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MWI Herbal happened by accident.
Literally. My son-in-law wrenched his knee, and my daughter called to
see if I had any herbs around that might help. I got out my herb books
and found many suggestions, but a recipe for an infusion of comfrey caught my
eye because at that time I lived on Washington State's Olympic Peninsula and
happened to have comfrey plants right outside my door. I added the
lavender for its pain-relieving properties and made a small batch. Lo
and behold, it helped take down the swelling, ease the pain, and clear up the
bruising. I thought that was great and was ready to leave it at that,
but the kids mentioned it to family members and their friends, and soon I was
making Comfrey/Lavender Oil and Ointment for people I knew, until one friend
asked me to make some to put in her store on consignment. I sold a bit
here and there, and I began getting repeat orders for it, which encouraged me
to no end, although I didn't quit my day job. (In fact, I still have a
day job.) This was when I came up with the name of Made With Intent
Herbal Products as my business name, because as I worked with the herbs, my
intent was to help people with their personal intent to heal.
The next step in the evolution was that my best friend went
to some soapmaking parties, and while the party aspect didn't appeal to me,
making soap sounded interesting. I began a study of the techniques, was
extremely fortunate to find a wonderful mentor, Rita Richards, whose web site
Kelsei's Creations is on my Related Merchants page, who taught me many of her
secrets, encouraged me, and was my biggest cheerleader. Some seven years
later, we're still friends, and she's still helping me out as only the most
generous people in life will do. By the way, please visit her web
site. She and I don't really compete with each other because we make
different fragrances and kinds of products. Anyway, I began making soap,
and I found a healing peace and pleasure in the process. I felt that it
was natural to carry forward the idea of soap as a healer, so the intent
remained intact.
Candles were next. I thought it looked like fun, and
it was. While I was still producing only votives, I moved to Mesa, AZ,
and once here, I allowed myself to become a bit more creative. I
expanded into pillar candles and came up with the Painted Desert and Kitchen
Collection designs. Once my mind got chewing on the ideas, there were
quite a few nights when I shot straight up in bed because I'd found a way to
unkink a problem in the techniques. I've always preferred candles which
don't need to be lit to scent a room, so I found waxes with the best
"throw" and filled them to their limits with fragrance. Again,
the process of candlemaking, with its scents, colors, and pleasing results,
brought me to another place of healing, and the intent remained the same, but
the name really needed to be shortened. It became MWI Herbal.
Incense came about because I just couldn't find any in the
stores with good smoke and lots of fragrance. It seems that all the
incense I bought had gone stale from being on the shelf so long. Again,
I did my research, took the next step, and ended up with incense that doesn't
need to be lit to be noticed.
And now I'm doing watercolors. Go figure. I
hope that my How Original! greeting cards will give people the joy and
serenity that I find in creating them.
So here I am. No employees yet; just me. My
desire is to eventually have a brick-and-mortar store filled with my products,
a place, also, of fantasy and dreams, Angels and Dragons and Faeries and
Wizards. It'll happen. I'll let you know when it does. I'd like to thank
the ones who are already helping me take the next step: my customers who
return to order again, who also very graciously and generously spread the word about
MWI Herbal's products. Your help in supporting my dream is appreciated more than you know.
Alexis Grone
MWI Herbal
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Traditional uses of the fragrances in my soap, incense, and
candles:
| Aromatherapy, Cedarwood: acne, arthritis; Sweet Orange: depression, anxiety, sedative, antiseptic; Cinnamon: flu, rheumatism, warts, colds, viral infections; Clove: arthritis, rheumatism, infections |
| Metaphysical, Cedarwood: healing, purification, money, protection; Sweet Orange: love, divination, luck, money; Cinnamon: spirituality, success, healing, power, psychic powers, protection, love; Clove: protection, exorcism, love, money |
| Aromatherapy, Sage: sores, bacterial infection, rheumatism, arthritis, sprains, fibrositis, astringent; Nutmeg: muscular aches/pains, rheumatism, arthritis |
| Metaphysical, Sage: immortality, longevity, wisdom, protection, wishes; Nutmeg: luck, money, health, fidelity |
| Metaphysical, Carnation: protection, strength, healing; Cucumber: chastity, healing; Jasmine: love, money, prophetic dreams; Lilac: exorcism, protection |
| Metaphysical, Blackberry: healing, money, protection; Blueberry: protection; Peach: love, exorcism, longevity, fertility, wishes; Pineapple: luck, money, chastity |
| Metaphysical, Plumeria: love; Sandalwood: protection, wishes, healing, exorcism, spirituality, love; Patchouli: money, fertility |
| Metaphysical, Rose: love, psychic powers, healing, love divination, luck, protection; Vanilla: love, mental powers |
| Aromatherapy, Jasmine: nervous tension, depression, anxiety, lethargy, a relaxant; Neroli: depression, anxiety, hysteria, nervous tension, dermatitis |
| Aromatherapy, Patchouli: skin inflammations, fungal infections, acne, eczema; Sandalwood: acne, depression, skin infections, fungal and bacterial infections; Rose, anxiety, depression, stress, tension, antiseptic |
| Aromatherapy, Frankincense: sores, wounds, fevers, stress, tension; Myrrh: wounds, dermatitis, bacterial infections, fungal infections; Lemon: nervous conditions, anxiety, as a tonic, astringent,
antiseptic |
| Metaphysical, Frankincense: protection, exorcism, spirituality; Myrrh: protection, exorcism, healing, spirituality; Lemon: longevity, purification, love, friendship. | | Aromatherapy,
Clary Sage: reduce tension, ground oneself, antidepressant; Chamomile: severe skin problems, anti-inflammatory; Palmarosa: cell regeneration, dry skin,
wrinkles; Ylang Ylang: an aphrodisiac, to relax, soothe; Rose: reduce wrinkles, scarring, facial lines,
prevent premature aging | | Metaphysical, Chamomile: money, sleep, love, purification; Rose: love, psychic powers, healing, love divination, luck,
protection |
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