Insufferable Purist!

(yes, I would love to have bottles like this!)

I have been working with my oils when I backed up and took a good look at myself. I realized that in pure snobbery fashion that I have turned my nose up at perfume blends that are not created with the real essences of plant material. If the bottle says rose, I actually expect there to be rose plant energies in there and I will pay the price for that oil too. I have only gotten worse on this subject matter after reading material by Daniel Schulke. In some manners this is a bad thing because I have to patiently wait to be able to purchase some of my raw materials because of the expense of the real deal.

(if you can't smell it, don't buy it!)

Also, in real snobbery fashion, I have become persnickety about the quality of my stones that I put in my brews: hence going to the gem show. I even found myself in the right place at the right time to discover how to tell a real piece of amber from an artificial one. A Kindly Chinese family happened to be in the same shop with me. They were smelling the stones. I thought that was odd but a voice inside me told me there had to be a reason for that. So, I asked the gentleman with a piece of amber up to his nose politely why he was smelling the amber. He kindly explained to me things I already knew about amber : it's a resin from fossilized pine sap. I nodded as he quietly ascertained me, then proceeded to educate me about how to  tell if it is truly amber. He rubbed the amber to make it warm and then held it to my nose. The first couple of pieces he held up were those he already knew to be artificial and nodded approvingly as I looked at him confused. Then he held one up that was real and the pine smell washed through me like wind in the pine tops. He watched with a smile as my eyes widened in realization. Needless to say, I was right there next to the Chinese family putting amber up to my nose while everyone else looked at me like I had lost my mind.

( Yes, I do realize this is James Franco and not Tristan)

Tristan now has his amber, the exacting beast he is. Of course, I say that endearingly. Now with all the right herbs and proper stone set to steep for a moon, the essential oils already blended for addition after the base is properly prepared, I have yet to come up with the right prose to dedicate to him when I call him forward to bless the work with his name attached. I have had many shots at it, but apparently I am an insufferable purist and it must be right ( or it's crap!)!