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Aromatherapy and Natural Skin Care

Natural Skin Care — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:15:51 +0000

Certain areas of natural skin care overlap. For example, the term botanical can refer to herbs, flowers, or even vegetables; however, when talking about flower essences, you’re automatically talking about aromatherapy — using the extracted oils from flowers for the health of body, mind, and soul.
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Post tags: Aromatherapy, EFA., essential fatty acids, essential oil., essential oils, natural skin care

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Hydrosols: Flower Power

Natural Skin Care — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:20:16 +0000

Aromatherapy is a tree with many branches — hydrosols being one of them. The term hydrosol is a combination of hydro (water) and sol (solution) — a natural water solution.

When essential oils are distilled from plants, hydrosols are the byproduct of the process. Hydrosols cannot be manufactured synthetically.

When plants or flowers are put into the still or distillation tank, they are subjected to boiling water, steam, or both. When the steam hits the plant, the essential oil is released in vapor.

The vapor mixes with the steam and is only separated again as the steam cools in the condensing tank. As the steam cools, the essential oil molecules separate from the steam (now as cooled water) and floats to the surface.

The upper layer is the essential oil which floats on the water, except for a few drops which sink—this is the hydrosol. Many people who are chemically sensitive have no problem with hydrosols because it is not a synthetic scent.

Hydrosols are also considered homeopathy. They work by affecting the brain. When the scent hits the brain, the effect on the body is immediate. Think of the multi billion dollar perfume industry and the research that goes into the science of scents.

Unlike essential oils, hydrosols may be placed directly on the skin and can even be used in cooking. Dilute a hydrosol with tea or in other therapeutic drinks to make a tonic at a ratio of 1:3 or 1 tablespoon/liter. Usually hydrosols are dispensed in a spray bottle or spritzer. They can also be used as room sprays. Their uses vary according to the flower they are distilled from. Common uses of hydrosols include:

Aftershave
Animal flea spray
Breath freshener
Cosmetic ingredients
Face moisturizer
Fresher for sheets and towels
Fruit rinse
House plant spray
Ironing spray
Room freshener
Sore throat spray
Spay disinfectant

Remember that hydrosols cannot be made synthetically. The label should say 100% hydrosol. As a plant product, hydrosols do have shelf life. Keep hydrolsols in the refrigerator. They should be bottled in a dark colored bottle to protect it from the light.

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Hydrosols and Natural Skin Care

Natural Skin Care — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:50:09 +0000

So I’m still investigating hydrosols. I’ve always known about the power of herbs, but I never knew flowers had healing properties as well. I’m really amazed at the practical and medicinal uses for flowers. They’re not just ornamental.

Did you know there are people who believe that plants are senscient? Sometimes people have the gift to understand the language of flowers. Modern day shamans listen to plants and use the knowledge they glean to help heal people of illness.

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Post tags: Aromatherapy, essential oils, hydrosols, natural skin care, plants

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Broken Capillaries and Varicose Veins

Natural Skin Care — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:48:10 +0000

When skin is mature, thin, or frail, broken capillaries often appear. Sometimes they are referred to as varicose veins, thread veins, spider veins, or couperose skin. Spider veins occur when cells in the capillary walls become weak and lose their elasticity. When capillaries lose their elasticity after dilating, they cannot return to their previous size. They then collapse and the skin turns red.

Marigolds are good for any type of inflammation of the skin, so a good natural cure for varicose veins is to apply a compress of marigold flowers directly to the area. You can repeat this until you see results.

Veins have an the important job of carrying blood to and from from the heart. However, sometimes the vein weakens and blood can leak and collect in the spot where it breaks. This broken vein will become a varicose vein or spider vein.

Usually, broken capillaries appear on the face, but they can also occur elsewhere on the body. Numerous factors may cause or contribute to the development of broken capillaries, including–

If you have broken capillaries, avoid alcohol, extremes of temperature, facial steaming, saunas, harsh or irritating cosmetics, spicy food, and stimulants such as caffeine and other stimulant drugs. Always protect your skin in cold or windy weather. Be gentle with your skin.

Aromatherapy treatments can achieve good results with repeated use. Certain essential oils such as chamomile, cypress, geranium, lemon, neroli, palmarosa, peppermint, rose, and rosemary help restore elasticity to blood vessels and diminish the redness on the surface of the skin.

Some carrier oils, such as borage, calophyllum inophyllum, evening primrose, hazelnut, and rose hip seed oils, enhance the effectiveness of aromatherapy blends with their own abilities to help reduce broken capillaries.

Use the recipes for Facial Oil for Broken Capillaries or Floral Facial Oil for Broken Capillaries below in this article every day. Several months can pass before you see results, but continue treatment and don’t lose hope. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Once you see results, continue to use the oil blends for maintenance. For broken capillaries on your body, use Capillary Conditioning Body Oil Daily

A Note On Essential Oils

Essential oils should come packaged in dark glass bottles, preferably with built-in droppers so you can dispense the oil one drop at a time. Some oils are more viscous than others and may take a while to drop out. Some companies have adjusted the size of the dropper accordingly. You can also use a separate glass eyedropper, but do not store it in the bottle because the oil will eventually break down the rubber bulb at the top, and will contaminate the oil.

Look for the term ‘pure essential oil’ on the bottle. One way to tell if you are buying true essential oil is the price. If each bottle of oil is priced the same, they’re probably imitations. Making true essential oil is a tedious, time consuming process. Some botanicals are more difficult to process than others and harder to attain so they will be more expensive. Lots of hard work goes into producing a one ounce bottle of essential oil. You can prepare the aromatherapy blends below using pure essential oils.

Facial Oil for Broken Capillaries

1 ounce jojoba oil
½ ounce rose hip seed oil
10 drops borage oil
4 drops cypress oil
3 drops lemon oil
2 drops palmarosa oil

Mix the jojoba and rose hip see oils together in a clean container, add the essential oils and gently turn the container upside down a few times or roll it between your hands to blend. Apply the mixture to the affected area once or twice a day.

Floral Facial Oil For Broken Capillaries

½ ounce hazelnut oil
¼ ounce rose hip seed oil
10 drops borage oil
3 drops neroli oil
3 drops rose oil
2 drops geranium oil

Mix the carrier oils together in a clean container, add the essential oils, and blend well. Apply the oil to the affected area daily.

Capillary-Conditioning Body Oil

1 ½ ounces sunflower oil
½ ounce rose hip seed oil
20 drops borage oil
5 drops geranium oil
3 drops lemon oil
3 drops rosemary oil
2 drops cypress oil

Mix the carrier oils together in a clean container, add the essential oils, and gently turn the container upside down a few times to blend. Massage the oil over the affected areas daily.

Geranium oil can lower your blood sugar level. Use it with caution or omit it altogether if you have hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).

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