Essential oils such as peppermint or eucalyptus strengthen brain waves, sharpen your mind and speed up your reactions. This is comparable to what takes place when you drink coffee, but without caffeine’s negative effect on your adrenal glands. An essential oil like chamomile has the reverse result. It slows down brain wave patterns and relaxes you like taking a sedative drug, but without side effects.

Pleasing fragrances put people into better moods and cause them to be more eager to cooperate and compromise. For instance, aromas channeled into hospital rooms lessen the anxiousness of patients, staff, and friends and families.

The smell of a skincare product is oftentimes as important as any other factor when you are choosing which product to use. It definitely adds to your pleasure as you use it. Observe your first reaction the next time you shop for a skin lotion or hair rinse. The first or second thing you probably will do is open up the lid to find out how it smells.

This is how breathing essential oils works:

Each time you inhale something aromatic – say your best-loved sweet-smelling flower or perfume – thousands of microscopic scent molecules enter your nose. Way up in your nose, odor receptors capture these molecules. These receptors are able to tell the difference between every one of the different scents.

After the odor receptors collect info concerning an aroma, they transmit a report to your brain. This report avoids the central nervous system and the parts of the brain that control reasoning. Instead, the nose sends its fragrance data to a part of your brain called the limbic system.

One of the numerous tasks carried out by the limbic system is to give notice to your body’s warning system of possible danger. The limbic system also directly transmits information to the hypothalamus and pituitary glands. By way of these glands, your sense of smell affects all your different hormones and your immune system. They also regulate your appetite, digestion, sexual arousal, memory, body temperature and heartbeat.

The information for this post is taken from:

• Kathi Keville. Aromatherapy for Dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc, 1999

 This assimilation does not take place all at one time. Essential oils are formed from lots of different compounds, and some go through your skin quicker than others. The most absorbable components can appear in your blood 20 minutes after you massage them on your skin.

 Try this out. Cut a clove of garlic in half and rub the cut surface freely on the sole of your foot. Put socks on and wait. It will require your blood system about 20 minutes to transport the essential oil of garlic all through your body. You’ll know because you’ll be able to taste it. Not simply can you taste garlic, but its potent antiseptic activity is operating all over your body.

 Essential oils tend to go right where you need them. Assume that you have a sore muscle and would like to make use of an essential oil like chamomile to relieve the pain. Rub a massage oil that includes chamomile essential oil on the sore area, and you’ll dispatch the absorbable portions of the oil to your aching muscle that lies underneath the skin.

 Not only does the troubled region obtain nearly the entire healing dose when you put aromatherapy products on your skin, but a smaller amount of essential oil goes into your blood stream. Not as much essential oil in your blood means less oil has to be processed by your liver.

 Essential oils must be diluted before they may safely be applied to your skin. This is commonly done by mixing a small amount of essential oil with a large quantity of a vegetable oil. Every aromatherapy product that contains vegetable oil – and that includes skin lotion, facial cream, salve, and massage oil – slows down the assimilation of essential oil by your skin. This means that a little less essential oil is absorbed into your body. What is going on is that large molecules in vegetable oils such as sweet almond oil or olive oil are too large to go through your skin, so they remain on surface of your skin and hold onto some of the essential oil while they’re at it. This is good for your skin since it provides the essential oils a chance to do their work directly to your skin.

The information for this post is taken from:

• Kathi Keville. Aromatherapy for Dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc, 1999

 Therefore, we suggest you include the following foods in your diet as often as possible:

 Blueberries

 Blueberries are full of anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are the pigments that give blueberries their dark blue color. They are also strong antioxidants. Antioxidants help to protect your skin from the damaging effects of the sun.

 But unlike sunscreens and moisturizers, antioxidants protect your skin from the inside out by guarding your cells from damage. Because antioxidants protect cells and encourage cell growth they also help fight fine lines and wrinkles.

 If possible, eat ½ cup to 1 cup of blueberries every day. For a change, you can replace blueberries with blackberries, red or purple grapes, or raspberries. They also are an excellent source of anthocyanins.

 Chocolate

For good-looking skin, be sure to eat chocolate frequently. Researchers say that a dark chocolate candy bar possesses just as many antioxidants as an equal quantity of spinach, prunes, raisins, kale, and brussel sprouts, combined.

