essential oil. Elemi has been recommended for headaches, muscle pains, respiratory troubles and improvement of mood. Studies about Elemi essential oil reveal its ability to help in prevention of skin aging and enhance skin rejuvenation. In fact, during the year 2009, Chanel Parfums Beaute filed a patent for a component of Elemi extract that helps slow down skin aging.

Ylang-ylang Essential Oil - this is the essential oil fabled with belief of love, fertility and peace. These are native to the Philippines but now grown in tropical climates elsewhere in the world. The scent of Ylang-ylang is said to help alleviate depression, anxiety, frigidity and hypertension. It has been known to produce calming effects like a decrease blood pressure and skin temperature. Curiously, Ylang-ylang essential oil is the only essential oil that has several grades because of its very long distillation process: Extra, II, III and complete.

Citronella Essential Oil - the most unfriendliest to bugs and pests is an essential oil coming from the leaves of Lemongrass' cousin, Citronella. This means whatever Lemongrass can offer as benefits, Citronella can deliver, with some differences. If you've gotten tired of smelling Citronella essential oil, try mixing other essential oils to change it's smell. It will stay as effective or may actually become more effective.

Exclusive Essential Oils Offer

Get to experience the true smell of nature with Casa de Lorenzo's Essential Oils. Our essential oils come from plants and flowers, extracted via distillation or cold pressing. Some are grown and produced here in the Philippines while others are sourced abroad.

One of the great ways of enjoying essential oils is diffusing them in the air using a ceramic oil burner which we're throwing in for free, if you purchase essential oils worth 1,500 pesos.

Get it while supplies last.

http://www.thecasadelorenzo.com/p/promos.html#ESSENTIAL-OIL-BURNER

Our Peppermint & Lavender Essential Oil

For the longest time we've been trying to find the best source of Lavender and Peppermint Essential Oils in the Philippines. Really, we didn't want the ones available locally 8 years ago. They're affordable, they smell good, but those are not the ones we're looking for. Almost every Lavender and Peppermint we've taken a whiff at smells narcotic, seems to have a little too much of some fragrance notes, and generally, feels "incomplete."

Back then, who cares about real essential oils? Who would really know what real Lavender Essential Oil or real Peppermint Oil smell like and what difference does it make? Well, we did and we still care enough to keep talking about how different the real ones are.

In the supermarket aisles at the home section or at body care section, there's a lot of products using lavender. There's car freshener, home spray, fabric softener, body wash...the list is seemingly endless. Is it possible they use lavender essential oil? Possibly not. The cost of real lavender essential oil is too expensive to be in mass-produced and mass-priced consumables. So they use fragrance oils, composed by perfumers, "inspired" by real essential oils. This is the reason why not a lot of Filipinos don't know what real lavender smells like. All we're familiar with are the lavender fragrances from fragrance factories. Most of us have never even smelled fresh or dried lavender plants at all.

Castile Bar Soaps July Promo

So everyone's been asking us, do you have bars? Well now we do! Introducing our Castile Bar Soaps, made the same way we make our liquid soaps: with the same ingredients from nature and caring, loving hands. Enjoy your favorite Casa de Lorenzo Castile Soap variants in bar. The oils and essential oils we put in our liquid soaps are the same great ingredients we put in the bars. Go ahead, try one. Its only 100 pesos each for the whole month of July.

Call us at 0917-6081219 / 0939-9192916 or email us at order@thecasadelorenzo.com today.

Elemi Essential Oil: The Things to Know

nwitimes report

The Philippines is the world's major producer of Elemi. From the resin of the Canarium luzonicum, Elemi essential oil is extracted, and this tree is abundant in the Philippines, particularly in the island of Luzon. For many years, it has been a popular ingredient in a lot of mainstream perfumes and has been regarded highly for its exotic scent and rarity.

Called as the "poor man's frankincense," the elemi shares characteristics similar to frankincense and myrrh. The scent of elemi essential oil is fresh, spicy and lemony, perfect as a middle note for perfumes. It is a natural analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antiseptic. Used by countless people to help soothe muscles, calm nerves and aid minor respiratory problems but perhaps the biggest claim to fame of elemi essential oil is its contribution to reduction of wrinkles and rejuvenation of skin.

From Sylvia T. Ramos blog

In a book published by the International Genetic Resources Institute written by Dr. Roberto Coronel, the Canarium luzonicum and its relatives are indigenous to the Philippines. Locally called "malapili" because of its Pili-like qualities, the Canarium luzonicum are of low value to farmers before the resin has been discovered to contain desirable properties for extraction of essential oils. This tree bears fruit like Pili, although inferior. Historically, the resin from C. luzonicum is being used as an ingredient in making plasters, oinments, paints, lacquers, varnishes and inks. Forest dwellers use the elemi resin as torches, rolling it in leaves and lighting it up to serve as their fragrant light for the night.

From PNA Legazpi Bureau

As disclosed by the local farmers of Sorsogon (a province in the Bicol region where a lot of Canarium grows), they only tap the "malapili" trees in the past because they're quite expendable and the extraction of resin eventually kills the tree. In a study published in a Philippine Journal of Science in 1945, among the reasons why the C. luzonicum became the source of elemi is because it gives out sufficient quantities for profitable collection. After collection of the resin from the trees, these are shipped out to Europe for the extraction of Elemi essential oil.

Fast-forward to present times, several innovative individuals began to maximize the commercial potentials of the Pili tree (Canarium ovatum). From just producing pili nuts, other products like pulp oil and essential oil has been extracted. Due to good attention of some agriculturists and plant scientists, farmers were able to devise a way to properly "tap" a Canarium tree for resin without killing it. With this advancement in farming technology, the more common pili tree (C. ovatum) became a good source of elemi and with further processing, become elemi essential oil.

This new development, the production of elemi essential oil may prospectively look good since the sources have more than doubled. The world market may soon be enjoying a bigger supply of the essential oil.

Below is the analysis of the chemical composition of Elemi essential oil. It was done using GC and GC MS analysis.

Components of Elemi Essential Oil

Sources:
Gloria Manalo, Agustus West, Analysis and Composition of Manila Elemi, The Philippine Journal of Science, 1943
Author Unknown, Promising Fruits of the Philippines
Roberto E. Coronel, Pili Nut Canarium ovatum engl., International Plant Genetic Resources Institute