Apothecary

An apothecary was a person who prepared and sold medicines made from herbs, roots, flowers and minerals, and the word also meant their shop. Today it's a hands-on craft: blending plant-based ingredients into balms, body sprays, bath salts, face masks and herbal teas. Think part herbalist, part chemist and part very fancy gift shop, with jars, bottles and a pestle and mortar.

Balms and lip balms are made by gently melting beeswax or shea butter with plant oils, then pouring them into tins to set. Lip scrubs are the gritty cousin, usually sugar mixed with oil.

Body and pillow sprays blend water with natural scents like lavender, rosemary or citrus. Portaloo, meet your match.

Bath salts and bath milks mix salts or powdered milk with dried flowers and oils. Face masks often use clay, oats or aloe vera. Dry shampoo is little more than a fine powder, such as cornflour, that soaks up oil. Glitter is, of course, optional.

Many sessions also include blending your own herbal tea from dried flowers and leaves like chamomile, mint and lemon balm.

Your Activity Leader introduces the ingredients first: what each herb or oil is, how it smells and what it's traditionally been used for. Then you get stuck in, measuring, grinding, warming and stirring, then bottling up your creations as you go. You choose the scents, so every jar ends up a little bit different. It's calm, sociable and nicely unhurried, and you take everything home at the end.

No problem at all. If you can follow a simple recipe, you can make a lip balm. Whether you're a seasoned plant lover or someone who has only ever met lavender in a supermarket candle, there's plenty to discover. Many people find the gentle, scented work surprisingly relaxing. There's also something deeply satisfying about lining up a row of tiny labelled jars you made yourself.

Clothes you don't mind getting a bit messy. Oils, powders and plant pigments can mark fabric, so this is not the moment for your best white shirt.

You might also like Botanical Walk, Terrariums and Summer Wreaths.

See all Camp Wildfire activities