Cacao is the plant that is responsible for dark chocolate’s great flavor. Dark chocolate contains a large quantity of the flavonoid resveratrol that is the same heart-healthy antioxidant we find in red wine. Current studies indicate that cacao’s flavonoids shield your skin from UV damage. In addition, they open your blood vessels. This boosts blood flow and carries nutrients to the surface and deeper layers of your skin and increases skin hydration, thickness, and smoothness.

Most authorities urge eating only very dark chocolate, with at least 70 percent cacao. Cacao nibs or cocoa power are single-ingredient foods and thus the best sources of straight cacao. (Cacao nibs are cacao beans that have been fermented, roasted, stripped of their husks, and broken into bits.) The next time you bake banana bread, try replacing half the walnuts with cacao nibs for a tasty treat. Or combine nibs with cashews and dried fruit, such as cherries or cranberries, for a new twist on trail mix. Cocoa powder can be a great add-on to chili con carne, or try mixing the dry powder with sea salt for a rub on grilled meat.

Citrus

 Shield your skin from the negative effects of stress by consuming citrus and other vitamin C-rich foods, such as broccoli or strawberries.

 When you expose your skin to the sun, a chemical reaction takes place, producing free radicals that can injure cells and modify DNA. This shows up as age spots, wrinkles, and sagging skin. But vitamin C helps prevent this reaction from occurring.

 Vitamin C also promotes the creation of collagen, the structural foundation that keeps your skin soft and elastic, and diminishes wrinkles.

 Incorporate two to three servings of vitamin C-rich foods in your diet every day. When you take vitamin C internally, it will reach every layer and part of your skin.

 In addition to vitamin C, citrus fruits provide a unique nutrient called d-limonene. You find d-limonene in the peel of the fruit. Investigators have observed that people who eat citrus rind at least one time a week experience less occurrence of squamous cell skin cancer. Grate citrus peel and include it in salads or main dishes.

 The information for this post was taken from:

•  Laurel Vukovic, “Beautiful Inside And Out” Better Nutrition magazine, June, 2010
•  Emily Stone, “Health By Chocolate” Natural Solutions Magazine, April, 2010
•  Lindsay Wilson, “The Beauty Bar – Vitamin C” Natural Solutions Magazine, January, 2009

 Essential oils are removed from a plant by various techniques. After it is extracted, a pure essential oil is somewhat oily to the touch. Even though it is officially an oil, it is much thinner than vegetable oils we use in cooking, such as canola oil or olive oil.

Essential oils are made up of such tiny compounds that the oils not only feel thin, but they seem to vanish when you rub them between your fingers. They also do not stain when you put them on cloth, and they evaporate quickly into the air. Because they disperse so rapidly, a different name for essential oils is volatile oils.

 Special scent glands in a plant create these essential oils. These glands may appear anywhere, but are most likely in the flowers and leaves and least to be expected in the stems. Essential oils perform many important functions for the plant:

•  They attract bees and other pollinators.
•  They keep away harmful bugs.
•  They repel other plants so that they don’t take up all the space.
•  They kill bacterial, viral, and fungal infections.
•  They close up the plant’s wounds.
•  They make the plant water-resistant.
•  They increase the plant’s resistance to disease.

 The beauty industry welcomes aromatherapy because essential oils improve the health and beauty of skin, hair, and nails. As an extra fringe benefit, they smell terrific when you apply them to your skin. Essential oils assist the human body in many of the same ways they help the plants they come from:

•  They kill bacterial, viral and fungal infections.
•  They cure wounds.
•  They decrease inflammation.
•  They regulate hormones.
•  They tone up and moisten your skin.
•  They stimulate the immune system.
•  They repel bugs.

 Here are a few additional things they will do for your body:

•  They heat up your skin when you apply them in a warm massage oil or liniment.
•  They help blood flow and digestion.
•  They reduce sinus and lung congestion.

The information for this post was taken from: Kathi Keville. Aromatherapy for Dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc, 1999

Essential oils are volatile liquids distilled from flowers, roots, bushes, seeds, trees and shrubs. For example, the essential oils of orange, petitgrain and neroli all come from various parts of an orange tree. It takes different amounts of plant material to produce equal amounts of essential oil depending upon the oil. For instance, it takes sixty thousand rose petals to produce one ounce of pure rose essential oil, but you can get one pound of pure lavender essential oil from about 30 pounds of lavender.

Essential oils are different from vegetable oils such as avocado oil or olive oil. They are not greasy so they do not clog the pores of the skin like vegetable oils can. Scientific research has proven that some of these essential oils have remarkable medicinal properties.

