Sunday, March 20, 2011

Juniper Ridge ~ A Review

Juniper Ridge
By Tonie Silver

It’s so nice when things are just as good as you remember them.  It’s even nicer when they’re still just as good, and even better!  Such is the case with Hall Newbegin’s wonderful  Juniper Ridge.  JR rocked when I reviewed them years ago, and they are rockin’ just as hard if not harder now!  Yeah!  I get bored with products fairly quickly, but the folks at the Ridge manage to keep things fresh with awesome new products that fit right in with the same high quality, super all natural pantheon of old faves.

Had it not been for Allie at JR, I would’ve pulled a Dionne Warwick and just walked on by their splendiferous Aromatherapy Mists.  Me and names~ what can I say, I’m jaded~ I wasn’t the least bit interested.  Color me corrected!  These babies aren’t your granny’s run of the mill sprays with water or alcohol and some e/o’s~ they’re actual hydrosols, the leavings of essential oil distillation, to which the Ridgies have added essential oils back into!  Simple genius!  Alchemical magic, I’ll tell ya!  Three different scents to tickle yer fancy, two of them special in house blends.  White Sage is aromatic and, well, white sage-y, with dry, incense notes.   Big Sur Sage is a blend of coastal Cali sages:  California sagebrush and black sage, so it’s rounder and sweeter than the white.   My fave is the Cascade Glacier, a blend of cedar and fir, it’s all pine needles strewn on a forest floor.  You’ll want to keep these on your bedside stand so’s you can mist yer pillows before drifting off to dreamland in your own lil’ tent on a mountainside in the Moonlight, breathing in the sweet scents of Ma Nature.  Huge aaah factor.  Three snaps up in a heart formation.  HIGHLY recommended.  

When I read that Juniper Ridge was doing in house distillation, I just had to check it out.  Their essential oils are very vibey and intense.  Like, really concentrated, if that makes any sense at all.  You’ll find the same versions as the Aromatherapy Mists: Cascade Glacier, Big Sur, and White Sage.   So you can get your e/o on and blend up some perfume, do some cleaning, add to your skincare, and whatever else you may think up!  I think it would be very informative if Juniper Ridge included the Latin binomes on their sprays and oils, but hey, that’s just me.

You want incense?  REAL incense?  Juniper Ridge’s is the real deal Neil.  Just herbs & veggie gum.  The White Sage is positively addicting, very dry and cleansing, while the Pinon is resiny and sweet.  These are more every day staples for the ‘stead, homie!

I’ve admitted it before now: I am a tea snob.  Straight up black organic, and strong enough for a mouse to trod upon.  I don’t go seeking out herbal tisanes.  Juniper Ridge’s are so fresh and tasty, like a pig I’m drinking them, do you hear me?  The Douglas Fir Spring Tips are so delicate and sweet   The White Sage and Wild Mint is aromatic and deep~ and I am most certainly not a fan of the mint, so that’s really saying something.  No thin pee waters, these; they pack a nice sturdy herbal wallop.  Of course I’m inclined to infuse them for a minimum of five minutes and have been known to go for as long as ten, but then, that’s up to you!
Juniper Ridge’s range is aesthetically pleasing as well.  I’ve seen a lot of really cool products just ruined by schlocky packaging.  Same great glass packaging with ultra cool crunchy labels~ yes!

Things have gotten so mod at the Ridge that they’re on Facebook now; go check ‘em out if’n yer so inclined~ I hear they give away freebs every Wodensday.  That’s Wednesday for all you that are not down with the cult of Thor.

Man it’s nice to know that the more things change, the more they stay the same.  Keep up the great work Juniper Ridge!

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