Skin Rejuvenation

Originating over sixty centuries ago, aromatherapy is an ancient science that deals with the application of essential oils drawn from such sources as resins, herbs, trees and flowers. These oils contain curative and cleansing qualities and in addition are pleasant smelling and mood-elevating.
The ills of contemporary society - fast food diets, toxic pollutants, stress, hectic schedules and lack of adequate physical activity - all impact our physical and mental states negatively. Today, many people are reverting back to traditional remedies to regain balance in their lives.

The application of essential oils and scents can be used to treat several types of conditions and is often used to treat the skin. While practicing aromatherapy skin care the basic thing to be borne in mind is never to apply essential oils to any part of skin without diluting, even while inhaling. In addition, the aromatherapy skin care techniques that follow will be beneficial for cleaning and renewing the skin’s cells, particularly on the face. For a deep cleansing facial treatment, try mixing 3 to 5 drops of essential oil and a teaspoonful of milk or honey into a pint of boiling water. Place the hot mixture in a stainless steel mixing bowl, then lean over the bowl, cover your head with a towel, and inhale while taking the steam directly on your face. This is known as a ‘Facial Steam’. Along with deep-cleaning the skin on your face, inhaling the steam in this fashion has a soothing effect.

To keep your skin tone healthy, help it stay fresh and hydrated, try ‘Facial Masque’, an aromatherapy skin care treatment. For this recipe, mix honey, mashed avocado or egg white, 2-3 drops of essential oils with moistened clay. This compound is applied to a slightly moistened face. Once the masque begins to dry and harden (ten to fifteen minutes) wash the masque off completely with lukewarm water.

The carrier oil is mixed with approximately 10 drops of the essential oil, which allows it to bring nourishment and healing to the skin on your face. Skin type calls for a difference in oils, whether its Jojoba, Frankincense or German Chamomile. Place this combination directly on the affected areas to maximize the positive effects. This technique is referred to as “Facial Oil Blend”.

‘Skin Brushing’, another aspect of aromatherapy essential oil skin care, keeps the skin refreshed and stimulates the lymphatic system. Mix a tablespoon of honey with a drop of essential oil and apply with a natural bristle brush.

Essential oils, when used correctly and carefully, are safe and effective at revitalizing the body and spirit, even when other methods have been unsuccessful. A regimen of aromatherapy has been found to be effective with cases involving trauma. Imitation “essential oils” loaded with chemicals are widely available on the open market so it is important to assess the quality of the ingredients before making a purchase.

Aromatherapy is a type of alternative medicine involving the use of Incense And Aromatherapy that has been around for about 6000 years. It is a holistic therapy which means that aromatherapy practitioners consider not just your physical symptoms, but also mental, spiritual and emotional factors. Holistic therapy recognizes that these factors are essential to take into account as they all have a great influence over your health.

There are three main ways that the essential oils used in Aromatherapy enter your body:

* through your skin
* through olfaction - your sense of smell
* through your lungs

The Skin
Using essential oils in massage is the most common use of Incense And Aromatherapy . The massage oil is made from a carrier oil with a few drops of essential oils added, this allows the essential oils to be absorbed into the skin. Applying heat will increase the rate at which the oils are taken in. The massage itself will produce a bit of heat, and covering the area with towels or blankets or a heated wheat bag is also common.

Once the essential oils are absorbed into the skin they work their way into the underlying tissue thereby affecting the nerves, organs and blood stream.

Here’s a quick and easy experiment to prove that essential oils really can enter your body through your skin. Cut a clove of garlic in half and rub the liquid (garlic essential oil) from the cut end on the bottom of your foot. See how long it takes before you can taste garlic on your breath (usually about 15-20 minutes).

The Sense of Smell (Olfaction)
The olfactory receptors, which are called chemoreceptors, are nerve endings embedded deep within your nasal passages. Fragrance chemicals in the air are inhaled and dissolve once they hit the fluid lining in your nasal passages. This allows the chemoreceptors to pick them up and send the ‘chemical message’ to the brain.

