Tincture - Vanilla Beans, ground

I left the Ground Vanilla Beans tincture in the cupboard for approximately two weeks, during which I noticed that the liquid turned a beautiful coppery-brown color. After the two weeks I checked it and decided to leave it in longer, I wanted to see if I could get more color out of the process. After about three weeks I checked the coloring again, it didn’t change much at all so I felt the process was complete. The liquid portion of the tincture was still a fabulous brown color. I believe that this is a great color and will be fun to use in some foot bath or soap recipes. I thought the odor of the tincture would smell like vanilla and it has a vanilla smell, not too strong, but I definitely can smell the vanilla. So remember that some plants my give up color, odor or both, they are not guaranteed to give up what you desire. Think about the times you want to add botanicals but not necessarily the fragrance, tinctures may be the answer!

Now I am going to show you a variety of uses in your recipes, here are some suggestions.

* use as an extract in your lotion recipes, limit to 1 or 2% of the total formulation.

* added to your soap recipes, this will allow you to add colors, scents and botanicals to your soaps.

* spray the tincture instead of water when making bath fizzy powder or bath bombs.

* toners – you could use several tinctures together to get the toner that you like, for example use 1 part rosebuds tincture, 2 parts vanilla tincture, and 7 parts water to dilute to 30%.

* add to foot baths, this would make a nice relaxing foot soak; add directly to the bath water.

Vanilla Bean, Ground
Beautiful brown tones

Straining out gound Vanilla Bean

What’s left after straining the ground Vanilla Bean tincture

Rose Bud, Vanilla Bean, Peppermint, and Rosehips tinctures