essential oils

Forest Essentials Tranquil Sleep and Stress Relief Combo Product Review

September 21, 2015 Swati 2 Comments

I got these products in my last year stay at ITC for our anniversary. Then, I checked out if these products are available in the stores as well or if they were just specially packed for the hotel. Turns out they are available on the online store here but I have no idea about the outlets.

A special mention here for the ITC guys. They had assisted Mr. P in such a wonderful and helpful manner and gave us the most amazing anniversary surprise. As such I do love ITC hotels for their hospitality and food. You must definitely try out their Kebabs and Kurries restaurant in ITC Grand Hyderabad.

Anyways, getting back to the review, I have been trying these products since then on and off. Just in case, you are still confused about the products, these are essential oil blend sprays to address stress and sleep disorder issues. So, let us check out whether they do address the issues or not!

#OneMonthtoHealthyHair – Activity 9 – Scalp Massage with Rosemary Oil

March 19, 2015 Swati 1 Comment

Yeah, I know I could not make it yesterday. I am feeling so guilty already. Why did it happen? Well, Mr. P got rid of his plaster. Last one month has been one hell of a time with him spraining his ankle and it going from bad to worse. Finally, he is now on his own and can look after himself. And, I got one day of rest.

Already I woke up with a lot of body aches! And, now, the other mission is house cleaning. One month and the entire house is looking like a cob of webs…huh! And, with Ugadi on the head, I better make it fast.

So, I thought it would be fun to do an activity since it has been almost 5 days. So, for everyone who has not yet got the essential oils, I again request you to get your hands at least on rosemary. Mix almond oil with 5-10 drops of rosemary oil.

Take 2-3 drops of almond oil mixed with rosemary oil and rub along your finger tips. Massage your scalp with the oil.

Do this before shampooing your hair next time or today itself. This would help with dry scalp.

This is the same activity as I mentioned as the Activity of the Week – 1 but just with a twist. Also, instead of using almond oil, using apricot or grapeseed or jojoba oil makes the task easier because they are not oily and you do not need to wash your hair afterwards.

#OneMonthtoHealthyHair – Activity 4 – Essential Oils for Hair Care!

March 6, 2015 Swati 24 Comments

I am extremely sorry for not turning up yesterday. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I just could not come online!!

Anyways, I had decided to keep holi free but since I skipped yesterday, I have an activity for you today 🙂

Btw, wish you all a very Happy Holi! Hope you are busy enjoying the festival of colors instead of reading the posts here 😉 So, lets get on with the activity.

Incorporate Essential Oils

If you are a regular reader, you would already know I am crazy about using essential oils. My first was lavender which I did not really become a fan of but then I went on to try rosemary and some other exotic ones and I am a fan for life. And, since then, I have tried my level best to tell you all how awesome they are. So, this is again one of the my trials.

There are a few essential oils which you must have in your house and they are multi-purpose so you can use them from healing your wounds to cleaning the air in your house! Let us check out which 5 essential oils I think are important to have in the house.

Rosemary

This one rules the roost. Since we are talking about hair care, rosemary is the one EO which stimulates hair follicles and actually helps in hair growth.

Peppermint

Though it helps the oily scalp more but it reduces dandruff and also helps in hair growth.

Tea Tree

This one helps in cleansing your scalp and reducing the dandruff. Also, helps with acne.

Lavender

This one is not really on my favourites list. But, it helps calm your senses and lulls you to sleep, helps with hair fall and is also said to help with hair growth. It definitely helps with wounds and burns, though!

And, finally, we have

Clove

Actually, there is a list of spice essential oils which are amazing for hair growth. But, clove is probably the most easily available. I would also like to include ginger and cinnamon leaf (not bark) but remember that overusing any of the spice essential oils can be irritating for the skin. But, the advantage of spice essential oils are that they stimulate the follicles and improve the blood circulation in the scalp which leads to better hair growth.

So, today’s activity is to at least get one of the these essential oils and infuse them with all of your hair products.

How to use the Essential Oils?

Pour 5-10 drops of any of the above EO in all your hair products like shampoo, conditioner, hair oil, leave-in treatment, hair masks, any DIY’s you do, and then use the products.

You can make your own Essential Oils as well!

