Delicious Fresh Hemp Pesto Recipe

I have just had the most delicious Pesto sauce to have on my pasta this eve!


Its a home made, chuck it together and see what happens kinda sauce. Which has turned out to be a delicious little gem.

You will need:
Fresh Basil Leaves
Olive Oil
Hulled Hemp Seeds
Salt
Pepper
1 Clove of garlic or dried garlic
1/2 tsp dried Herbs de Provence optional

Add a glug of Olive Oil into a Mortar & Pestle or electric nut chopper with stick blender attachment.
Add 5-10 fresh torn Basil Leaves.
Add 2 TBS Hulled Hemp Seeds.
Add 1 Crushed Clove Garlic or a few twists of dried garlic.
Add Salt & Pepper and optional dried herbs to taste.

Whizz up and its done.

Enjoy X

Innocent Hemp Cleansing Cloth

The Hemp plant just keeps giving, taking nothing in return for its generosity.
Yet since the 20th century the western world has chosen, or been forced to turn its back on the treasures it holds.
There are many books regarding the whys and wherefores of this, so I ll leave these issues to the literary scholars to explain in more detail.

My interest remains with the issue of toxic chemical overuse and the effects this has for the long term health of us and the Planet as a whole.

Cotton is the most commonly available natural fabric, but it is not without it's significant ecological problems. First, and foremost cotton is the second most pesticide-laden crop in the world! Five of the top nine pesticides are that used on cotton in the United States (cyanide, dicofol, naled, propargite and trifluralin) are known cancer-causing chemicals.

Take into consideration that cotton as opposed to hemp, is one of the most harmful crops cultivated on the Planet today. While cotton covers 2.4% of the world's farmland, uses about 24% of the insecticides and 10% of the pesticides sold worldwide are used for its cultivation. According to the Pesticide Action Network North America(PANNA), the pesticides used on cotton even when used accordingly can harm people, wildlife and the environment. In addition to that, a great amount of water is required to grow cotton 22,000 litres of water is required to produce one kg of cotton, which equates to a t-shirt and pair of jeans according to the World Wildlife Federation (WWF).
All in all Hemp is a much healthier plant to grow than cotton.

• Hemp replenishes the soil with nutrients such as nitrogen rather than depleting it. Grows tightly spaced and is effective at naturally crowding out any weeds thus herbicides are not necessary.
• Yields about 3 x more fibre than cotton per acre.
• It is renewable with a cycle of less than 110 days, resilient to most pests precluding the need for pesticides and regenerates the soil, as mentioned above and is adept at breaking up hard pan soil layers with its long tap root.
• Growing Hemp helps prevent valuable top soil from blowing away after crop clearance, which is a major problem in dry climates.
• Is far less thirsty than cotton, meaning that local farmers are not left sacrificing their local water source for their crop.
• It is also very adept at converting CO2 into oxygen, especially important these days with the increase of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.
• Hemp fibers are naturally resistant to mold, mildew and other forms of rot.
• Is more water absorbent than cotton, and has 3 times the tensile strength.

Hemp remains the strongest of the natural fibres growing without the need for fertilizers or pesticides, making it an organic crop by nature, and it grows very well in most climates and soil types.

With all the sought-after properties of quality hemp and organic cotton combined, what better fabric to use on your face?
We have created a gorgeous multi use hemp wash cloth/bath bag to add to our Innocent Oils range.
100% Hand Made from Hemp and Organic Cotton terry on side one, with Hemp and Organic Cotton Muslin on side two.
It has a handy hemp twine loop for drying, and hemp tie for use with bath salts, as a bath bag etc.

Our Innocent Hemp cloths become like a bathroom friend you look forward to using, not one you sniff and throw away.
On that matter, when your cloth comes to the end of its useful life you need not be concerned with the environmental impact.
Our Innocent Hemp cloth will return to the earth from whence they came, without adding toxins to the soil or non biodegradable remains.

Benefits
Your Innocent Hemp Cloth is soft and absorbent.

• Contains no toxic chemical residues or colours.
• Gently and effectively helps clean the uppermost levels of dead skin cells.
• Leaves your skin immediately looking cleaner, healthier, and fresher.
• Use with Innocent Angel Face Scrub, Innocent Rhassoothe Mask.
• Or alone with water.

Rinse the cloth under hand-hot water and gently wring it out before using to wipe away all traces of product from your skin.
If using alone with just water, simply wipe the skin using a circular motion to cleanse and stimulate the skin.

• After every use rinse thoroughly and allow the cloth to air dry naturally.

Washing your Innocent Hemp Cloth in a machine.
Hemp loves being washed, and it will withstand high washing and drying temperatures. However, we do not recommend using fabric softeners as they lay a film around the fibres, reducing their superior absorption and breathing qualities.
Moreover, fabric softeners are known to cause allergic reactions, particularly with younger children and those with sensitivities. Our hemp cloths naturally become even softer with washing in any case.
NOTE:
If you live in particularly hard water area as we do here in Suffolk simply add a dash of clear distilled vinegar to your fabric softener compartment instead of fabric softener, this will naturally soften the water and help maintain your washing machine at the same time.

Innocent Hemp Cloth available online soon, email contact@innocentoils.com for information.

Hemp Seed Oil nature's gift of perfect balance.

