Deep-Conditioning Treatment: Oat & Honey Hair Mask

Dry ends, dull strands, itchy scalp sometimes our hair just needs a little extra love. This nourishing oat and honey mask is rooted in both tradition and modern evidence, blending gentle natural ingredients that hydrate, soothe, and restore shine.

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Why These Ingredients Work

🌾 Oatmeal / Oat Milk
Oats aren’t just a hearty breakfast, they’re a powerhouse for your hair. Oat oil, pressed from Avena sativa kernels, is rich in vitamin E, phospholipids, and fatty acids like oleic and linoleic. These nutrients help the hair retain moisture, soothe irritation, and may even stimulate growth (New Directions Aromatics).

🍯 Honey
Honey is a natural humectant, meaning it draws water into the hair shaft and locks it in. It smooths follicles, adds softness, and restores shine to tired strands (Healthline).

🌹 Rosehip Oil (Optional)
Lightweight yet deeply moisturizing, rosehip oil supplies vitamins A, C, E, and essential fatty acids that keep hair hydrated without weighing it down (Cleveland Clinic).

🌿 Nettle or Rosemary Oil (Optional)
For those looking to give their scalp a little boost, nettle and rosemary oils enhance circulation and have been studied for their potential to support hair growth (MDhair, Cleveland Clinic).

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How to Make the Oat & Honey Mask

1. Cook Your Oats

   • In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of water to a boil.

   • Add ½ cup rolled oats and simmer until soft.

   • Strain to collect the creamy oat “milk.” Let it cool.

2. Mix the Mask

   • In a bowl, whisk together:

     • 3 tbsp oat milk

     • 1 tbsp raw honey (Healthline)

     • 1 tbsp rosehip oil (optional)

     • 5 drops nettle or rosemary oil (optional)

3. Apply Generously

   • On clean, damp hair, smooth the mixture from scalp to ends, focusing on dry spots.

   • Cover with a shower cap or towel and let it sit for 20–30 minutes.

4. Rinse & Shine

   • Rinse thoroughly with cool water.

   • Style as usual.

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How Often to Use

For best results, apply this mask once a week. Over time, you’ll notice softer strands, shinier ends, and a healthier scalp environment.

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✨ Rooted Wisdom: This treatment brings together oats for nourishment, honey for hydration, and botanicals for circulation. It’s proof that when we return to simple, natural ingredients, our hair thanks us with strength and shine.

🌾 Old‑School Soap with a Local Twist

🌾 Old‑School Soap with a Local Twist
From The Rooted Woman Blog

If you’ve ever wanted to wash your hands in something your grandmother might’ve made, minus the mystery lard and questionable bucket, this one’s for you.

This old-school soap recipe blends the best of traditional methods with locally inspired, skin-loving ingredients. It’s a down-to-earth, no-fuss recipe that brings together natural fats, plants, and herbs to create a bar of soap that’s both practical and nourishing.

✨ What’s In It & Why It Matters

Ingredient	Purpose	Backed By
Olive or sunflower oil	These oils form the base of the soap and help retain moisture, thanks to their high oleic acid content.	Healthline notes they improve hydration and skin barrier function.
Beeswax	Makes the bar harder and helps lock in moisture with a protective layer.	Dermatology Times says beeswax keeps the skin barrier strong and supple.
Oats	Gently exfoliate and soothe irritated skin. Bonus: oat oil boosts moisture and encourages skin/hair growth.	New Directions Aromatics highlights its soothing properties.
Honey (optional)	A natural humectant, honey pulls moisture into the skin and keeps the bar nice and moisturizing.	Healthline confirms it locks in hydration and shine.
Lavender or rosemary oil	These essential oils add scent and gentle antimicrobial benefits. Rosemary also supports scalp health.	Cleveland Clinic backs its anti-inflammatory and hair growth perks.

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🛠️ Two Ways to Make It: Traditional or Simple

Method 1: Traditional Cold Process Soap (with Lye)

⚠️ Heads up: Lye (sodium hydroxide) is necessary for traditional soap, but it requires caution. Gloves, goggles, and good ventilation are a must. Don’t let it scare you off though, soap is just oil and lye having a chemistry party.

