November 16, 2012

How to Start With Essential Oils


Fragrances: Magic at Your Hand

The legendary fragrances of Cleopatra, ancient recipes of Arabian beauties, subtle and delicate or saturated aromas of healing plants, have they been object of your curiosity? Yet, they are so close: you only need to stretch your hand and get a bottle of scent, and the door to a wonderful world will open for you. This will give you health, beauty to your body, veil you with seductive scents, give peace to your mind or make you braced and confident. Essential oils can work a lot of wonders. Let's see what is behind this name - essential oil.

What Essential Oil Is

The essential oil is the soul of the plant, the most precious thing that it can offer to you. Essential oils are produced by distilling different parts of a plant, not necessarily flowers, these can be leaves or the bark, while the aromas that are extracted from these parts can be very different from one another and sometimes seem even unfamiliar. To obtain one milliliter of an oil it is often necessary to distill several kilos of petals. Truly, this is not only the soul of a plant but also the scented jewel.
Lavender Oil

The Quality of Essential Oils

What shall you start with? How can you penetrate this world of aromatherapy without any problems? Let's see what we have to deal with when we decide to have a collection of essential oils and start making healing balms, mixtures and creams for ourselves and our family.
First of all you need to check carefully the quality of oils, especially those that you plan to take internally, which is also possible. You can hardly find good essential oils in a drugstore. The thing is, the price is important when it comes to the quality of an oil. Exracting and distilling essential oils is a very time-consuming complicated process, so there is a certain price level below which you cannot go.
The best place to buy essential oils is an online store that has worked for several years. The online stores would order oils from well-reputated producers, so their quality can be guaranteed.
The first requirement is the price. Usually essential oils aren't cheap. The cheapest of them are citrus and conifer ones while the most expensive are rose, neroli and sandal oils. But your expenses are compensated quickly, and it's not only the matter of your health improvement and better looks. Essential oils are very economical. Only several drops must be added to a balm or any other substance. Because ou can also mix them with each other, essential oils last really long. They may serve you from one year to several years.
The second requirement is the packing. It is better when the essential oils are poured inside the glass bottles of a dark color. In fact, essential oils react with plastic and change their qualities when exposed to the daylight. They don't tolerate temperature change, so avoid taking them with you anywhere in your handbag for a long time.
Another requirement is the botanical name mentioned on the etiquette. This can be, for example, rosadamascena (Rose Damask) or canangaodorata (Yilang Yilang). This indicates good quality of the oil as well as good reputation of its producer.
Oil Burner

Your Kit of Essential Oils

What is the minimum set of essential oils like?
In the first place, it is worthwhile buying tea tree oil also known asMelaleucaalternifolia. It is an ideal antiseptic and is very effective! If you need to disinfect a cut, cure acne, clear all kinds of inflammations on your skin, remove irritation, scurf, tea tree oil will help. Any kinds of virus and bacterial infections, mouth inflammations, insect bites, eczema, dermatitis, periodontitis, cystitis, fungous desease, including genitals' infections and their prevention are the domains where tea tree oil can serve good purpose. It is also vital during flu epidemies, when you can inhale it, apply a compress and use it for a massage in case of a cold. It is not only good to apply this oil to your skin but also burn it in an oil burner. You can mix 3-4 drops of this oil with a spoon of salt, and add it to the water for washing the floor or rinsing your clothes, too.
The action of the tea tree oil is intensified by lavender. On the whole, if the smell of tea tree appears too strong to you, lavender can replace it in most situations. Its aroma is much more pleasant. This very essential oil will help you deal with burns, especially after a bad day on the beach. It will help calm down your child and relax. You only need to put a couple of drops in an oil burner, mix them with any kind of vegetable oil and do a massage, take a bath with "lavender" salt or simply put a couple of drops on your pillow before going to bed.
Lavender oil facial mixtures or creams have a beautiful aroma. They have a soothing effect on the skin, regenerate tired skin and heal cuts and inflammations that occur after razing. They moisturize dry skin, refresh swollen eyes, diminish skin peeling. However, avoid mixing lavender oil to industrial creams.
When it comes to hair care, lavender is irreplaceable. You can do oil masks for your hair, add lavender oil to neutral shampoos and rinse your hair with a mixture of water, lemon juice and lavender oil.
By mixing lavender oil with citrus essential oils like bergamot or grapefruit you get a very exotic mixture that fills your room with an unusual tropical summer fragrance.
In fact, citrus essential oils are the third must-have for your kit. They are cheap, deliciously smelling and you can use them for anything. For example, lemonessential oil can be used as an antibacterial, antipyretic remedy, as well as fat skin cleanser, teeth whitener, chemical waste clearer for your body. It also helps those who are sea sick. Lemon essential oil is helpful for diets. Just smelling it regularly helps reduce appetite. In the evening, take a bath with citrus essential oils. This will make you slimmer.
If you need to get up early and feel braced, put a drop of a lemon essential oil in your hand and rub your hands. Better concentration, energy and absence of fatigue are guaranteed.
Tea tree, lavender and lemon are universal essential oils. They will become your helpers at home, at work, during a walk or in the countryside. They will also become your first steps in the world of aromatherapy, starting your collection of essential oils.
Essential Oils