Hemp seed oil is renowned for its skin moisturising properties and has the highest concentration of essential fatty acids (EFAs) of any botanical oil, as well the perfect balance of Omega 3 and Omega 6 EFAs required to maintain the health and suppleness of your skin.

Essential fatty acids unlike petroleum based oils have the ability to enter directly into the lipid layers of skin cells, replenishing the oils that are missing due to sun exposure, poor nutrition or neglect; and as shown by clinical studies can actually slow down the aging effects on skin.

Slowing down the onset of wrinkles is the key, please don't buy into the idea that any product can STOP aging. Maintaining your skin inside and out without the use of toxins and potentially un-tested synthetic chemicals is the best way I know of slowing the aging process. Aging is honest and natural. The characteristic wrinkles of a life well spent are beautiful, to be celebrated, and not to be ashamed of in my opinion.

Throughout history the anti-inflammatory properties of hemp seed oil have been used as a soothing restorative to dry, damaged skin. The replenishing nutrients of hemp seed oil are able to penetrate deep into skin cells - providing natural emollients and a lasting barrier to moisture loss - increasing the skin’s natural capacity for moisture retention.

Discover the benefits of 100% natural vegan hemp based skin care for yourself at Innocent Oils

Enjoy. x

Grubby Hands Sugar Scrub

I have been meaning to post this luurvely easy sugar scrub for ages.
So at long last here you go.

You will need:
1 Jar
Granulated Sugar
Olive Oil/Sunflower Oil, or similar
Liquid Veg Lecithin
Washing up eco liquid Detergent
Sweet Orange Essential Oil

No exact measurements necessary.

• Grab a wide necked jar to put your scrub into.

• Enough granulated sugar to nearly fill the jar, I prefer to use Fair Trade Granulated Sugar personally, but plain granulated sugar will work just as well.
  
  
• Pour Olive Oil/Sunflower Oil or similar into the sugar. Fill until all the sugar has been well coated.
  
  
• It may be useful to put the oil sugar mix into a bowl at this point to ensure a good blend.
  
  
• In a separate small bowl or cup add 1 quick squirt of eco friendly washing up liquid.
  
  
• I like to use Bio-D for this, but if you have an alternative handy use that instead.
  
  
• Add 1/2 tsp of liquid Lecithin to the washing up liquid, and mix until all the Lecithin has combined well.
  
  
• Add 5-10 drps Sweet Orange Essential Oil into the liquid mix and stir.
  
  
• Pour the Lecithin and Detergent mix, into the Sugar and Oil bowl.
  
  
• Stir mix thoroughly and its ready to use.
  
  
• Find one pair of grubby grimey hands, use them scoop out a hand full, and rub hands together.
  
  
• Rinse in warm water revealling fresh, soft, clean hands. :D

Namaste
Enjoy x

Making your own skin care? Cosmetics Safety Regulations

Making your own skin care is a rewarding challenge, just like the enjoyment of growing your own fruit and vegetables, and the pride felt when tasting that juicy carrot knowing that you know exactly what has gone into the growing process.

Home made cosmetics can be very easy to make, and can be cheaper than many of the commercial brands, there is certainly no secret in that. But the price of a bought product as you will see, is not just based on the raw ingredients cost.

Nowadays, with the internet there are a vast array of delightful recipes right there at your finger tips too.
It seems all you need to is to let your creativity flow, and yes that is true when making delightful products for yourself and as gifts for friends.

The problem comes when money changes hands, you then need to seriously rethink and follow some very strict guidelines, designed to protect you as the maker and your customer as the recipient.

First and foremost in todays increasingly litigious society you MUST get yourself some Product Liability Insurance and if anybody helps you or is paid by you, you will need Employers and Public Liability Insurance too.

In order to get this you will need to have your finished products Safety Tested to comply with current EU Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations.
These regulations will ensure that the process of producing your finished products has been correctly carried out, and that you hold all of the relevant paper work to back this up. It will also ensure that your labels are detailed correctly to provide all the information required for the public.

Following these regulations may be costly, sometimes confusing. But, it is worth every bit of it, if it means you don't want to get slapped with a very expensive law suit without insurance, which will leave you personally liable for the costs!

Having come across several companies recently who offer pre-certified bases such as lip balms, creams, butters, fizzies... etc I have grown increasingly concerned that unsuspecting customers may be buying these in good faith believing that they will be protected and will be able to sell to the public.

The answer to this is NO YOU ARE NOT COVERED and the information you have been given is not full or strictly correct, in some cases. It is up to you, to ensure you follow the guidelines and not the responsibility of the store to know how or what you are going to do with the ingredients they sell you.

REMEMBER the ingredients they are selling to you, will have often from a larger supplier in most cases. As a customer you would expect that they too have had the products/ingredients tested for safety under their own company name (if the product has their own label on it), before moving them along the chain to you their customer!

Some sites state "if you don't add anything to the base, you will be fine to label up and sell on".

The above is Not strictly True:

The moment you re-label any product it becomes a new product on the market, and must comply with The Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations EU in its own right.
If you wish to be covered by the supplier's Safety Cert, your product label must carry the suppliers name and details as well. Not to mention that you must not have changed or added to any of the ingredients.
Giving away your supplier's details like this is clearly not really good business sense.

If you love the product so much its far easier and less costly to become a reseller for that company, or stick to making wonderful home made goodies to give away free to friends and family.

Enjoy x