French Medical Aromatherapy
Practical Applications Made Simple
From Farm to Home Farmacy
ANNOUNCING
Melissa’s Book
“Aromatherapy Redefined”
Coming soon……
Melissa’s book will focus on using essential oils for the following:
- Bath
- Compress
- Diffuser
- Inhalation
- Neat (undiluted) Applications
- Diluted Applications
- Massage
- Skin Care
- Natural Perfumery
- Cuisine
- Diffuser
- Herbal Honeys
- Tinctures
- DYI
- Hydrosols
- and More!
Redefining Aromatherapy
As a certified herbalist and aromatherapist, Melissa Farris has been revealing the secrets of nature’s healing power for more than 20 years. When she isn’t inspecting the lavender fields of Provence or perfecting her latest formula, Melissa uses her expertise to educate the public about the role of pure essential oils in promoting a healthy lifestyle.
Farris founded Veriditas Botanicals in 1995 and a year later Simplers Botanical Company, LLC, located in Forestville, California. Her companies were the first to introduce ECOCERT organic essential oils to Whole Foods and the U.S. marketplace, and the first to provide education on how to use them medicinally. After selling Simplers Botanical Company, LLC in 2002, Farris returned to her hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she established Veriditas Botanicals as one of the Midwest’s leading providers of pharmaceutical-grade, organic essential oils. She sold Veriditas Botanicals in 2016 and now works with the largest essential oil cooperative in the world, SA Plantes Aromatics du Diois. (SAPAD – Link here)
Extracting the most out of a plant’s healing potential requires a human touch, so Melissa is committed to using only organic products from small, independent farms and distilleries. Through annual visits, she has developed strong bonds with and a deep respect for the growers and producers of the essential oils sold by Veriditas. Farris is a member of an esteemed, organically certified cooperative called SAPAD, located in Provence, France. The SAPAD network expands to over 30 countries around the world.
Sustainability through organic and biodynamic farming is at the core of her mission because she knows firsthand how much land and care are required to produce each drop. Farris is proud to reveal the sources of her products, which is a true rarity in the usually tight-lipped market of herbal extracts and essential oils. Her articles have appeared in numerous publications including msn.com and Alternative Medicine Magazine (now called Natural Solutions).
She conducts annual seminars at the prestigious Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington and has delivered lectures around the world, including in Greece, Czech Republic, France and Japan. In the Twin Cites area, she has worked extensively with clients such as HORST (founder of Aveda and Intelligent nutrients), Prince, Aveda and more.
Farris is currently authoring an updated, comprehensive aromatherapy guide for publication in 2019.
This is Melissa in 2004, hangin’ in Provence playing with bees. Melissa swears that the reason she was able to sit and “pet” them as they were sucking and pollinating is because they were drunk on the lavender nectar. I guess you will have to go there and judge for yourself!
Melissa Farris shows here the Tea tree lake waters running into the ocean. The water is a rusty brown color, showing the tannins from the tea tree roots. These lakes are sacred and nobody, even Australians, know about them. Next time you are on the Gold coast… try to find them. Hidden gems! Swimming them is the most tannic-rich experience known to man. Totally astringent to the skin ????
Melissa distilling in Corsica France at ENC with her BFF, Bianca. Here, Andrea explains the basics of steam distillation and the florentine flask system of distillation, co-distillate (hydrosol) and the end product, the essential (or volatile oil).
Melissa teaches the basics on how to understand to use the Chemistry Reference Card at a class at Erewhon, Calabasas, California.
Melissa Farris shows here the Tea tree lake waters running into the ocean. The water is a rusty brown color, showing the tannins from the tea tree roots. These lakes are sacred and nobody, even Australians, know about them. Next time you are on the Gold coast… try to find them. Hidden gems! Swimming them is the most tannic-rich experience known to man. Totally astringent to the skin 🙂
Melissa showing the Rose otto roses (Rosa damascena) being picked for distillation at the end of May, This farm is in Kazanlak, Bulgaria, a 4th generation organic rose farm and distillery.
Bernhard Nusstien, Amper Valley, Bavaria, Germany Here Bernhard shows us his biodynamic Angelica. Listen to what he says about when they harvest and how he waits for “the power” to go into the seed for the next planting.
Melissa distilling Horst’s organic Peppermint in Oceola Wisconsin at Horst’s house with Andrea and Jake.
Friend and distiller, Bernhard Nusstein, preparing an organic essential oil sample of Melissa officinalis (lemon balm) in his lab in Bavaria, Germany.