Conscious Gift Giving

With the Gift Giving season soon upon us, now is an opportunity to consider how we may show our support, gratitude and love for our beloved family, friends and for some our community.  And in doing this, we also have the opportunity to be mindful of giving gifts that are not only kind for our friends but also kind for our body and importantly kind for our earth.

 
Gift Experiences
 
Avoid shipping delays and lighten your footprint by giving a beautiful nurturing experience for as a gift.  This means less packaging and less resourches used.  And most of us remember and value memorable experiences for years to come.  Hot air ballooning, a pampering massage or a holiday somewhere exotic (in Australia of course)

And gifting an experience may offer the reciever something that they desparately need or want but would not usually gift to themselves. 
 
Sustainable or Packaging-free
 
The beauty of an online gift, a subscription or an experience is you’re not using plastics for gift wrapping or reems of paper that generally features around this time.
 
There are many brands who have changed their packaging to bio-degradable or recyclable.  In addition, the products themselves are becoming more environmentally aware. For an example many beauty brands are now offering chemical free natural products that are kind our skin and to the planet.
 
Here’s a selection of brands and websites to check out that offer sustainable or packaging free products and / or with all natural ingredients:
https://au.lush.com/
https://www.burtsbees.com.au/
https://koraorganics.com/
https://www.biome.com.au
 

 
Gifting a Donation to a Charity
 
There are plenty of charities that arrange an easy gift to extend to someone, perhaps there is a particular issue or charity that the person you are giving to is really passionate about?
Gifting a donation, membership or subscription to their cause shows that you acknowledge what is important to them and support their passion.
 
Here are a few examples;
https://www.womenscommunityshelters.org.au/
https://www.onegirl.org.au/ - education for girls
https://www.wlsnsw.org.au/ - women's legal services
https://www.karitane.com.au/
 

Make Your Own
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Pamper a loved one with this delicious, deeply nourishing, rose and hibiscus body balm.
Rose has an affinity for calming and nurturing the skin, while hibiscus pumps it full of vitamin C and shea butter provides deep hydration and plumps up the skin for that extra glow.
Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons dried rose petals
• ¼ cup sweet almond oil
• ¼ cup shea butter
• 2 tablespoons beeswax
• 1 tablespoon castor oil or rosehip oil
• ½ teaspoon rose or beetroot powder (optional - this is to make the balm pink)
• 10 drops of rose geranium essential oil (optional)

Instructions:

1. Infuse the almond oil with rose petals overnight
2. Strain the oil through a muslin cloth, squeezing out the petals
3. Combine with the shea butter & beeswax - use a double boiler and melt slowly on a low heat until dissolved
4. Once cooled, stir in the castor oil, pink powder and essential oils.
5. Pour the mixture into sterilised glass jars and top with a few rose petals.

This recipe is suitable for the face and body. It lasts for about 6-9 months and makes enough to fill approximately 2 x 120ml glass mason jars. Wrap with a ribbon and handmade card.
 
Spread the JOY !!