You’ll Need:

• 16 oz (2 cups) olive or sunflower oil

• 2 oz beeswax

• 2.2 oz lye

• 6 oz cold water

• 2 tbsp finely ground oats

• 1 tbsp raw honey (optional)

• 10-15 drops lavender or rosemary oil

Steps:

1. Melt Oils: Gently heat your oil and beeswax until fully melted.

2. Make Lye Solution: Slowly add lye to cold water (never the other way around). Stir until dissolved and let cool to about 104°F.

3. Blend: When both the oils and lye are around the same temp, slowly mix them together while blending with a stick blender until it reaches “trace” (pudding-like consistency).

4. Add Good Stuff: Stir in oats, honey, and essential oils.

5. Mold & Cure: Pour into silicone molds. Let set for 24 hours, then unmold and cure for 4-6 weeks in a cool, dry place.

Method 2: The Easy Way (No Lye Needed)

Perfect for beginners, kids, or anyone who doesn’t feel like dealing with caustic substances today.

You’ll Need:

• 500g natural glycerin or goat-milk soap base

• Same botanicals and oils as above

Steps:

1. Melt the soap base gently over low heat.

2. Stir in ground oats, honey, and essential oils.

3. Pour into molds and let harden. Done!

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🌱 Rooted Wisdom

The Rooted Woman knows that sometimes healing starts with the smallest rituals, like washing your hands in something you made yourself, from ingredients you trust. This isn’t just soap. It’s your grandmother’s kitchen, your backyard garden, your local bees buzzing in the sun.

🌿 Herbal Shampoo for Hair That Remembers Its Roots

Nettle‑Rosemary & Soapwort | A Gentle, Wildcrafted Cleanse

There’s something powerful about washing your hair with the same plants your ancestors walked past every day  or used themselves. This recipe isn’t just about clean hair. It’s about remembering. Reclaiming. Returning.

Today on The Rooted Woman, I’m sharing a simple, time-tested recipe for an herbal shampoo made from stinging nettle, rosemary, and soapwort root, with the option to stir in honey and apple cider vinegar for a little extra nourishment. These are plants you can grow, forage, or source from local herbalists right here in Southern Ontario.

This one’s for the aunties, the medicine women, and the do-it-yourselfers who prefer mason jars over marketing claims.

🌸 6 Beautiful Books That Make Perfect Mother's Day Gifts (2025 Guide)

🌸 6 Beautiful Books That Make Perfect Mother's Day Gifts (2025 Edition) 🌸

Mother’s Day is about celebrating the women who raised us, inspired us, and loved us no matter what.

This year, instead of flowers that wilt or gadgets that collect dust, why not give a gift that will stay in her heart forever?
Books are thoughtful, personal, and lasting, a perfect way to say “thank you” to the mothers, grandmothers, aunties, and mentors in our lives.
Here are six beautiful books that would make perfect gifts for Mother’s Day 2025 and they’ll all ship in time.

1. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

A stunning blend of Indigenous wisdom, science, and the teachings of plants.
This beautiful book reconnects readers with the earth and our responsibilities to it — perfect for thoughtful, earth-loving moms.
➔ Grab Braiding Sweetgrass on Amazon Here!

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy

A moving story about kindness, resilience, and friendship, illustrated with breathtaking simplicity.
Perfect for mothers and grandmothers who appreciate life’s quiet beauty and powerful lessons.
➔ Grab The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse on Amazon Here!

3. Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

A powerful poetry collection that explores survival, healing, love, and femininity.
A heartfelt gift for mothers and daughters alike, a timeless celebration of strength and tenderness.
➔ Grab Milk and Honey on Amazon Here!

4. Untamed by Glennon Doyle

A fierce, inspiring memoir about living authentically and reclaiming your wild spirit.
Perfect for mothers ready to rediscover themselves and their unstoppable power.
➔ Grab Untamed on Amazon Here!

5. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

A hauntingly beautiful novel about survival, loneliness, resilience, and finding your place in the world.
A page-turner for moms who love powerful storytelling and unforgettable characters.
➔ Grab Where the Crawdads Sing on Amazon Here!

6. Natural Remedies: Complete Collection by Barbara O'Neill

For the mom who believes in healing through nature, this collection offers old wisdom and new knowledge about herbs, natural cures, and the body’s ability to heal itself.
A thoughtful and nurturing gift for moms who care about holistic living.
➔ Grab Natural Remedies on Amazon Here!

A bonus journal for Moms. https://amzn.to/3GPVke0.  

This Mother's Day, give more than just a gift, give her something that will stay with her through every season of her life.

