Sanflora Wellbeing

"Frangipani essential oil" isn't quite what it sounds like — and I think you deserve to know why.
True essential oils come from steam distillation. But Frangipani petals are far too delicate and low-yielding to survive that heat — almost no oil comes through. So what's actually captured is an absolute: fresh flowers are gently processed with a solvent to draw out their wax and aromatic compounds, or — the old, beautiful way — layered into fat through a process called enfleurage, letting the scent transfer petal by petal. It's slow, precious, and genuinely botanical, just not technically an "essential oil" in the strict sense. Worth knowing next time you see it on a label.
Aromatic medicine, straight from the garden.

A few months ago, I planted a stick in my Thai garden. Just a bare, leafless cutting pushed into the soil, no promises attached. This week, it opened its first flower — soft pink with a warm gold heart, still wearing raindrops from this morning.
That little tree is a Frangipani — though in Thailand it has a story of its own. It used to be called "Lan Thom," a name too close to the Thai word for sorrow, so for generations people wouldn't plant it near their homes — it was left to temples and quiet places instead. Then the Queen of Thailand had it renamed "Leelawadee" — meaning a tree of graceful, gentle branches. Since then, it has found its way into gardens, courtyards, and hearts all over the country.
I love that this flower had to shed a sad name before it was allowed to bloom everywhere. Feels like a fitting story for the little stick that just became a tree in my own garden.
Over the next week, I'll be sharing what I'm learning about this beautiful bloom — its history, its true nature as a botanical ingredient, and its dreamy scent — before I bring some of it home to NZ to formulate with. Follow along, Sanflora Friends 🌸
Aromatic medicine, straight from the garden.

And here we are — the end of our little journey with jasmine, and the beginning of it living in your own routine.
Over the past week I've shared why I love this flower so much — its sacred history, the extraordinary care that goes into every drop of oil, and the way it soothes both body and heart. Now I want to show you where all of that lives in the Sanflora range, carried home from Thailand to you here in New Zealand:

🌸 Spring Essential Oil Blend — for a lift of that warm, floral richness
🌸 Jasmine Dream Perfume Oil — jasmine, wearable and close to the skin
🌸 Bloom Q10 Face Serum — nourishing skincare with jasmine's calming, skin-loving properties

Our Jasmine Hand Lotion is currently out of stock while we restock — I'll let you know the moment it's back.

Thank you for coming on this journey with me. Jasmine really is one of my favourites, and I hope a little of its magic finds its way to you too. 🌿
Breathe deeply.

Let me tell you why jasmine oil carries such a price tag — and why it's worth every drop.
It takes around 8,000 flowers, picked entirely by hand, to produce just 1ml of jasmine essential oil. And they have to be picked at night, because that's when the flower's scent is at its most exquisite. Imagine that — an entire harvest timed to darkness, chasing a smell.
That's why jasmine has such a very, very low yield. A tiny little bottle really is a pot of gold. Extraction happens either through solvent (producing what's called an absolute, which is more affordable) or the older, more delicate method of effleurage. In India, jasmine is used extensively in weddings, celebrations and religious ceremonies, and it holds the title of King of essential oils — with rose as its Queen.
Its aroma is intensely rich and warm, floral yet delightfully fresh — sweet and powerful, exactly like the living flower.
But jasmine isn't just beautiful — it's medicinal, in the roots, the leaves and the flowers alike. Traditionally, it's been used as:
🌿 An astringent — the tannins help tone the skin
🌿 A support for wound healing and inflammation
🌿 A pain reliever — including for painful periods and labour pain
🌿 An antispasmodic — relaxing tense nerves and muscles
🌿 A vulnerary — helping wounds and scars heal
🌿 Antiseptic and antifungal — supportive for acne and cooling angry, inflamed skin
🌿 Even used traditionally to help dry breast milk and draw heat out of the skin
There's a thread running through all of jasmine's traditional uses — it goes toward hot, fiery, inflamed states, in the body and, as I'll share next, in the nervous system too.
Breathe deeply.

There's a plant in my Thailand garden that I have a deep, deep love for: Jasmin 🤍
I prune it back constantly — it's an essential, woody little shrub, no matter how much I cut it, it just keeps coming back, thriving in the heat and humidity it adores. And every time, it gives me that scent. Rich. Warm. Instantly recognisable.
Today we talk about Jasminum officinale — common jasmine. It surprised me to learn just how many jasmine species there are, and how differently they behave: some aromatic, some not, some medicinal, some even toxic. This particular one is the jasmine that has captured hearts (and perfumers, and healers) for thousands of years.
Its name is believed to come from the Persian word yasmin, meaning gift from God. I love that. Other translations call it the fragrance that pleases the heart, or the fragrance that refreshes the mind — and in the Philippines, where it's the national flower, its name simply means I promise you.
There's something holy about this plant. It's native to Southeast Asia, tropical India, the Arabian Peninsula, and East and North East Africa — but it hasn't stayed put. Over centuries it has travelled to the Pacific Islands, the Caribbean, the USA, Hawai'i, and here, to New Zealand (in some of these places, it's even considered invasive now — that's how much it wants to grow).
In Thailand, where my own jasmine grows, it's known as dok mali, and it holds a deeply loved place in daily life. It's threaded into phuang malai — the traditional flower garlands offered to Buddha images and to monks — where its white petals speak of purity and its fragrance of peace and devotion. It's also the flower of Thai Mother's Day, given by children to their mothers as a symbol of pure, unconditional love. Even the water is sometimes infused with the blossoms, just for the pleasure of that scent.
This is the beginning of a new series I'm so excited to share with you — the essential oils I carry home from my travels, and everything they hold. We're starting, fittingly, with the one I love most. 🌸
Breathe deeply.

Herbal Nomad: Finding balance for your skin, wherever you are 🌿

Herbal Wisdom for Your Skin Hello Sanflora friends, while traveling I have been thinking a lot lately about how our skin tells the story of where we have been and where we are heading. As I travel, I find I am constantly drawn to the local flora and the wisdom held by those who nurture the land. Whether I am feeling the crisp....

Sanflora Friends, this closes out the Herbal Nomad year as a skincare journey — but not the story itself.
Looking back across all three chapters, the thing that's stayed with me most isn't any single product, it's how differently the same skin can behave depending on where it's standing. Queenstown winter, Thai humidity, a dry European summer — three completely different sets of needs, and three completely different routines to meet them.
But there's more still to come. While I was in travelling, I spent real time researching beyond the tourist shelves — tracking down growers and distillers directly, looking into the herbal medicine traditions behind the botanicals I use. I want to bring you into that properly next: what I found and what it's taught me about the ingredients I formulate with.
And then, it's back to New Zealand just as our own summer market season kicks off — a very different kind of botanical research, much closer to home.
Thank you for following this whole journey with me. Stay close for what's next 🌿