Thursday, 11 December 2014

Understanding the importance of pure herbal essential oils

In the first place you must know that essential oils are not really oils that you find around you. Essential oils do not contain any fatty acids. In this regard, they are far different from the conventional oils that are made of fatty acids. Essential oils can be described as highly concentrated plant constituents that are endowed with a number of therapeutic as well as cosmetic qualities. In fact essential oils are the life force or the soul of the plants from which they are extracted. Most kind of essential oils have amazing anti fungal, antibacterial and antiviral characteristics. They can be excellent components in your home made cleaning preparations. Some of the essential oils that are widely used in cleaning preparations include lemon, grapefruit, eucalyptus, peppermint, tea tree, lavender and rosemary.

Essential oils are actually highly miniscule in their molecular size. For this reason, they are very easily absorbed by the surface of the skin. Therefore, they are some of the most excellent ingredients in a wide range of personal care products that can heal, soften and nourish. One good thing about them is that they do not get accumulated in the human body over time. They just do their job, bestow the advantages of their healing power and pass on through.

A number of research studies have revealed that rosemary essential oil can significantly improve the performance of your brain. Especially, smelling rosemary oil can help in improving the memory. This has been scientifically verified and proved by administering recall and performance tests to a number of individuals under experimental conditions. This will give you an idea of the benefits contained in various essential oils in a scientific way. Also, some other tests have shown that those groups that had inhaled either rosemary or lavender essential oil experienced a deep sense of relaxation over those that did not inhale anything.

You must be able to distinguish between fragrant oils and essential oils. Know that those products sold in the market under the title of perfumes are not essential oils at all. Though the labels might read that they are extracted from natural products, they are actually synthetic products and are not natural.Since essential oils are wholly natural, no company can patent them. You will never be able to find essential oils in the ingredients of a pharmacy drug. For this same reason, most general practitioners of medicine will never recommend essential oils as alternatives to the drugs marketed. In fact, since they cannot be patented, drug companies will never waste time and resources to study about them. This is one of the reasons why our scientific knowledge of essential oils is limited and the fact that there are no strong research works published on essential oils. The fund of information that we have about essential oils today are those that are personally experienced by thousands over a long period in the history and passed on to generations.

To prepare essential oils, a large number of plants are needed. For instance, it will be amazing to note that you will need about 4000 pounds of Bulgarian roses to produce just 1 pound of essential oil. On the other hand, you will need only 100 pounds of lavender plant material to make one pound of lavender essential oil. The enormous number of plants used to make essential oils will let you understand why they are highly concentrated.

Monday, 8 December 2014

Important information about buying pure essential oils

Essential oils are great gifts to human health. Extracted from herbs and plants using various methods, essential oils have been around us since historic times. Different kinds of essential oils are used to treat a variety of symptoms in humans. Essential oils form an integral part of aroma therapy and are endowed with amazing curative properties. There are a few things you must know about using essential oils the right way and this article will rightly help you in this regard.

Most of the essential oils are highly powerful and should never be applied on the skin without dilution as per the prescribed measures. Oils also called as carrier oils are used for diluting essential oils. Some of these carriers include butters, waxes, alcohols or other diluting measures. Since they are actually available in high concentration, you might end up damaging your skin by applying in their pure form without dilution.

A few essential oils are advised to be used in their pure form without any dilution. They are safe to be used in their concentrated form. Some of such essential oils include lavender, German chamomile, tea tree, sandalwood, and rose geranium. It is not advisable to use essential oils on baby skins. The skins of babies are highly sensitive and delicate as against the skins of the grown up adults. If they are to be used as part of the recipes for children, you must use only half of the dosage that is recommended for adults. 

You must not make use of some essential oils on pregnant ladies. Such oils not advised for them include Aniseed, cedarwood, chamomile, cinnamon, clary sage, clove, ginger, jasmine, lemon, nutmeg, rosemary, and sage in addition to others. There is a way to test whether you are sensitive to a particular essential oil. You must infact do this test before initiating a skin care preparation. Take the recommended essential oil and dilute it by adding one drop of it to half a teaspoon of carrier oil like olive, jojoba or sweet almond. You may rub this preparation on the top inside of your arm and leave it there for two hours. If you do not develop any redness or itching, then you do not have any sensitivity to that particular oil. This means you can use them in the recipes for treating your condition.

The most important thing to note regarding essential oils is this. Do not keep them within the reach of children. Also never let the oils come into contact with your eyes. Essential oils are not recommended for internal use. More so, you must never consume essential oils like wintergreen and eucalyptus. Though some of such essential oils are used in dilution in products like toothpaste, it is observed that there is no need to use them in this way. In fact, some toxic essential oils are not to be taken even through skin contact. However, you will not find such essential oils sold in the shops. It is rare to get them. The positive benefits that essential oils can hold for humans are something that cannot be underestimated. When used with discretion under expert advice, essential oils can bring about wellness and cure to an amazing extent.