Articles » Aromatherapy
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Aromatherapy Uses - Skin and Hair Care
More and more of today's skin and hair care products are made using essential oils and the people using these types of products are benefiting in several ways. Not only are they giving themselves top-notch skin and hair care, they're also reaping the benefits of aromatherapy.
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Massaging essential oils into the skin is a commonly used aromatherapy technique and one that'll enable you to reap tremendous therapeutic benefits. If you've never had a massage, you don't know what you're missing. After a massage session, you'll feel amazingly relaxed and rejuvenated. Here are some tips on getting the most out of your aromatherapy massage.
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Aromatherapy Uses – Household Cleaning and Freshening
If you've got to clean house, why not reap the benefits of aromatherapy while you're at it! If you've ever tackled household chores, you know that the smell of some products is overwhelming. If used without proper ventilation, many can even cause sickness.
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Aromatherapy could not exist without plants and consequently, the garden plays an important role. It's the area used for growing the plants whose aromas can then be extracted. With a bit of planning and routine maintenance, anyone can reap aromatherapy benefits right in their own back yards.
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If you consider yourself more than a beginner when it comes to cooking, you're likely already incorporating principles of aromatherapy into the foods you create. Using ingredients like infused oils and flavored butters not only adds a tremendous amount of flavor to your meals, these types of ingredients cause your smell receptors to come alive.
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Aromatherapy Uses – Bath and Douche
Aromatherapy involves using the aroma of different plants to help soothe the mind as well as the body. The aromatherapy bath happens to be a very effective method for relaxing tired, stressed bodies. Bathing in essential oils is an all-natural way to unblock congested pores and ease the symptoms of fatigue and muscle tension.
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To be effective, essential oils must be disbursed throughout the environment. In the world of aromatherapy, the proper term for this type of disbursement is diffusion. There are many ways aromatherapy oils can be diffused including several methods that make use of items you likely have lying around the house. Commercial solutions are items that have been created especially for the purpose of diffusing aromatherapy oils and they're available for purchase.
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The term that is more commonly associated with aromatherapy resins is incense. Resins, or incense, have long been an important part of history. Widely used for ceremonial purposes in many ancient eastern and western civilizations, use of incense today, while still popular, is not nearly as common as is the use of perfumes and products containing fragrances.
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Infused oils are another type of oil used in aromatherapy. Infusion is an extraction process that does not involve boiling. Rather, an ingredient, usually an herb, is steeped or soaked for a period of time in some type of liquid so that its active ingredients or soluble elements can be removed. A gentle heat source is needed, such as the sun. When steeped or soaked in oil, the end result is infused oils.
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Hydrosols are another type of product commonly used in aromatherapy. They're frequently combined with essential oils and carrier oils as a way to enhance the base product. The steam and water distillation processes used for extracting essential oils from plants, roots, flowers and fruits produces another byproduct: water. This leftover water retains the scent of the plant from which it was extracted and the fragrant liquid is what's referred to as the hydrosols. Hydrosols are known by other names including hydrolytes and hydrolates.
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Essential Oils and Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is all about essential oils. Essential oils are naturally-occurring oils that have been extracted from the various parts of different plants including the leaves, the bark, the stem, the flowers, the fruits and even the roots. Essential oils are not to be confused with perfumes which frequently are manufactured using a variety of ingredients, many of which are synthetic and do not provide the same types of mind and body benefits.
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Essential Oil Extraction Processes - Solvent Extraction
Some plant material cannot tolerate the heated forms of extraction such as steam distillation. High heat damages these plants and once damaged, their essential oils too are damaged and are no longer able to be extracted. For these plants, as well as others, solvents such as ether, ethanol, methanol, hexane, alcohol and petroleum are used instead. The problem with using solvents to extract essential oils is that most of the time, residual solvents or impurities remain in the end product. Because they're impure, those true to aromatherapy refuse to use them.
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Essential Oil Extraction Processes - Expression
It's true that essential oils are an essential part of aromatherapy. But contrary to what some people think, the term 'essential' doesn't mean essential as in 'being a necessary part of'. Instead, essential oils are the oils extracted from the 'essence' of a plant - those parts that contain the plant's aroma molecules.
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Essential Oil Extraction Processes - Distillation
Steam Distillation The majority of essential oils available today are extracted using a steam distillation process. It's the oldest form of essential oil extraction and is believed by many to be the only way oils should be extracted. The process really is quite simple and as long as this extraction process is closely monitored, the steam will remain at a temperature that won't damage the plants.
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Among the many types of aromas used in aromatherapy are CO2s. If you know anything about chemistry, you know that CO2 is the symbol for carbon dioxide. And if you know anything about carbon dioxide, you know that it is what we exhale from our bodies with every breath.
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Carrier oils are an important part of aromatherapy. Carrier oils are mainly used to dilute essential oils. Dilution is especially important when the essential oils are being massaged into the skin. If you know anything about essential oils, you know that they are highly concentrated and some can be pricy. Besides the fact that you'd consume a considerable amount if you used an essential oil for massage without first diluting it, essential oils are usually too much for the body to tolerate in an undiluted form.
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Aromatherapy - Buying Products and Ingredients
Once you venture into the world of aromatherapy, you'll quickly realize that as with the many tantalizing scents, there are also numerous purchasing sources. You likely will have heard of some of these companies before, but many names will be brand new to you. How can you decide which aromatherapy company is most worthy of your business? Here are some issues to consider.
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As you become more involved in aromatherapy, there will come a time when you'll want to start experimenting with blending. Blending is simply the combining of different aromatherapy essential oils, carrier oils, absolutes, CO2s, herbs and sometimes water for the purpose of achieving different results.
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What is aromatherapy? Aromatherapy is a technique that utilizes the body's sense of smell to help boost moods, relieve stress and encourage better health. Various fragrant substances are used during aromatherapy sessions and each produces a different result.
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The Role of Absolutes in Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is all about using the sense of smell to improve the body, mind and soul. It makes sense then that when practicing aromatherapy, nothing is more important than how a substance smells. Absolutes are only recently becoming part of aromatherapy. The highly-concentrated scent of absolutes can waken powerful feelings and emotions even in the busiest of lives. So what exactly are absolutes?
