About barbara-ann
barbara-ann is a girly-girl who is passionate about scents and all things that smell good. It is her belief that essential oils from Mother Nature’s flowers and plants not only smell glorious, but also have the ability to enhance our moods.
In her former life as a corporate professional in Information Systems, she led a somewhat stressful existence where the normal day was filled with back-to-back meetings, disgruntled co-workers, political drama and the dreaded 24/7 duty pager. For stress relief, she ran marathons. This was a 12-year period she refers to as BEO (Before Essential Oils).
About 10 years ago, she came across a magazine article that changed her life for the better. The article was one on the prevalence of animal testing in the household cleaning category. Having recently adopted a beagle, she was mortified by a photo of a beagle with its head in a vice, being injected with chemicals. Shortly thereafter, she started searching for cruelty-free laundry detergents and found one carried by a local health food store. It was expensive, unscented and she really missed the sensory experience.
Thus began the journey to become educated about fragrances by reading books. During this process, she was turned on to the concept of pure scents from plants called “essential oils”. She located a certified aromatherapist with over thirty years in the natural aromatics industry and took classes where she could work with the oils and start making her own products using essential oils. The essential oils are sourced from fields completely free of chemical additives. Even the surrounding fields are tested because there is no point in calling something “organic” if neighboring fields are being treated with potentially toxic pesticides, fertilizers or other additives. And fair trade only!
And that is how Home Naturals by barbara-ann came to be! She started making her own laundry detergents and environment sprays. From there, she expanded into making custom colognes, lotions and perfumes. Family members and friends started - and continued to - request products. There is a seemingly endless selection of natural home products and fragrances on the market, but barbara ann believes her products are truly unique because they are made using pure essential oils and no synthetic fragrances whatsoever.
There are numerous books and publications on the health benefits of essential oils, and although there may not be any scientific studies from the FDA, she stands behind her belief that essential oils enhance mood. No magic “mood oil” exists, but each essential oil contains unique properties that may assist in natural mood therapy. As a type I diabetic for most of her life, she experiences mood swings from changing blood sugar levels. In addition to wearing an insulin pump, following a healthy diet and regular exercise, she also uses essential oils as an enhancement to help give her energy when she feels sluggish, calm her down when she feels cranky or lift her mood when she feels blue.
The natural scent from essential oils is no longer a category that falls under the same genre as granola and Birkenstocks! Pure scent is fun, hip and healthy. barbara-ann believes home naturals can help turn housekeeping chores into a gratifying sensory experience and she invites you to join her in living the scent life!