Essential oils contain many different chemicals and they can have many different effects on the body. For example, lavender essential oil has been used for burns, insect bites, headaches, PMS, insomnia, stress and hair growth. For safe topical use, essential oils must be diluted with another substance, usually a base oil such as jojoba oil. As a general rule, essential oils are not meant to be taken internally. Do not take any essential oil internally without the supervision of a trained professional.

To read more about essential oils, you can purchase the book The Complete Book of Essential Oils by Valerie Ann Worwood. Novato, CA: New World Library, 1991. 

•  Aids in protecting you from physical, chemical, biological, thermal, and electrical injury.
•  Helps your body keep a stable temperature.
•  Works as a moisture control device, preventing extreme entry or loss of water.
•  Stops undue loss of minerals.
•  Changes ultraviolet rays into vitamin D3 that aids you maintain strong bones by helping your body take in calcium and other minerals.
•  Acts as a very sensitive organ, reacting to heat, cold, pain, pleasure, and pressure.
•  Stores fat or burns it for heat or energy.
•  Produces sebum, an oily lubricating material.
•  Assists elimination of salts, urea, water, and toxins via sweating.

 Normally, your skin is intended to keep out more things than it lets in. However, it has a number of sweat pores and follicular openings in its surface. These entrances allow your skin to take in stuff you put on it (such as creams and lotions).

 Your skin has three layers. The epidermis is the outermost and thinnest layer. It shows the world your wrinkles, break-outs, dry flakes, laugh lines, sunburns, blisters, age spots, and freckles. These are the product of genetics and your way of life.

 The second layer is the dermis. It lies just below the epidermis and is a strong, elastic layer of connective tissue. Its rich blood supply gives your cheeks a rosy glow and makes your skin look vital and young. This sturdy, yet pliable, layer retains your internal organs, bones, fluids, and so forth.

 The two major elements of the dermis are collagen and elastin. These fibers add toughness and bounce to your skin. Without enough moisture, this collagen and elastin pattern loses its capability to keep skin toned up and pliable.

 The third layer of skin is the subcutis layer. This is a fatty layer that lies below the dermis and joins to the muscle tissue that lies underneath. Fat supplies a sturdy base for your skin and works as a shock absorber and insulator guarding your internal organs. The fat in this layer also furnishes your body with a storehouse of essential energy reserves. As you grow older, the subcutis becomes thinner, resulting in flabby, unsupported skin.

 The information for this post was taken from: Stephanie Tourles. Organic Body Care Recipes. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing, LLC, 2007

 No wonder such a large choice of fragrant creations is now obtainable. Everything from candles to facial creams to room fresheners guarantee to bring aromatherapy into your life.

 Simply because you are reading this post you likely can’t help wondering what all this excitement about aromatherapy is. Perhaps you’re lacking something that could likely be a benefit in your life. In any case, the idea of adding a little zest to your life with sweet smells sounds like fun. But this brings up some questions in your mind: Can this hurt me? Is this is actually a therapy? How does it work? What will my friends say? Will they think that I will go off the deep end spraying odd vapors into the air or walking around smelling as if I tripped into a pool of exotic perfume?

 Aromatherapy is not a replacement for professional medical advice or treatment. You can utilize some suggestions that you discover in this blog in combination with other treatments for serious health problems, but only do this under your doctor’s care. Your body is different from everyone else’s, so when you get sick, the best treatment for another who has the same thing may not be just right for you. The common guideline is:  when in doubt, don’t. If you’re not certain what you have or you don’t know how to care for it, seek expert counsel. Always keep in mind, don’t take any risks with your health!

 Aromatherapy is closely related to herbalism. These two fields employ many of the same healing herbs. But aromatherapy concentrates on plants that are scented. Both aromatherapy and herbalism pursue the philosophy of holistic medicine. This means they study the whole individual and take into consideration not just your symptoms, but also your whole person. This includes your emotional self, how you lead your life, how you think, what you eat, how much you exercise, what brings you joy, and what stresses you out.

 It is likely that you have already been exposed to aromatherapy. If you’ve ever tasted a cup of chamomile tea, smoothed on a rose or lavender-scented hand cream, or smelled a cinnamon roll, you’ve encountered aromatherapy by now. It is an adventure that unites inviting aromas with good health.

