Last spring, Selv Rituel attracted the public’s attention with a wellness campaign in which the brand’s president, Sarah Laroche, displayed her “100% confident” body, round and naked, bulges proudly included, on posters large format: an uninhibited look at oneself, the result of the reflections of a former fashion stylist who chose to pamper her body and celebrate it, rather than forcing it to fit into a mold “chosen by whom and why? “, she then suggested in an interview with La Presse.
Selv Rituel maintains its mission of self-kindness with Bains, a first work which immerses us (literally) in its cozy universe with a suggestion of rituals for bathing, showering and the body. Sarah Laroche presents 80 skincare recipes to concoct yourself to pamper yourself from head to toe. She adds her thoughts and suggestions for music, drinks and readings suited to the moment, take it or leave it.
Very nicely illustrated, the universe is inspiring and makes you want to abandon yourself to these gentle rituals. In this nesting time, the invitation is welcome. The recipes are simple to make and the ingredients, for the most part, easy to find in pharmacies, in natural product stores or online, on the Selv Rituel website.
What to do with those mashed pumpkins once Halloween is over? Fall spice latte baths!
Read: The Little Storms, by Valérie Chevalier
Watch: You’ve Got Mail, by Nora Ephron
Listen: Feist’s discography
Drink: A fall-spiced latte
Aside from the balsam fir and black spruce, few of our resources are known and used in aromatherapy, observes Stéphanie Plamondon, who remedies the situation with a first reference work on aromatic plants and essential oils from Quebec, Nobles essences .
Specializing in medical anthropology and ethnobotany, the author is also the head of the natural products company Noblessence and the school of scientific aromatherapy, which she founded. It is with rigor that she approaches this exhaustive guide which has the relevance of making us see our fields and forests as a universe of possibilities.
With its vast natural territory, Quebec is a fertile land for the development of medicinal and aromatic plants, she argues. Noble essences bear witness to this. The book focuses on elements of history, etymology and traditional herbalism and accompanies us, with supporting photos and illustrations, in the identification of these aromatic plants in nature.
Twenty local essential oils are presented, as are around fifty recipes for preparing them into body, therapeutic or household products. Initiates will be interested in the scientific elements, however popularized, and in the therapeutic or cosmetic properties of these plants. Newbies will find concoctions that are easier to make – from massage oil and bath teas to beard oil and cleansing pastes.
The therapeutic properties sought in the world’s essential oils are mostly found in local aromatic plants. We will also focus on the table of equivalences which allows products from elsewhere to be replaced by those from here: an ecological choice which also makes it possible to reduce commercial pressure on certain aromatic plants around the world, underlines the author of this complete aromatherapy guide, Quebec version.
An invigorating and antiseptic body soap, which can be concocted in two steps, three movements.
Quantity: 100g
Shelf life: 1 year, at room temperature
1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl until combined. Pour into a bottle. Use to wash hands, body and hair. Safe product for use in a lake.
