Council- house-industry

I was up and at it by 7 this morning, mixing dough for a honey and sunflower loaf, leaving it to rise to gigantic proportions while I washed, prepared a picnicn, hung out a load of washing and so on. The promised heatwave has arrived, and I suddenly remembered I'd promised to make a luxury rose facilal moisturiser for a friend I was due to meet later.

So here it is. I was mixing the cream in a blue pot, doing the swirly creme-egg thing, when I noticed how attractive it was, and thought about blipping it. I'd already stirred in some of the swirls, but I was only making one, so this is how it looked at that moment.

I bulk-buy a base cream (vegetable-based, no parabens and SLS ) from a reputable aromatherapy supplier. It wouldn't be practical or cost-effective to make my own from scratch. I get my oils from the same source, and use rose absolute, which is what most aromatherapists use, because rose petals are not easily distilled. This tiny (5ml) bottle recently cost me over £30. I don't use the geranium essential oil in this cream, but have included the 'normal-sized bottle' for comparison with the rose. The blue glass jars come from a different supplier, and the blackcurrant seed oil, which gives the cream an extra dose of moisture and GLA, (helpful for more mature female skin) comes from yet another supplier.

I put in the cream first, then the rose absoloute, then the blackcurrant seed oil, and gently fold them in, then stir the mixture, adding more cream base if needed. I then label the jars with my trusty Dymo labels (remember them? they've moved on a bit since the 1970s) and hey presto....

My creams and lotions are sold only to friends or people I can talk to in person, since the European laws on selling such products change frequently. I used to have a stall at a farmer's market, but the recession put paid to that. Sometimes I wonder if it's worthwhile continuing this cottage industry, as I have an almost full time job and other work besides, but it is a labour of love, a pleasure to work with the aromas I know and to discover new ones. I am proud of my own recipes, and my handful of clients write me letters saying "please never stop...."

This is not a sales pitch and you won't find my products on any website. I just thought that a few others might find it interesting. I first trained in aromatherapy with Shirley Price Aromatherapy in 1990, then returned to the subject in 2001 at the Cotswold school of Clinical Aromatherapy, gaining my diploma in 2002. Aromatherapy and massage was my mainstay between 2006 and 2008, when I gave up all other work to concentrate on my business. By mid-2008, however, bankers were toppling and client numbers were falling, so I started training in playwork, figuring that if I stayed self-employed for too long, I'd render myself unemployable. (Besides, I'd always wanted to work with children).

For a long time I felt a failure, because my business hadn't succeeded enough to keep me going on its own in a difficult market, but hindsight tells me that I'm a survivor. A few months ago I was asked to create a line of skin care and therapeutic products to sell in the clinic where I used to work. I had to say no at the time, because there simply aren't enough hours in the day, but I may review that decision in the next six months and see if the invitation still stands when I find myself employed for fewer hours.

I took a break of a couple of years from using my own face cream, so I could sample a good range of the other natural products on the market. I've returned to my rose cream now, and my dry skin loves it. The blackcurrant seed oil is worth its weight in gold for the extra boost of moisture that never feels greasy.

Song: The Rose, by the Dubliners and the Hothouse Flowers. I grew up in Co Dublin, and prefer this version to the more well-known Janis Joplin recording. http://youtu.be/ZZkqJe_Z_m4