These chemical messages are sent first to the frontal lobe of the brain where the smell is analyzed, and secondly to the limbic system and autonomous nervous system. This is where emotional and physical responses to the fragrance are created. For instance, you might feel calm or sleepy, or you might sneeze. You might also be reminded of something in your past, and this experience will have an emotional response attached to it.

Some essential oils actively mimic neurotransmitters which have a powerful ability to alter mood. These can be helpful for conditions such as stress and depression.

The Lungs
Inhaling essential oils is the fastest way to get them into your bloodstream where they can start working. This is because the lungs are very efficient at absorbing oxygen, and vaporized essential oils that you breathe in. Since your respiratory system is designed to get oxygen into your bloodstream, when you inhale the fragrance of essential oils, they too are carried quickly into your bloodstream.

Some Benefits of Essential Oils
In France, where modern day aromatherapy originated, it’s a part of mainstream medicine in the control of infections because of the strong antibacterial, antiseptic, antiviral and antifungal properties of many essential oils.

All essential oils are antiseptic to some degree. However, a few of the more powerful antiseptics are lavender, thyme, clove, cinnamon, tea tree, manuka and oregano.

Essential oils are extremely beneficial in skin care. The ancient Egyptians, who invented cosmetology, used essential oils in skin care around 5000 years ago.

A study in Japan showed that lemon, vaporized in a room, reduced typing errors by 54%. Lemon is well known for it’s antiseptic and antimicrobial properties which would also make it beneficial throughout office buildings.

These are just a few of the many uses of essential oils in aromatherapy. But there is also an important aspect of aromatherapy that doesn’t get mentioned often - the pleasure aspect. Using essential oils is fun, even if you aren’t a qualified aromatherapist. Have some fun discovering which fragrances you enjoy, they are bound to have a beneficial effect even if you just use a few drops in your bath water.

Aromatherapy Skin Care

Aromatherapy an ancient science dealing with application of essential oils extracted from flowers, trees, herbs and resins, is more than sixty centuries old. These oils have healing and cleansing properties and are also delightfully fragrant and mood-enhancing. The ills of the modern life style fast food, excessive pollution, stress, busy work
schedule, lack of proper exercise affect our physical and mental health adversely. Of late, wisely, a large number of people are reverting back to good old ways to regain equilibrium. Aromatherapy - using essential oils is also being put into use as a remedy to various problems, skin care being one of them.

While practicing aromatherapy skin care the basic thing to be borne in mind is never to apply essential oils to any part of skin without diluting, even while inhaling. Further, the following aromatherapy skin care exercises will be helpful handy for cleansing and cellular renewal of skin, especially facial skin. For deep cleansing of facial skin 3 to 5 drops of essential oil, mixed with a teaspoonful of milk or honey be poured in a pint of hot water. After putting this hot mixture in a stainless steel mixing bowl, the steam from this bowl should be
taken on face and inhaled by leaning over the bowl and covering the head with a towel.

This method is known as `Facial Steam. In addition to deep cleansing
the facial skin, breathing the steam in this manner also has relaxing effect.

Another aromatherapy skin care method, known as `Facial Masque is very
helpful to keep the facial skin toned, fresh and hydrated. In this method 2-3 drops of essential oils are mixed with moistened clay, honey mashed avocado or egg white. This mixture is applied to lightly dampened face. When the masque starts drying and hardening (10-15 minutes) the masque is washed thoroughly.

To nourish and heal the facial skin about 10 drops of essential oil blend is added to carrier oil. Jojoba, Frankincense and German Chamomile oils are widely used, depending on the type of skin. This blend should be applied to problematic areas to have desired effects. This method is known as `Facial Oil Blend.

Another aspect of aromatherapy skin care, to keep the skin refreshed and stimulate the lymphatic system, is `Skin Brushing. A drop of essential oils with a tablespoonful of honey should be mixed and applied with the help of a natural bristle skin brush.

Selected suitably and used carefully, essential oils being natural, safe and effective can work wonder to the body and spirit even where other methods have not been fruitful. Aromatherapy has even been used successfully for treating traumatic cases. One should, however, ascertain the quality as a large number of cheap chemical copies of essential oils are also available in the market.