In 1921 an explosion happened in a laboratory of a French cosmetician. Something went wrong and doctor Rene-Maurice Gattefosse received a third-degree burn on his hand, what was tremendously unpleasant! He rushed to search some water, groped for some cup and plunged his hand there. Lavender oil turned to be in that cup. His burn skinned over, there was even no any scar left.
It came into fashion now – to play with scents. Any respectful beauty salon adds the word SPA to its traditional procedures. In general, SPA – is a health resort, but in city this means the following. They turn on meditative music, light aromatic candle, put small bags of sweet-scented herbs on your shoulders, do manicure for you, and then massage your hands with a cream containing essential oils.
What we're talking about?
Essential oils – are concentrated scents and a plant's vital energy essence, its blood and lymph in a way. These are they that attract butterflies and bees that transfer pollen, so that a plant will be able to prolong its genus. During flowering, oils are concentrated in petals and pollen, and in winter they go to roots, to provide a plant with food and drink during forced hibernation.
These amazing substances don't dissolve in water and mix with alcohol very badly. The best dissolvent for them is vegetable oil, almond-oil is most preferable. Essences shouldn't be better used in pure form – as they can be dangerous for sensitive people, taken in high concentration. A wise man will keep them in a closely packed can of dark glass and will find a place, foolproof from children's strong hands thirsting for knowledge, and also from pets' pads.
Although they call essences "oils", there is neither oil nor fat in them. These are volatile matters of hydrocarbon, which molecules are small enough, to vaporize quickly or penetrate to human organism through skin. An oil needs from 20 to 120 minutes to penetrate into blood and begin its medicinal work.
Today essential oils are used, probably, by all respectful cosmetic companies. Some of them, for example, Decleor, widely advertise this fact, others accentuate people's attention on it, but make the best use of vegetable extracts.
Almost all essential oils regulate activity of capillaries and renew a normal work of vessels. Cosmetology cannot do without these natural biologically active substances – as this is a natural remedy for rejuvenescence: skin is purified from slags and corneal layer with their help, to regenerate as soon as possible.
How do they receive them?
Evaporate from herbs, flowers and wood. Ancient Egyptians, 4000 years ago, obtained essences for cosmetic, medicinal and religious needs with the help of oil-press, and in X century B.C., Arabs invented distillation. And at one, they received a huge quantity of essences, which eastern Aesculapiuses even cannot dream about earlier. Till now, evaporation is considered to be an optimal method, but recently chemists found effective and safe organic dissolvents. This is the simplest way to obtain high-quality extracts of jasmine and Honeysuckle.
Perfumers often go another way: they learned to create aromatic essences by a synthetic method. In spite of anger of adherents that love all natural and ecologically clean, many perfumers choose this method: in almost all modern perfumes' compositions there're notes that were created artificially. (For example, creators of Odeur 71 for Comme des Garcons invented a scent of working electrical appliances and in a scent Flower by Kenzo there's a fragrant note of flowering poppy, although this flower doesn't have smell in nature). However, perfumery and aromatherapy are 2 different things.
What can they cure?
Crusaders were the last ones who knew how to cure wounds and illnesses with the help of ancient cures, which receipts they stole or extorted during their crusades to the East. Scientists began learning essential oils only in XX century. And they discovered, that there're strong antiseptics, antibiotics and anti- fungus cures among them. They can destroy dental calculus, cure depression, asthma, migraine, cold, dandruff, dermatitis and acne. There're methods of quick improvement of hair condition or forgetting about premenstrual syndrome with their help.
Doctors-naturopaths insist on the fact that this is a treatment without side effects. They are partially right: a modern civilized man takes so many drugs that it's even terrifying.
Psychology of scent
This sounds terrifying, but essential oils really can change your perception. In our brain there's a section that perceives information about scents. And this is this section that controls digestion, libido and emotions.
