H4Heaven: H4Heaven's Pashminas, Shawls, Wraps, Stoles & Scarves Range

H4Heaven: H4Heaven's Pashminas, Shawls, Wraps, Stoles & Scarves Range

Aromatherapy - The Origins

Aromatherapy originated in France and is incorporated into French mainstream medicine and is just as commonly used there to treat, for example, a headache, as paracetamol is used in the UK. The word 'aromatherapy' was first used in the 1920s by a French chemist Rene Maurice Gattefosse. Rene spent his life researching the healing properties of essential oils following a burning incident. He had burnt his arm and thrust it into the nearest liquid, which happened to be lavender oil, and was surprised by the imminent pain relief. He also noticed how the burn healed quickly leaving no scarring. He continued his research and during World War I used essential oils to treat gangrene in wounded soldiers.
View our range of aromatherapy products here.
Medicinal: Today, in the UK, aromatherapy does not have quite the same level of acceptance. At best, aromatherapy is thought of as a complimentary treatment and, at worst, pseudoscientific fraud!

Calming: The fragrance of lavender, when heated, has a relaxing and calming effect. One only needs to reflect on how a herbal bath (Radox, for example) destresses to see how herb and plant extracts can be helpful in a busy, stressful life.
View our range of aromatherapy products here.

Precious Metal Clay

Ever wanted to make your own jewellery but was put off by the equipment needed? Well, here's the answer, PMC (Precious Metal Clay). This wonderful metal clay consists of tiny particles of metal (silver, gold or platinum) mixed with an organic binder and water. It can be shaped by hand and by using special handtools (a second hand dentist's toolset would do the job perfectly!). You carve out the ring or pendant, etc. using the clay and then leave it to dry. When it is dry, you fire it using a kiln if you have one, but if not, you can do the same job with a hand-held butane gas torch (these cost less than £10). Once it is fired, the piece can be polished up using a wire brush. Gold can be added to the piece but due to the cost of the PMC in 24ct gold, small detailing is best. Simply add the detailing with the gold paste and then fire it again. This clay is so versatile and is excellent to work with.

If you design pieces for commercial use and would like to supply us, for first contact, please email us at info@h4heaven.co.uk.

To view our silver range, click here.

Jamavar

A jamavar is a special type of shawl made in Kashmir. Historically it was made by hand and some shawls took a couple of decades to complete. Original Jamavar shawls sell for high prices. View our range here.

The jamavar design is a special floral pattern which resembles the mango fruit.

Kanika Jamavar is a high end variety of Jamavar shawl. It is made with weaving sticks and the patterns are so finely done that front and back of the shawl are indistinguishable. Pashmina wool is used to make these shawls. Less than a dozen Kani Jamavar shawls are manufactured every year. The primary manufacturing centre for these shawls is Kashmir while some low end, machine made shawls also coming from Naziwabad, U.P. View our range here.

Scattering Autumnal Leaves Bring Inspiration to Fashion Designers

Keeping abreast of this season's colour range has been our top priority. We have a beautiful palette of autumnal browns, yellows & golds contrasted with viola. Our viscose gold shawl, priced at £9.99, obviously isn't made from real pashmina, but would you want to spend £100+ on a gold shawl which may, or may not, only be in fashion for the one season. For a truly practical, yet totally stylish shade, try our mocha brown. Almost black, this shade goes with almost anything and again offers excellent value for money! For a sunshine boost, how about a shocking yellow wrap, yummy shade and guaranteed to cheer you up during the winter down-time and brings some sunshine to all around you too! It may be worth mentioning that we have the sunshine earrings to match this gorgeous shawl. These yellow chalcedony earrings are simply stunning. All in all, we feel we have quite a few items this season that you might enjoy! Visit H4Heaven today!

H 4 Heaven: Some 'Scarf' Trivia

Some 'Scarf' Trivia

Take a look at our scarf range here


Usage

In cold climates, a thick knitted scarf, often of wool, is tied around the neck to keep warm. This is usually accompanied by a warm hat and heavy coat.

In drier, dustier climates, or in environments where there are many airborne contaminants, a thin headscarf, kerchief, or bandanna is often worn over the head to keep the hair clean. Over time, this custom has evolved into a fashionable item in many cultures, particularly among women. The cravat, an ancestor of the necktie and bow tie, evolved from scarves of this sort in Croatia.

Religions such as Islam promote modest dress among women; many Muslim women wear a headscarf often known as a hijab, and in Quranic Arabic as the khimar. Women in the Haredi Judaism community often wear a tichel to cover their hair. Several Christian denominations include a scarf known as a stole as part of their liturgical vestments.

Scarves as uniforms

Students in the United Kingdom traditionally wear academic scarves with distinctive combinations of striped colours identifying their individual university or college.

Members of the Scout Association also wear scarves as part of their uniform, with different colours and logos to represent their scout group. They are also used at camps to represent units, subcamps or the camp as a whole. Fun scarves are also used as memorabilia at Scout events and country scarves are often traded at international gatherings.

