Aromatherapy

Archive for August, 2007

To perfect an aromatherapy recipe, thousands of aromatherapy blends exist to suit every need, from stress relieving mixtures to skin healing compounds. If you’re an aromatherapy enthusiast, these blends are essential for making the desired healing salve, oil, or perfume. Picking the wrong one can mean the difference between healing rough skin and smelling nice.

Simple to Use

Aromatherapy blends are miniature recipes. Think of them as creating the sauce for a pasta dish. Of course, many other ingredients eventually go into the final dish, but the sauce is created from a variety of foods and spices separately before being added to the pasta. Most of these blends are simple proportions of various oils and liquids. For example, to create an anxiety relief blend, a user might add in 3 drops of clary sage and 1 each of lemon and lavender. The final amount used could be twice that or ten times that, depending on the application.

To mix the aromatherapy blends together, multiply each ingredient by the same number to keep the proportions the same. Place the drops of oil into a vial or glass jar and roll between your two hands instead of shaking. Blends can be combined to achieve various effects. To get an anxiety relief bath oil combination, users would simply mix the anxiety relief and bath oil blends together. The whole process takes less than a minute, though it’s recommended that users make only small quantities of the substances at a time to preserve the quality of the proportions. Too much of one thing can be as bad as too little of another, and the entire blend might have undesirable odors.

Where to Find

Essential oils, most often a key ingredient in aromatherapy blends, can be found at bath stores. For ten or twenty dollars, enthusiasts have enough materials to create a year’s amount of blends, making aromatherapy even more affordable than before. Instead of having an excess of blends that they never use, users can make the products they need on the spot in just a few seconds with little effort. Not only can they save hundreds of dollars each year, but they will never have to throw away blends that they don’t use or have found they don’t like. These blends can be added to many different products, such as hand cream and bath oil to create an entrancing aroma that will ease the worst stresses.

Aromatherapy enthusiasts owe it to themselves to learn the secrets of making their own mixtures. They’ll save big money, have ideas for timeless gifts for holidays, and know how to relax themselves anywhere. Aromatherapy blends help make a healthier life.

In aromatherapy it is widely believed that what a person breathes is of great importance when it comes to their health and well being. This is why aromatherapy beads have been created. These encapsulate pure essential oils into a solid form so that you will benefit each time you inhale the aroma from these aromatherapy beads.

What Aromatherapy Beads Are

Aromatherapy beads are a modern alternative to potpourri and they actually last 3 times longer than potpourri does. This is because these beads are infused with essential oils. They are also very colorful, so if you want to add a sensory experience to the home décor that you already have, this is how to do it. Plus, you should also know that these aromatherapy beads are also quite inexpensive. In fact 2 ounces will be a good size to order and this will only cost you around $7.

How To Use Aromatherapy Beads

There are 3 ways in which these aromatherapy beads can be used. First of all, you can simply leave them in an open container. Secondly, you can place them in an air diffuser that does not employ heat. Third, you can leave them in an organza bag. These are small 3″ x 4″ bags that are made out of a material that is similar to gauze so that the scent can easily escape. They come in a variety of vibrant colors.

Aromatherapy Containers

Another way in which you can use your aromatherapy beads is by purchasing a small necklace that allows you to place your beads inside of it. You can then take your favorite scent with you wherever you go. These stunning vessels look great as a wearable aromatherapy container.

What Aromatherapy Beads Look Like

There are many different looks that these beads are available in. However, the most popular aromatherapy beads are those that are either jeweled or made of polish beach glass. These are the ones that you are really going to want to purchase if you want to beautifully accent your environment with aromatherapy beads.

One artist that makes these glass beads is Kim Miles. She is very talented and has thus been able to create some very lovely lamp worked beads. Some of these beads, such as her layered flower beads, are absolutely amazing.

The Various Scents Available

Before you go shopping for your aromatherapy beads, you will need to know what you are looking for. This is because different essential oils are able to achieve different things. For instance, f you need help falling asleep, then you are going to want a combination of lemon grass, orange and seaweed. On the other hand, if you are feeling congested, then you will want a combination of eucalyptus, peppermint and lemon grass.

Aromatherapy has caught on big as a way to relax using pleasant scents, and one of the most common ways to enjoy this is through the use of aromatherapy bath products. It’s the combination of steaming water to relax your muscles and the scents of aromatherapy bath products that can make it easy to relax in the evening. There are a variety of aromatherapy bath products to use, but what you use depends on your preferences. Let’s talk about a few aromatherapy bath products so you can decide what’s best for you.

The Basics: Essential Oils

The scents in most aromatherapy bath products come from essential oils, which are oils extracted from plants that tend to hold concentrated scents from those plants. These can be purchased and added to your bathwater to make it fragrant, but keep in mind that you will only want to add a few drops at most, as the concentrated essential oils are quite intense, and too much in contact with your skin can be uncomfortable. If you want to make it easier and safer to have a scented bath, pass on the oils and go for other aromatherapy bath products.