This would not be exactly essential oil but definitely cheaper and effective treatment. This is specially easy for all the spices which are easily available in your kitchen. So, take a table spoon of your favourite spice (ginger, clove, turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper) either in ground form or you can just use your mortal and pestle and lightly break the spices to release the oils.

Put the spice in a clear bottle and cover with oil (apricot or almond are preferred as they are better at absorbing the plant nutrients) and leave for a week in direct sunlight.

Keep shaking the bottle in between to release the oils.

After a week, your customized EO is ready for use! Remember to make it in small batches and use it within a month.

Btw, since this is not exactly as potent as essential oils, you can use around two table spoons for each of your products. And, you can keep alternating using different spices every time.

So, do try out this fun DIY and I am sure you will love it!

References:

Essential Oils 101 Vol. 2 – How do the Essential Oils work?

January 11, 2015 Swati 13 Comments

Tags : Home >> Beauty Products >> Essential Oils

I had started a series on Essential Oils last month and continuing in that, we shall discuss today about how do they really work for us?

The Chemistry

Like all things in nature, essential oils are also made up of molecules. Essential Oils are organic compounds and made of hydrocarbons. A generic structure of any essential oil is made up of the organic components like monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, phenols, alcohols, aldehydes and many more (Source). And, depending on the specific essential oil, the structure of these components vary which defines the exact nature and healing properties of the essential oils.

For example, oils with high monoterpene hydrocarbons react readily to air and heat which is why citrus oils oxidize more easily. Sesquiterpenes are anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory like chamomile and rose. Cinnamon and Clove oils have high concentration of phenols which is why they must be used in lower concentrations. Phenols are toxic in high quantities and require more work to excrete from the body.

To give an example, grapefruit has 86-92% d-limonene which is a monoterpene. Grapefruit contains 90-95% monoterpenes, 3-8% Tetraterpenes, 1-3% Aldehydes, and less than 3% Furanocoumarins, Sesquiterpenones, Alcohols and Thiols. So as we can see from the chemistry of essential oil that Grapefruit is a detoxifier, has cleansing properties because it is a mostly made of monoterpenes! Monotropenes also restore the correct information in the DNA of the cell once the sesquiterpenes and pheonlics have done their job. (Source)

Source : http://www.biospiritual-energy-healing.com/essential-oil-chemistry.html

How Essential Oils affect ‘Emotional Brain’?

Do you love the sweet smell of Earth after the first shower of rain? It smells of happiness to me. So, this is what is called Aromatherapy. Our sense of smell has the power to alter our moods.

A smell can be overwhelmingly nostalgic because it triggers powerful images and emotions before we have time to edit them… When we give perfume to someone, we give them liquid memory. Kipling was right: “Smells are surer than sights and sounds to make your heart-strings crack.”

We need only eight molecules of a substance to trigger an impulse in a nerve ending, but forty nerve endings must be aroused before we smell something. (Source)

Human body has an emotional brain called the limbic system which not only controls emotions but also the physical functions like heart rate, blood pressure, hormone production and release and many other such functions. It also has a olfactory cortex which is where any smell you inhale comes to and triggers response in your body.

So, basically, when you inhale an odor, it passes through the nasal passages in form of a protein. This protein is converted to electrical impulses when it reaches the cortex. So, whatever impulses the cortex receives, it sends the same messages to other organs. If you inhale a calming odor, the electric impulse tells the limbic system to relax and the system sends calming nerve impulses throughout the body.

Honestly, it is not as simple as this sounds but I have just given you a gist. For a detailed explanation, I would suggest you to check out this source.

Now we need to see how aromatherapy plays into all of this. Each of the essential oils has therapeutic properties, in that they are stimulating, calming, sedative, balancing, etc. When we inhale an essential oil molecule, it travels through the nasal passage to a receptor neuron that transports it up to the limbic brain, especially the hypothalamus. Remember that some of the functions of the hypothalamus are to regulate blood pressure, control heart rate and adjust hunger and thirst? Well, if you smell an essential oil that has a vibrationally calming effect on the body, and the hypothalamus receives the input to relax, then it creates neurochemicals that are sent through the body to relax and calm. Likewise if an essential oil has a frequency known to stimulate the body, then the limbic system will conform by sending the message to energize and become more active. Through this manner of transport, one can understand how aromatherapy oils can increase immunity, balance hormonal secretions, dampen or enliven hunger and thirst, and create sexual desire. (Source)