Scarves in sport

Since at least the early 1900s, when the phenomena began in Britain, colored scarves have been traditional supporter wear for fans of association football teams across the world, even those in warmer climates. These scarves come in a wide variety of sizes and are made in a club's particular colors and may contain the club crest, pictures of renowned players, and various slogans relating to the history of the club and its rivalry with others. In the United Kingdom, the most popular and traditional type is a simple design with alternating bars of color in the individual team's traditional colors. In continental Europe many Ultras groups produce their own scarf designs.

As part of pre-match build-ups, or during matches, fans will create a 'scarf wall' in which all supporters in a section of the stadium will stretch out their scarves above their heads with both hands, creating an impressive 'wall' of color, usually accompanied by the singing of a club anthem such as "You'll Never Walk Alone" at Liverpool F.C.[1] or "Grazie Roma" at A.S. Roma. This was initially solely a British phenomenon, but has since spread to Europe and South America.

Scarf wearing is also a noted feature of support for Australian rules football clubs in the Australian Football League, and are always in the form of alternating bars of color, usually with the team name or mascot written on each second bar.

Manufacture

The craft of knitting garments such as scarves is an important trade in some countries. Hand-knitted scarves are still common as gifts as well.

Respectively in fashion, the French company Hermès and Italian brand Salvatore Ferragamo are both known for their collections of silk scarves internationally.

Take a look at our scarf range here

The Truth about the Caterpillar & the Silk Scarf You Love!

How exactly was that silk scarf you love made?

View our silk scarf range here

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from cocoons made by the larvae of the silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity (sericulture). The shimmering appearance for which silk is prized comes from the fibers' triangular prism-like structure which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles.

"Wild silks" or tussah silks (also spelled "tasar") are produced by caterpillars other than the mulberry silkworm (Bombyx mori). They are called "wild" as the silkworms cannot be artificially cultivated like Bombyx mori. A variety of wild silks have been known and used in China, India, and Europe from early times, although the scale of production has always been far smaller than that of cultivated silks. Aside from differences in colors and textures, they all differ in one major aspect from the domesticated varieties: the cocoons that are gathered in the wild have usually already been damaged by the emerging moth before the cocoons are gathered, and thus the single thread that makes up the cocoon has been torn into shorter lengths. Commercially reared silkworm pupae are killed before the adult moths emerge by dipping them in boiling water or piercing them with a needle, thus allowing the whole cocoon to be unraveled as one continuous thread. This allows a much stronger cloth to be woven from the silk. Wild silks also tend to be more difficult to dye than silk from the cultivated silkworm.

There is some evidence that small quantities of wild silk were already being produced in the Mediterranean area and the Middle East by the time the superior, and stronger, cultivated silk from China began to be imported.

Silks are produced by several other insects, but only the silk of moth caterpillars has been used for textile manufacture. There has been some research into other silks, which have differences at the molecular level. Silks are mainly produced by the larvae of insects with complete metamorphosis, but also by some adult insects such as webspinners. Silk production is especially common in the Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, and ants), and is sometimes used in nest construction. Other types of arthropod produce silk, most notably various arachnids such as spiders.

Would you have guessed that your lovely silk scarf originated from the cocoon of a silkworm, a caterpillar, a bee, a wasp or even an ant? Fascinating...huh?

View our silk scarf range here

What is a Pashmina?

Pashmina refers to a type of cashmere wool and textiles made from it. The name comes from Pashmineh, made from Persian pashm (= "wool"). This wool comes from a special breed of goat indigenous to high altitudes of the Himalayan mountains. The special goat's fleece has been used for thousands of years to make high-quality shawls that also bear the same name. The Himalayan Mountain goat, Capra hircus, sheds its winter coat every spring and the fleece is caught on thorn bushes. One goat sheds approximately 3-8 ounces of the fiber. Villages would scour the mountainside for the finest fleece to be used. Cashmere shawls have been manufactured in Kashmir and Nepal for thousands of years, but the Indians never called them "pashmina". They were popularly called Kashmiri wool shawls. The test for a quality pashmina has been warmth, feel and the passing of the shawl through a wedding ring.View our pashmina range here

Pashmina is an indigenous Nepali word which only became popular after the so-named shawls, woven in Nepal, started being popular in the west. What are commonly thought of as pashminas have their origin in Nepal, where the people have a cultural heritage of hand-weaving pashmina shawls with the well-known fringing and hand dyeing.View our pashmina range here

To meet the demands of cashmere lovers, the goats are now commercially reared in the Gobi Desert area in Inner and Outer Mongolia. The region has identical harsh weather conditions to those of the Himalayan region, and is thereby apt for the goats to grow this inner wool, but also has acres of grazing ground to produce cashmere economically and commercially. During spring (Molting Season), the goats shed this inner wool, which they grow all over again during the course of the winter. The inner wool is collected and spun to produce cashmere. The quality is just as high, while the costs have become more reasonable as a result.View our pashmina range here

