September 2, 2026

Happy Weekly Wednesday's Herbal Note!

It's crazy that September is here already, isn't it? I'm still not quite out of August yet, so am trying to adjust.

Today, I'm at my father's house in S. Utah. He is 90 now, and wow...so many memories. I was looking at a picture of him at age 62 (my age) when he ran his first of many marathons. I guess this explains his longevity, and although I am not a runner....I'm more motivated to "act" youthful for as long as I can because I do believe that once a person starts to "behave old," then the body and mind quickly follow......

I'm getting ready to take advantage of the beautiful juniper trees in the S. Utah desert here, and the sagebrush as well. The berries are plentiful this year, so I'll be harvesting a couple gallons or so!

What to do with juniper?

SO much!

Here are some ideas:

​Foraging Juniper Berries and What to Do with Them​

​Juniper Berry and Rosemary Salt Scrub​

**The article above also contains a video for my Honey Facial Soap!

Here's another one that's not necessarily about juniper, but about creating a cozy home for fall with essential oils, and now's a great time to start!

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Shelf Life of Essential Oils: Important or Not?

Here's this week's reader question from Laurie---it's about essential oils, and it's one that we all tend to misunderstand or not think about.....

Well, as a certified level 2 aromatherapist, author of a 665 page textbook on aromatherapy, developer of a complete aromatherapy specialist certification program, and the founder of an approved school for teaching aromatherapy through NAHA (National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy) I have quite a few thoughts about this topic.

Here goes:

Shelf life of essential oils varies dramatically due to a number of factors.

1) The first one is quality and especially PURITY.

You can find out more about how important it is to use quality essential oils and what determines quality on this page...just scroll about halfway down. I also include my FAVORITE and personally vetted aromatherapy companies so you can price shop.

I to speak on purity for a moment. Adulteration in the world of essential oils is rampant these days. In fact, did you know that there is MORE "lavender essential oil" sold per year now than this is lavender essential oil in the whole world?

Yep. True fact.

What that tells us is that there is a vast amount of "something" being sold as lavender essential oil. And this is because manufacturers can adulterate the product with synthetic fragrance and other things..... Buyer beware!

The difference in shelf life between a "pure" and high quality essential oil is going to be potentially WAY different than the shelf life of an adulterated or fake essential oil. And there's no way to know.....

2) The second factor in essential oil shelf life is: Has the bottle been opened?

The moment you open the bottle, small amounts of air can enter, and over time, the essential oil will become oxidized. Depending on the plant/chemical family of the essential oil, it will degrade more slowly or quickly than others. An unopened bottle of essential oil can last up to one to several years longer than one that's been opened.

3) A third factor is the primary chemical constituent makeup of the essential oil.

We can simplify this "chemistry" topic by looking at plant families in terms of essential oil shelf life.

Citrus oils: These are notoriously short-lived because limonene tends to be the greatest majority of the chemical makeup of most of these essential oils. Limonene oxidizes quickly. The "general" shelf life of citrus oils is about 2 years or so if stored properly.

Then there are the evergreens, the "woods," the resins, the "herbals," and the florals. All of these will have a range of shelf life that can vary from 2 to more than 20 years!

The Solution:

The BEST thing you can do if you plan to use essential oils for therapy, skincare, or even to diffuse as fragrance in your home is to choose oils only from quality aromatherapy businesses run by educated and trained aromatherapists....

Do NOT purchase essential oils from:

1) Companies or businesses that aren't legit aromatherapy companies. This means that the herbalist down the road or the tea-maker or the store owner who decides to "white label" their own brand onto essential oils are very likely selling you low quality, and probably adulterated, essential oil.

How do I know this?

I've seen the businesses and companies doing it.

And knowing the sellers....well, let's just say that I am confident most may not realize they're selling sub-par essential oils, or they just don't care because what they "really" care about is the all-mighty dollar.

As one of my previous friends who is selling sub-par white labeled oils responded to me when I clued her in (that there is no such thing as vanilla essential oil and explained about adulteration), "Well, if I don't do it, someone else will."

If greed is a motivator, then we must beware.

Buyer beware. Please use my vetted aromatherapy list to be safe in this regard.

NOTE: I make little to no money by sharing these companies with you, as most don't have affiliate relationships. It's super important to me that you stay safe with use of essential oils.

2) Big box stores or Amazon or even large "health" store chains like Whole Foods, etc.

3) Gas stations....seriously.

4) When the price is too good to be true. Because it probably is.

You can find out more in my article linked above with my vetted list.

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TWO Summits to Enjoy!

I've signed up for both of these summits, and the speakers are amazing! I'm speaking at both of the summits, and both summits have a completely different line-up of speakers and themes!

I highly recommend them both, and they're both FREE. If there are topics you're interested in and you know you want to re-watch a presentation or take advantage of many of the free VIP upgrade offers, you can do this for a small price.

Here they are, so you can check them out:

​1) Audrey's Little Farm Summit:​

Audrey's summit is focusing on healthy living and small farm life. She has over 15 experts discussing natural health, growing herbs and vegetables for medicine and food, raising chickens, making sour-dough, and cooking!

Check out the speakers here:

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​2) The Resilient Living Summit​

If you're interested in being more self-sufficient, prepared for everyday (and greater) emergencies, and being ready for the ways this world is changing....then you'll really enjoy this summit.

With over 20 speakers, expert in things from cooking from scratch, obtaining food and water in emergency, prioritizing skills and bartering, building a pantry on a budget, knowing what to do after a medical crisis, canning, being prepared if you live in a city....and a WHOLE lot more...then this one is for you!

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OK---I'm going to head out to harvest those juniper berries down here in Utah now, and spend more time with my dad.

Big love to you---

Hugs, Health, and Herbs,

Heidi

P.S. We're planning a few changes around Healing Harvest Homestead and the School of Botanical Arts & Sciences! It's a great time to be grandfathered into any of our current prices and offers, especially the Confident Herbalist Tribe.

P.P.S. If you have a friend who'd enjoy our FREE RESOURCES, please forward this note along! I'd be wonderfully grateful!