The information for this post was taken from: Kathi Keville. Aromatherapy for Dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc, 1999

Your skin plays a very important purpose within your body. Thus, it’s important that you learn how to care for it so that it will stay healthy in spite of the climate you live in or your age.

In order to correctly care for your skin, it is important that you know something about its structure and purpose. With this insight, you will be better equipped to make decisions concerning how and why to care for your skin.

Skin is an unbelievably large and complex organ which is continually renewing itself. The ordinary square inch of skin has 650 sweat glands, 20 blood vessels, 60,000 pigment skin cells, and more than 1000 nerve endings. It is just 2 millimeters thick. However, it does a wonderful job shielding you from the outside world, keeping your body at a constant temperature, absorbing the sun’s energy and converting it into vitamins, protecting you from UV rays, storing fats and water, getting rid of wastes, and sending sensations.

Did you know that women use an average of 12 personal care products everyday? And men aren’t far behind. They make use of about seven in their daily routine. These products include soap, body scrub, lotion, face cleanser, toner, night cream, shave cream, after-shave lotion, sunscreen, makeup, and deodorant. Every substance you apply to your skin is able to either penetrate or affect its surface. So it is necessary to know what is coming into contact with it.

Numerous skin care products, even the professed natural ones, can contain unhealthy and irritating ingredients. Many persons have suffered allergic reactions or other problems because their use of these products.

But the good news is if your skin can absorb possible irritating or damaging substances, then so it can absorb extremely beneficial natural ingredients, which promote beauty and wellness. This is what this blog is all about.

This post is based upon:

 Stephanie Tourles. Organic Body Care Recipes. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing, LLC, 2007

Stephanie Tourles. The Herbal Body Book: A Natural Approach to Healthier Hair, Skin, and Nails. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing, LLC, 1994

Here is a list of a few of these base oils and the various skin types they can be used for:

Sweet Almond Oil
Rich in protein, good for all skin types.

Apricot Kernel Oil
All skins, especially prematurely aged, sensitive, inflamed, and dry.

Avocado Oil
All skins, especially dry and dehydrated; eczema.

Borage Seed Oil
Prematurely aged skin. Good for regenerating and stimulating the skin. All skin types.

Carrot Oil
Premature aging, itching, dryness, psoriasis and eczema. Rejuvenating; reduces scarring.

Evening Primrose Oil
Helps to prevent premature aging of the skin.

Jojoba Oil
A waxy substance that mimics collagen. It can be used for inflamed skin, psoriasis, eczema, acne, hair care, all skin types; highly penetrative.

Olive Oil
Rheumatic conditions, hair care, cosmetics; soothing.

Wheatgerm Oil
Prematurely aged skin; all skin types.

This post is based upon The Complete Book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy, by Valerie Ann Worwood. Novato, CA. New World Library, 1991

For instance, in your garden some of your beautiful plants may attract aphids. We have found a non-chemical treatment to use without causing you to cough and your eyes to burn. You can make a spray of peppermint essential oil. Just put 4-8 drops of oil in 1 gallon of water and spray your plants.

You can also use peppermint oil to keep mice and ants away. If ants are coming into your house, put one or two drops of peppermint essential oil on the threshold or wherever they enter. To clear a nest, put 2 drops of peppermint essential oil directly into the nest and the ants will scatter. Mice hate peppermint too, and you can use the same methods with them.

Mosquitoes dislike the aroma of lemongrass, citronella or lavender essential oils. Add 3 drops of one of these oils to a cereal bowl of water and soak some ribbons in this solution. Then attach the ribbons to the branches of your trees. These flying insects will decide there is a better place to be. If you have candles outside, put a drop of the essential oil into the melted wax at the top. Or if you have an outside light, put one drop of oil on the bulb. As the bulb heats up, the aroma will be released. (Don’t add the oil when the bulb is hot, though.)

Many essential oils can be diluted in base oils (such as jojoba or olive oil) and applied to the skin. Or they can be used in the bath. They can even be used by inhalation. Lavender essential oil wiped on a burn leaves no scars and using a drop rubbed into the temples when you have a headache brings such relief. Put a few drops on a cotton ball and put it in your closet to deter moths.

The information for this post was taken from:
Natural Beauty Recipe Book, by Gill Farrer-Halls. Gloucester Mass. Quarry Books, 2006
The Complete Book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy, By Valerie Ann Worwood. Novato, CA. New World Library, 1991