Pashmina accessories are available in a range of sizes, from "scarf" (12" x 60") to "wrap" or "stole" (28" x 80") to fullsize shawl (36" x 80"). Pure pashmina is a rather gauzy, open weave, as the wool cannot tolerate high tension. The most popular pashmina fabric is a 70% pashmina/30% silk blend, but 50/50 is also common. The 70/30 is tightly woven, has an elegant sheen and drapes nicely, but is still quite soft and light-weight.View our pashmina range here

A pashmina shawl can range in cost from as little as about £70 for a pure pashmina scarf or up to hundreds of pounds for a super high-quality pure pashmina shawl. They are known for their softness and warmth. A craze for pashminas in the mid-1990's resulted in high demand for pashminas, so demand exceeded supply.View our pashmina range here

When pashmina shawls rose into fashion prominence during the mid 90’s, they were marketed dubiously. Cashmere used for pashmina shawls was claimed to be of a superior quality attributable to the enhanced sheen and softness that the fabric (cashmere blended with silk) encompassed. In the consuming markets, pashmina shawls were again defined as a shawl/wrap with cashmere and silk, notwithstanding the actual meaning of pashmina - which is technically an accessory of pure pashmina and not the blend. Following up, some unscrupulous companies marketed the man-made fabric viscose as "pashmina" with deceptive marketing statements as "authentic viscose pashmina". These are often sold for a very low price, leaving the buyer to decide whether it is authenticity, quality, or price that motivates their purchase.View our pashmina range here

H4Heaven's Pashminas, Shawls, Wraps, Stoles & Scarves Range

H4Heaven's Pashminas, Shawls, Wraps, Stoles & Scarves Range

Viscose Shawls:

Indian viscose shawl pashmina style wrap, suitable for evening wear or special occasions such as a wedding for the bride's mother, or prom. The perfect female accessory for your evening dress. Wraps around or drapes as a shawl stole, also use as a scarf.

Jamavar Shawls: Beautiful Woollen, Cashmere, Silk & Wool Blend, Shawls in Jamavar.
100% wool beautiful woollen shawls in jamawar, sequins, embroidered,
plain & patterned styles. Colours include red, yellow, orange,
pink, blue, purple, green, black, brown, grey, silver, gold, etc. Our
woollen shawls are of the highest quality but with bargain prices that
are the lowest on the internet (that we have found). We also stock
silk/wool blend, viscose & silk in silver, gold, red, green, blue,
pink, brown, white, cream. We also have wedding dress shawls. If you do
not see what you are looking for, please send us a request and we will
check our stockroom for you. Intricately woven designs provide a total
new look to your attire. Available in a variety of designs and made
with pure wool, pashmina silk blend, cashmere silk and wool, cotton etc.

The Jamavar Design is unique. Like the finest paisley design, very
intricate, orient designing, Indian culture woven in weaves of Jamavar
in Kashmir, India. Pashmina Jamavars have been in fashion for
centuries.Recommended by the world's leading fashion designers, a
pashmina style shawl in Jamavar is still a fashion statement amongst
the rich, bold and beautiful people of UK, Europe, USA and the rest of
the world.

Jamavars are traditional shawls, more detailed than plain pashmina
shawls - people with rich taste love the beauty and intricate design of
the Jamavar shawls now available.

Wikepedia Definition of Jamavar
A jamavar is a special type of shawl made in Kashmir. Historically it
was made by hand and some shawls took a couple of decades to complete.
Original Jamavar shawls sell for high prices. The jamavar design is a
special floral pattern which resembles the mango fruit. Kanika Jamavar
is a high end variety of Jamavar shawl. It is made with weaving sticks
and the patterns are so finely done that front and back of the shawl
are indistinguishable. Pashmina wool is used to make these shawls. Less
than a dozen Kani Jamavar shawls are manufactured every year. The
primary manufacturing centre for these shawls is Kashmir while some low
end, machine made shawls also coming from Naziwabad, U.P.

Embroidered, sequined Shawls:

Dobby Striped Shawls: These shawls offer an alternative to the plain viscose stoles and real pashmina with striped or patterned detailing. They make excellent gifts with low prices and are freepost!

Silk Scarves and Stoles: Our silk scarves range is growing daily, check back regularly for unique and beautiful designs. A silk scarf is the most useful item in an accessories draw, in our opinion, brightening any evening dress or summer outfit.

Silk Pashminas: Our silk pashmina range is extensive, we have so many wonderful designs in multi-coloured patterned and also in one colour jacquard. These shawls truly offer exceptional value for money! All are freepost and can be worn for weddings by the bride to be, bridesmaids or Mother of the Bride. Also suitable for proms and balls. In the winter, can be worn to the front of your coat, as a scarf. We import, from India, a beautiful range of sequined and embroidered shawls suitable for weddings, proms, evenings out and other special occasions. These shawls make excellent romantic gifts! Available in wool and viscose, all of these pashmina shawls are cheap in comparison to the High St. stores prices! We hope you love this range of beautiful shawls as much as we do.