Merry Hibiscus - How to Pronounce the Danish Letter Ø

It’s ‘little Christmas Eve’ in Denmark tonight (yes, really) and everyone is preparing for family get-togetherness and cozy time. This often includes a hot Scandinavian drink.

Gløgg is a traditional drink that translates to ‘mulled wine’, and while this picture is not mulled wine but a hibiscus infusion, the color is quite similar.

You’ll find a recipe for mulled wine you if you visit this post at the Drink Blog.

Now, as to pronouncing the name gløgg - the hardest part is that funny O with the slash through it in the middle of the word.

If you can pronounce that letter, you can pronounce the rest of the word. So in the spirit of Merry Hibiscus-ness, I’m going to teach you how to pronounce the Danish letter Ø.

Follow these steps:

• Say HER out loud

• Don’t pronounce the H

• Stop before you finish saying R

• That’s how you say Ø

• Now say gløgg

(did it sound a little bit like ‘glerg’ ?)

Then you said it right!

Cheers!

Lump of Charcoal Eye Pencils

Proponents of Christmas stories say you will get lumps of coal in your Christmas stocking if you have been bad that year.

Here’s the kind of coal lump I’d be happy about receiving: a charcoal colored eye pencil.

This one is made using a base I developed earlier this year (and featured on this blog right here), and the pigments is a mix of oxides and micas.

I make my own eyebrow pencils – partly because I get itchy eyebrows from most commercially made products (yes, really) and because I gave up trying to find the right shade of anything years ago.

After years of practice, it’s now much easier to make my own, so this is little charcoal gift is just for me.

Handcrafted Botanical Power

When the Christmas month arrives (which it manages to do every year without giving me any warning whatsoever), I am generally a little extra busy making gifts for the coming holiday season.

Visiting the stockroom to choose from my handcrafted infused oils is not only inspiring, but makes every gift truly personalized.

Above is the beginnings of a simple, soothing body balm for a very special lady. I happen to know she has sensitive skin and loves both rose and vanilla, so there are a couple of infused oils with these ingredients going into this all-over multi-purpose balm.

No need to add scent – the oils have that part covered beautifully.

The rest is a seasonal gift-making secret!

Preservative Free Aqueous Lip Stain

Here’s a fun little exercise in Hurdle Technology that has turned out quite successfully in the first few batches: a plant-based aqueous lip stain with adequate color that is preservative free.

If you can recognize the dried plants at the top, are, you’ll know what one of the components are.

Testing is still ongoing, but I will reveal this: not only does this lip stain moisturize well, it even tastes good.

Follow my main blog for more detailed articles on my work and research.

December Raspberries

Happy December. This is among the darkest of months - especially in Scandinavia.

Luckily, we Scandinavians have lots of candles, fairy lights, and other small compensations we use to fight the Nordic winter darkness.

For your viewing pleasure, here’s a raspberry infusion to bring a little remembrance of the warmer months we were so lucky to have experienced this year.

This infusion is made using dried fruits (the fresh ones were placed to show you the difference in both size and color.

If you use dried fruits to make your own infusions, check the label carefully to ensure there are no additives of any kind. If the labels says: ‘100% dried FRUIT’, then you’re good to go.

Scalp Stimulating Shampoo Bars

Pictured: an exercise in botanical synergy that is designed to help stimulate circulation while it cleanses.

The formula for this shampoo bar is in the latest publication Make Your Own Naturally Balanced Shampoo Bars.

I have had the distinct pleasure of working with Rebecca Wright, a colleague from Formulators Kitchen on this publication, and it has resulted in a series of preservative free, naturally pH balanced shampoo bar formulas with a little something for every taste.

We hope you enjoy making and using the shampoo bars in this book.