References

http://www.essentialoils.co.za/components.htm

http://www.experience-essential-oils.com/chemistry-of-essential-oil.html

http://www.biospiritual-energy-healing.com/essential-oil-chemistry.html

http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/04/10/how-smell-works-diane-ackerman-senses/

http://wisechoiceliving.com/our-brains-and-aromatherapy/

http://www.suzannebovenizer.com/aromatherapy-essential-oils/the-limbic-system

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Essential Oils 101 Vol. 1 – What are Essential Oils?

December 5, 2014 Swati 2 Comments

photo credit: dierken via flickr cc

Since my love for Essential Oils is growing day by day, I thought I would do a series of posts on the topic starting from the very basics. Some of the things have already been covered in the previous essential oil posts. So, would you like to check out some of them?

Read:

Essential Oils and Plant Oils

How do Essential Oils affect our Health?

With their growing popularity, essential oils have become common household items now a days. And, with the entire world going natural, many are resorting to essential oils as the most preferred alternative medicine. Essential Oils usage is versatile. One can get rid of mosquitoes as easily as heal the burn on the skin with them. And, no more than a few drops are needed for it. Yes, pure essential oils are expensive but then they have longer shelf life.

What are Essential Oils?

An essential oil is an aromatic concentrated essence of a particular part of the plant like a bark of the stem or the flowers or the leaves or the root. The chemical composition of different essential oils depend on how and from where the essential oil was extracted. Different parts of the plant yields different compositions and, hence, different fragrances.

According to Dr. Brian Lawrence “for an essential oil to be a true essential oil, it must be isolated by physical means only. The physical methods used are distillation (steam, steam/water and water) or expression (also known as cold pressing, a unique feature for citrus peel oils). There is one other method of oil isolation specific to a very limited number of essential oil plants. This is a maceration/distillation. In the process, the plant material is macerated in warm water to release the enzyme-bound essential oil.”.[1]

Essential Oils 101 series at perfect skin care for you

The essential oils are for plants what blood is for human bodies. They can ward off the pests or the insects for protection, attract pollinators or prevent the growing of weeds or other plants to protect the parent plant [2].

Scientific Research on Essential Oils

Though there is not much scientific evidence on the effectiveness of the essential oils, various essential oils when studied in isolation have given assuring results. For example, Eucalyptus essential oil has been found to be a natural pesticide [3] and has been tested for antibacterial and antiviral activity against the pathogens in the respiratory tract [4].

Similarly, another study asserts that smelling lavender and rosemary helps in destroying free radicals in the body [5]. In another controlled single blind study, lavender has been found to have beneficial effect on insomnia and depression on women college students. Limonene, one of the nature’s most powerful cancer fighting constituents, has a ~97% of concentration in Orange Essential Oil [6].

These are just a few inconclusive studies. The research in essential oils is also limited because of the quality of the product. Each essential oil is different because every time it is produced, a plethora of factors affect the plant which in turn changes the composition of its constituents and, at the end, of the product itself. This is also the reason for lack of regulation and standardization of the quality of essential oil.

Hope you are interested in the series!! Do let me know you thoughts about it 🙂

References:

[1] Lawrence, B. (2000). Essential Oils: From Agriculture to Chemistry. NAHA’s World of Aromatherapy III Conference Proceedings, pp. 8–26.
[2] http://www.naha.org/explore-aromatherapy/about-aromatherapy/what-are-essential-oils/
[3] Batish, Daizy R. (2008). Eucalyptus Essential Oil as a natural pesticide. Forest and Ecology Management , Vol. 256, Issue 12, pp. 2166-2174.
[4] Cermilli, Claudio (2008). Effect of Eucalyptus Essential Oil on Respiratory Bacteria and Viruses. Current Microbiology, Volume 56, Issue 1, pp. 89-92.
[5] Atsumi T, Tonosaki K. Smelling lavender and rosemary increases free radical scavenging activity and decreases cortisol level in saliva. Psychiatry Res. 2007;150(1):89-96.
[6] Introduction to Essential Oil Basics – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h3B7RepW5E&feature=youtube_gdata_player