Living Well Apothecary

03/08/2026

Today in the apothecary I’m infusing Arnica flowers into rich extra-virgin olive oil is one of my favorite traditional herbal preparations. 🌼✨

Arnica (Arnica montana) has been used for centuries as a topical herb to support the body’s natural recovery process. When infused slowly into olive oil, its beneficial compounds are gently extracted, creating a deeply nourishing herbal oil for the skin and tissues.

This beautiful golden oil is traditionally used to support:• Bruises and bumps• Muscle soreness and stiffness• Joint discomfort• Minor inflammation• Overworked muscles after activity

Extra-virgin olive oil is the perfect carrier for this infusion. It’s rich in antioxidants, skin-loving fatty acids, and helps deliver herbal constituents deep into the tissues while keeping the skin soft and nourished.

Once the infusion is complete, this oil becomes the base for one of the most beloved preparations in the apothecary — Arnica Salve — a staple in many natural medicine cabinets.

Nature truly provides powerful tools for healing. 🌿

⚠️ Arnica is for external use only and should not be used on broken skin.

03/08/2026

03/08/2026

03/03/2026

🌱 The 2026 Richters Herb & Vegetable Catalogue Has Arrived! 🌱

The brand new 2026 catalogue from Richters is in — and it’s full of beautiful herbs, medicinal plants, vegetables, and rare botanical treasures.

If you’re dreaming about your spring garden already (I know I am), now is the time to start planning.

✨ Come by and pick up your copy.
✨ Get inspired.
✨ Start mapping out your 2026 herb beds.

There’s something special about flipping through a real catalogue with a cup of tea and imagining what you’ll grow this season. It’s a sure sign that spring is just around the corner!! 🥳💫

Available now at Living Well Apothecary — while supplies last!

03/03/2026

🌕 Happy Full Moon — March 3, 2026
Worm Moon • Virgo Full Moon • Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)

This Full Moon rises in Virgo while the Sun rests in Pisces — bringing a powerful balance between intuition and practicality, spirit and structure.

Because this lunation is also a Total Lunar Eclipse, it carries amplified energy. Lunar eclipses mark turning points. They reveal what has been hidden and illuminate what is ready to shift.

✨ Sun in Pisces opposite Moon in Virgo — heart and discernment coming into alignment
✨ Lunar Eclipse in Virgo — releasing perfectionism and self-criticism
✨ Moon sextile Jupiter — supportive, expansive healing energy
✨ Mercury in Pisces — intuitive insight guiding grounded action

This is a moon for refinement, cleansing, simplifying, and returning to what truly nourishes.

Virgo energy reminds us: wellness is built through daily devotion. Small rituals matter. Consistency matters. Care matters.

Tonight, release what feels heavy.
Clear what no longer serves.
Commit to the habits that support your highest self.

🌿
Living Well Apothecary

02/19/2026

Vein Toning Salve - Now Available! 🌿

A slow infusion of traditional vascular botanicals in olive oil:

Horse Chestnut – traditionally used to support venous tone and capillary integrity.
Yarrow – valued for its astringent and circulatory-support properties.
Witch Hazel Bark – rich in tannins to help tone tissue and support vascular resilience (whole bark infusion, not distillate).
Calendula – soothing and supportive for inflamed or stressed skin.

Blended with castor oil, known for its rich ricinoleic acid content and ability to enhance glide and support topical absorption during massage.

Finished with Cypress essential oil to promote healthy circulation and Boswellia serrata (Frankincense) to support tissue comfort.

Firm, concentrated, and ideal for intentional leg massage.

Handcrafted in small batches at Living Well Apothecary.

02/17/2026

Happy Chinese New Year to all my friends, clients and customers!! May this year bring you health, happiness and prosperity!

02/11/2026

Why I Use Grass-Fed, Grass-Finished Ontario Suet Tallow

Not all beef tallow is created equal.

The tallow I use in my formulations comes from grass-fed, grass-finished cattle raised in Ontario, without added hormones or antibiotics. It is carefully rendered and filtered multiple times for purity, clarity, and stability.

Why this matters for your skin:

• A more balanced fatty acid profile
• Naturally rich in fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E & K
• Suet (the kidney fat) produces a firmer, more refined tallow ideal for skincare
• Proper rendering removes impurities and results in a clean, stable product

And something important —
When rendered correctly, high-quality suet tallow has virtually no beefy scent. It is clean, subtle, and neutral, making it ideal for facial formulations.