Books are memories, lessons, dreams, all wrapped up in one beautiful package.
I linked all my favorite picks above if you want to grab one while there's still time for delivery!
Wishing you and your loved ones a beautiful and meaningful Mother's Day. 🌸💛

As an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

The Wound They Blamed Us For: From Residential Schools to Child Welfare.

 Wind Whisper HQ

They shut the doors to the residential schools... but they didn’t stop taking our children.

They just found a new way to do it

A System Rebranded...Not Reformed

When Canada’s residential schools began to close, many Canadians thought the worst was over. But for Indigenous families, especially First Nations, the system simply changed its name.

Children’s Aid Societies and provincial child welfare agencies stepped in where residential schools left off. Today, they call it “protection.” They say it’s in “the best interests of the child.” But for our communities, it still feels like removal. It still feels like control. It still feels like grief.

Survivors Became Parents...But Without Support

Residential school survivors carried home invisible scars, the kind no one wanted to talk about. They were taught to fear love, distrust family, and disconnect from their culture. When these survivors became parents, they weren’t offered help, healing, or resources. They were judged for being “unfit.”

And so the system preyed on their pain. It punished them for not knowing what they were never allowed to learn.

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The Numbers Tell the Truth

In every province and territory, First Nations people make up a small portion of the population but a massive portion of children in care. The first graph below shows this clearly.

The darker colour represents the percent of the population that is First Nations. The light colour represents the percentage of Child Welfare cases involving First Nations Children.

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From Foster Homes to Jail Cells

The trauma of being removed from family, land, and culture, doesn't end in childhood. It echoes forward. Many children who grow up in care end up in the justice system. The second graph shows how overrepresented First Nations people are in Canada's jails and correctional institutions.

The darker colour represents the percent of the population that is First Nations. The light colour represents the percentage of incarcerations involving First Nations.

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We Were Never Broken, We Were Broken By Design

The system wants us to believe that these numbers are our fault. That we are inherently bad parents. That we are criminals. But this is the lie colonialism built.

We weren’t broken people.We were broken by a system.And now that same system punishes us for the cracks it left behind.

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But This Is Not The End of the Story

Our communities are strong. Survivors are speaking. Families are fighting back. Culture is being reclaimed. Healing is happening...because We are making it happen.

But healing alone isn’t enough.

We need truth. We need change.
And we need everyone, Indigenous and non-Indigenous,  to understand what’s really going on.

Because only then can the cycle finally break.What We Needed Was Healing. What We Got Was Judgment.

Instead of mental health care, we got case workers.
Instead of parenting programs, we got court orders.
Instead of clean water, housing, or jobs — we got removed.

The system that caused the trauma blamed us for its effects.

And it still does.

What You Can Do

• Learn the truth. Share it.

• Listen to survivors. Believe them.

• Support Indigenous-led services. Real care comes from within the community.

• Challenge the system. Every voice counts.

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We were never broken people.

We were broken by a system.
And now we’re healing, with TRUTH as our medicine.

Her Empty Bed

I still see her there, in the morning light,

Her laughter echoing, soft and bright.

Her bed is empty, her pillow cold,

A story unfinished, our lives on hold.

She walked with courage, she walked with pride,

But the world turned dark, and she disappeared inside.

No warning, no whisper, no final goodbye,

Just silence that stretches, a question of why.

I search for her face in the crowded streets,

In the faces of strangers, in the hearts that I meet.

I call out her name to the stars above,

But the night only answers with sorrowful love.

They say she’s a number, a statistic, a name,

But to me, she’s my sister, my heart and my flame.

They say she’s forgotten, but I won’t let go,

Her spirit lives on in the fire I show.

I march for her justice, I scream for her voice,

For the stolen, the silenced, who had no choice.

Her story is mine, and mine is hers,

A bond unbroken, by ethnic slurs.

Sister, I feel you in the drum’s low beat,

In the prayers we whisper, in the march of our feet.

We’ll turn their silence to thunderous song

For the stolen, the sacred, who did no wrong

Her bed stays empty, but our voices rise,

A thousand fires in the midnight skies.

No longer forsaken, no longer denied

With love as our compass, we’ll bring them inside.

For generations, Indigenous peoples have used natural medicines rooted in deep respect for the earth and all its gifts. These remedies aren't just part of history — they’re still used today, and for good reason. Here are five traditional medicines that continue to heal, teach, and connect us to our roots.