Essential Oil Essentials

An essential oil is a concentrated, hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. They are also known as volatile or ethereal oils, or simply as the “oil of” the plant material from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. An oil is “essential” in the sense that it carries a distinctive scent, or essence, of the plant. Essential oils do not as a group need to have any specific chemical properties in common, beyond conveying characteristic fragrances. They are not to be confused with essential fatty acids.

Essential oils are generally extracted by distillation. Other processes include expression, or solvent extraction. They are used in perfumes, cosmetics and bath products, for flavoring food and drink, and for scenting incense and household.

Various essential oils have been used medicinally at different periods in history. Medical application proposed by those who sell medicinal oils range from skin treatments to remedies for cancer, and are often based on historical use of these oils for these purposes. Such claims are now subject to regulation in most countries, and have grown correspondingly more vague, to stay within these regulations.

Interest in essential oils has revived in recent decades, with the popularity of aromatherapy, a branch of alternative medicine which claims that the specific aromas carried by essential oils have curative effects. Oils are volatilized or diluted in a carrier oil and used in massage, diffused in the air by a nebulizer or by heating over a candle flame, or burned as incense, for example.

aromatherapy: aro·ma·ther·a·py - noun - The use of volatile plant oils, including essential oils, for psychological and physical well-being.

A few drops of essential oils in your homemade face masks, lotions and sea salts can turn an ordinary mask or treatment into a spa-like experience. But figuring out which essential oils work best on skin types can be confusing. Below is a good list to get your started with the most popularly-used oils to get you started.

Essential Oils by Skin Type

You can find these by capsules in health food stores or in bottles with droppers

Normal skin

Atlas cedarwood, geranium, jasmine, lavender, soy, neroli, evening primrose, almond, orange, geranium, palmarosa, roman chamo, rose, rosewood, Ylang-ylang, tea tree

Combination skin

Geranium, rosewood, Ylang-ylang, rose geranium hydrosol, neroli hydrosol

Dry and aging skin

Almond, carrot seed, cedarwood, clary, jasmine, geranium, lavender, orange, Palma rose, neroli, castor, extra virgin, wheat germ, sandalwood, rosewood, rose, Vetiver, Ylang-ylang

Oily skin

Cedarwood, geranium, Clary, lavender, Ylang-ylang, lemon, peppermint, Niaouli, Cajeput, cypress, frankincense, patchouli, Roman & German chamos, sandalwood, juniper, Melisa, coriander, lime (distilled), grapefruit,rose, rosemary, eucalyptus, red mandarine, myrtle, neroli

Sensitive skin

Roman & German chamomile, rose, Palma Rosa, Helichrysum, neroli, rosewood, carrot, angelica, jasmine, Neroli, Chamomile or Yarrow Hydrosols

Aromatherapy and essential oils

Aromatherapy and essential oils

“Aromatherapy” basically is a holistic treatment using natural scents. It is primarily used to care for the body with pleasant smelling botanical oils such as rose, lemon, lavender and peppermint. The essential oils are added to the bath or massaged into the skin, inhaled directly or diffused to scent an entire room. Aromatherapy is used for the relief of pain, care for the skin, alleviate tension and fatigue and invigorate the entire body. Essential oils can affect the mood, alleviate fatigue, reduce anxiety and promote relaxation. When inhaled, they work on the brain and nervous system through stimulation of the olfactory nerves.

The essential oils are aromatic essences extracted from plants, flowers, trees, fruits, bark, grasses and seeds with distinctive therapeutic, psychological, and physiological properties, which improve and prevent illness. There are about 150 essential oils. Most of these oils have antiseptic properties; some are antiviral, anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving, antidepressant and expectorant. Other properties of the essential oils which are taken advantage of in aromatherapy are their stimulation, relaxation, digestion improvement, and diuretic properties. To get the maximum benefit from essential oils, it should be made from natural, pure raw materials. Synthetically made oils do not work.

Aromatherapy is one of the fastest growing fields in alternative medicine. It is widely used at home, clinics and hospitals for a variety of applications such as pain relief for women in labor pain, relieving pain caused by the side effects of the chemotherapy undergone by the cancer patients, and rehabilitation of cardiac patients. There is a growing body of scientific evidence for the many skin benefits of essential oils. Dr. Pratima Raichur, author of Absolute Beauty , (Harper Collins, 1996), points out that nearly all essential oils are anti-microbial and recommends them as part of her Ayurvedic approach to each skin condition, which, according to Ayurvedic principles, is determined by one’s specific body type, or “dosha.” For most oily or “Kapha” skin, she recommends lavender and clary sage to normalize oil production. For sensitive, “Pitta” skin, and acne rosacea,   sandalwood, rose and jasmine to calm the skin. For dry, “Vata” skin, neroli, sweet orange and geranium to balance and hydrate.

Essential oils stimulate the powerful sense of smell. Many know the odors we smell have a significant impact on how we feel. In dealing with patients who have lost the sense of smell, doctors have found that a life without fragrance can lead to high incidence of psychiatric problems such as anxiety and depression. We have the capability to distinguish 10,000 different smells. It is believed that smells enter through cilia (the fine hairs lining the nose) to the limbic system, the part of the brain that controls our moods, emotions, memory and learning.

Studies with brain wave frequency has shown that smelling lavender increases alpha waves in the back of the head, which are associated with relaxation. Fragrance of Jasmine increases beta waves in the front of the head, which are associated with a more alert state.
Scientific studies have also shown that essential oils contain chemical components that can exert specific effects on the mind and body. Their chemistry is complex, but generally includes alcohols, esters, ketones, aldehydes, and terpenes.

In addition to their balancing effects, using essential oils and products made from them instead of conventionally scented skin and bath products, will spare your skin the stress of the number one ranking skin irritant: synthetic fragrance. Essential oil blends for a variety of skin types that also include super-antioxidants and marine extracts in their formulas and several others all offer balancing oils that actually can detoxify, regenerate and balance oil production in the skin.