Bath Salts For Your Health

Bath salts are being sold as aromatherapy bath products these days, as manufacturers combine the salts with essential oils to create an easy way to have a scented bath without adding too much of the essential oils. These salts have benefits that go beyond just the scent of the bath, though. Some salts will make it easier to exfoliate when washing, which leads to healthier skin, while salts based on magnesium sulfate can act as an anti-inflammatory agent. So, for an aromatic bath with extra health benefits, consider scented bath salts.

Add Fun With Bath Bombs

Also known as bath fizzies, bath bombs are another class of aromatherapy bath products that can add scents to your bathwater, though in this case, they can add some fun as well. Typically made with scented oils, baking soda, and weak acids like citric acid, when a bath bomb hits the water, the baking soda and acid combine and fizz, just as most elementary school students observe at one time. The fizz creates a tickling, massaging sensation as the water bubbles around you, and the scents get released. So, as we can see, there is a variety of aromatherapy bath products that can meet any of your needs, whether you want the scents in their purest form, additional health benefits from what you put in the water, or just scented water and a little fun.

Aromatherapy is a term created in the 1920’s by the French scientist Rene Maurice Gattefosse for the use of essential oils in the treatment of disease. The essential oil, also known as the essence of the oil, is the process of extracting the chemical properties of that oil so that it may be used for treatment. In France some essential oils cannot be used without a doctor’s prescription. In other countries around the world, including the United States, aromatherapy is not recognized as a viable form of treatment for any disease.

The name aromatherapy is a little misleading and an entire industry has evolved around this misunderstanding. Aromatherapy is actually defined as the use of the chemical properties of the oils, and their supposed ability to cure disease by applying them directly to the patient, as opposed to the strength of their scent. While there is an arm of aromatherapy that does deal with the relaxation properties of certain scents, the main focus of the practice is on applying oils to cure disease and not on creating scents to reduce stress.

The Critics Speak Out

There is very little solid research available to back up the claims that practicing therapists make about their oils and treatments. Some critics have said that, aside from making the room smell nice and reducing stress, aromatherapy has very little value at all. Many medical doctors put aromatherapy in the same category as acupuncture and other alternative medicines but many therapists claim that their oils and treatments are very effective. The problem is that there is no value in conducting a truly scientific study on oils and their effects because you really cannot patent an oil treatment. If there is no money to be made then there is usually very little interest in researching something.

However there is a danger to aromatherapy that could cause American medical authorities to take a closer look at the practice as it becomes more popular here and in other Western countries. Essential oils are, in their most basic form, chemicals extracted from different plants. As chemicals they cause a chemical reaction when they come into contact with something. The practice of aromatherapy involves combining these oils into mixtures that are intended to treat disease and alter a patient’s mood. However, if a therapist creates an incorrect mixture, or uses a mixture that a client is unknowingly allergic to, the results can be fatal. Since the practice deals with applying a mixture of chemicals to the human body in the hopes of treating disease, and with an alarming number of new therapists popping up every year, it may be in the best interest of the medical authorities to start giving aromatherapy a closer look.

Aromatherapy offers a wide range of health and mental benefits, using aromas to stimulate areas of the brain that control moods and directly increasing the transfer of chemicals that make people happy and relaxed. For a particularly stressful day, an anxiety aromatherapy candle may be just the trick. Using essential oils to stimulate the Limbic System (part of the brain that controls moods and emotions), these candles can ease a frantic mind and make a person feel relaxed.

Candles or Burners?

One of the common complaints about candles used to be that the aromas would for the most part be burned off instead of dissipating into the atmosphere, really stunting their benefits or erasing it completely. However, new materials are being used today that make an anxiety aromatherapy candle just as efficient at releasing aromas as oil burners and vaporizers. For example, Kosher Soy wax is a high quality wax that allows essential oils to dissipate into the atmosphere slowly instead of burning. Coupled with the romantic aura of using candles, an anxiety aromatherapy candle will even the most stressed people feel relaxed and motivated.

Other Health Benefits

Of course, the health benefits of an anxiety aromatherapy candle are not limited to just the psychological effects of altering emotions. Many essential oils, a key ingredient to aromatherapy, include natural antiseptics, and as they are released into the air, these essential oils help purify the air and stop the spread of harmful germs. Irritating allergies would not do much for a person’s health or mentality, so these essential oils go through an advanced refining process that irons out all but a tiny fraction of harmful traces. Other types of aromatherapy may irritate sensitive allergies, but with essential oils the likelihood is almost nonexistent.

Coming in classic scents like lavender and citrus, an anxiety aromatherapy candle can suit anyone’s desires. These cost a little more than traditional candles, but an 8 oz. anxiety aromatherapy candle will still only cost $10 to $15. Besides, a candle is the least of what a person gets. With essential oils as a key ingredient, these candles will help relax a person and purify the air. If cost is an issue, these candles are not too difficult to make, requiring only fifteen minutes of time and a few dollars per candle, making them affordable for everyone to acquire.

In any case, everyone can use a break from everyday stress. These candles make perfect gifts, and their quality is topnotch. For a candle that cleans the air and relaxes the mind, an anxiety aromatherapy candle will make sure stress is never an issue again.