Tallow reflects the life of the animal — its diet, its environment, and its care.

Raised in Ontario.
Crafted with integrity.
Formulated with intention.

— Living Well Apothecary

02/09/2026

Most flour sold today is not whole food.

Commercial “enriched” flour begins as whole wheat, but during processing the bran and germ are stripped away — removing natural fiber, minerals, healthy fats, and living enzymes. What’s left is a refined starch. To compensate, synthetic nutrients are later added back in the form of enrichment.

These additives commonly include:
• Synthetic folic acid
• Iron filings (reduced iron)
• B-vitamins produced through industrial processes
• Bleaching agents used to whiten flour and extend shelf life

While enrichment is marketed as a nutritional benefit, these isolated, synthetic forms are not the same as naturally occurring nutrients found in intact grain. Many people struggle to properly metabolize synthetic folic acid, which can interfere with natural folate pathways and accumulate unmetabolized in the body. Reduced iron is poorly absorbed and can be irritating to the gut. Bleaching agents further degrade what little nutrition remains.

In contrast, whole wheat berries are a true intact food.

When wheat is kept whole:
• Nutrients remain in their natural ratios
• Fiber supports digestion and blood sugar balance
• Minerals are bound in their original food matrix
• Enzymes remain present until milling
• Nothing is added, nothing is “corrected,” nothing is artificial

When wheat berries are fresh-milled, the flour contains the full spectrum of the grain — bran, germ, and endosperm — exactly as nature designed it. No enrichment is needed because nothing has been removed.

Fresh flour is alive.
It smells different.
It behaves differently in baking.
And your body recognizes it as food.

This is why whole wheat berries and fresh-milled flour have been used for centuries — long before enrichment, bleaching, and shelf-stable shortcuts became the norm.

Soon, we’ll be offering whole wheat berries and fresh-milled flour, milled in small batches, without additives, without enrichment, and without compromise.

More soon 🌾

— Living Well Apothecary

02/08/2026

🥶 When winter settles deep into the bones, we warm from within 🔥

With temperatures hovering between –20°C and –30°C across Southern, Central, and Northern Ontario, this is the season to lean into warming, nourishing, deeply comforting herbs.

Today I’m blending a winter warming tea—crafted to support overall well-being, circulation, digestion, and inner warmth when the cold is relentless.

✨ Warming & restorative allies in this blend include:
• Ginger
• Turmeric
• Panax ginseng
• Cinnamon
• Cloves
• Cardamom
• Star anise
• Vanilla bean
• Saffron
• Rose
• Osmanthus flower

Together, these herbs and flowers are cherished not only for their warming qualities, but for the way they soothe the nervous system, uplift the spirit, and bring a sense of comfort, softness, and resilience during the coldest days of the year.

Even a few warming herbs in a daily tea can help the body meet extreme cold with greater ease.

This is seasonal herbalism,
slow, intentional, and rooted in care.
Sip warm. Breathe deep. Tend your inner fire. 🔥🍵

—
Living Well Apothecary

02/07/2026

The frankincense I use isn’t just ground-up resin. It’s Boswellia serrata resin extract, created during essential oil production, where the heavier, more active parts of the plant remain behind.

Those deeper compounds — called boswellic acids — don’t release into oil on their own. I take the extra step of gently unlocking them using high-proof alcohol, then carefully removing it before blending the concentrate into oil and tallow.

Boswellic acids are known for helping calm skin stress, which plays a big role in visible aging. By supporting a healthier inflammatory balance, they help protect collagen, improve the look of fine lines and wrinkles, and support skin that looks firmer, smoother, and more resilient over time.

This is slow, hands-on apothecary work — done so the final moisturizer supports more than just scent. It supports how your skin actually looks and feels.

02/07/2026

Infusing something special today 🌿

I’m slowly infusing horse chestnut, witch hazel bark, yarrow, calendula, and gotu kola into extra virgin olive oil on low heat.
This oil infusion will become the backbone of a vein-support balm, traditionally used to support circulation and help strengthen vein walls, while nourishing delicate skin where veins sit close to the surface.

Just time, plants, and careful formulation.

I’ll be blending this infusion with grass-fed tallow and castor oil next, a combination chosen for pe*******on, protection, and gentle daily massage.

I’ll share more as it comes together 🤍
— Living Well Apothecary