Musk can turn the most serious man into passionate lover. This scent – is a main arm of animals in their sexual games during mating season, and women didn't hesitate to master this ruse from them. Almost all feminine and seducing perfumes' compositions contain this sensual note. But too much water drowned the miller. An ugly skunk has a gland under his tail, this gland cane produce musk very quickly and in huge quantity. When a skunk is frightened of something, he begins exhaling such pungent, unpleasant and stanch scent, that his offender grows numb with disgust.
Modern researches showed that with the help of scent one can manipulate human behavior. Managers of many companies disperse aromatic compositions through conditioning system, these aromatic compositions make customers buy goods with greater enthusiasm and officials work more energetically.
It sounds terrifying, but possibilities of scents are still limited. One can either calm down one's nervous system, or add vital energy to someone with the help of essential oils. Nothing more. Only drugs can do more, but nobody will venture to use them in this strange way. This is expensive and prohibited by law.
A modern man becomes irritable too often – both because of important and trivial things. A flow of information is too bountiful, a degree of responsibility is too high. If you catch yourself at your inability to relax although for a moment, and in your dreams you see annual return and business-plan, then a neuropathologist would call your condition as a "manager's syndrome". This is not an illness, and essential extracts will be enough to bring you round.
Sage, lavender, vetiver and sandal have sedative effect. You can add several drops in you night cream or bubble bath, you can put a ceramic dispenser for scents in your bedroom to steep walls and curtains in a somnolent scent. Put small bags with dry lavender in a wardrobe with linen. Drip little lavender extract on these bags periodically, to keep their scent. You can bring the same small bag in your car: you won't lose your temper in the morning, being late for work, staying in traffic congestions, and you'll easily relieve stress and dispose yourself to lyrical mood in the evening.
In general, a car is wonderfully adjusted to extemporaneous aromatherapy. You sit in a closed space, breathe regularly, and do nothing, by the highest standards. But some people begin nodding off to sleep little by little, especially early in the morning, when it's dark and dank outside. You'll drink your coffee only on work, and now try to cheer up, breathing fennel, lemon or orange scent. These extracts will help you both wake up and get warm at the same time.
There should be a place for a game in one's life. A sweet, cozy, home game. One of the variants is to get a small collection of essential oils and learn how to use them. Assure yourself that this is your secret weapon against troubles of outer world. The main is that your outer world in the person of your closest relatives shouldn't mind.
Modern ethers
A line of products Aqua Relax from Biotherm will allow you to arrange SPA in your house. These fragrant elixirs consist of essential oils, giving you a possibility to relax and spoil yourself, almost on one third.
Bath and massage oils Aromatonic and Aromacalm from Lancome will help you to awake in the morning and fall asleep calmly in the evening. Essential oils of Paraguayan manuka, osmanthus and ginger charge you with energy, and rose, iris, nutmeg, incense, cedar and sandal help you to relax.
A new purifying lotion Demaquillant Tonic Express from Clarins contains orange extract, which tones up and refreshes your skin, and also extract of horseradish tree seeds, which takes out toxins from deep layers of skin. You'll be able to remove make-up and nourish your skin at the same time.
A new scent Must from Carrier – is a bouquet of mandarin, neroli, galbanum, roses, narcissus and jasmine extracts. In combination with eastern notes they give rise to a wish of holding the whole world in a man. From this sensuality, passion and ability to turn a bottle of perfume into an object of cult comes.
Scent can change your temperament. Such is a luxurious and elegant Iî from La Perla. It turns a woman from an object of lust into an independent, decisive, and sometimes even aggressive beauty.
One note can turn all your ideas about sweet flower scents upside-down. In BLV from Bulgari ginger flickers and burns. It gives you powers, clarifies your mind and makes you being head over heels in love with this divine scent in a fabulous blue bottle.
A regenerative face emulsion and eye cream Vitaroma from Decleor contains essential oils of manuka and magnolia-vine. They help to neutralize existing wrinkles, prevent new ones from forming, and also protect skin from environment's influence.
During creation of sparkling amber-coloured scent Intuition, a company Estee Lauder firstly managed to gain an extract of rose "Double Delight". These flowers grow in a company's owner's garden, Eveline Lauder.
Making use of them
There're lots of ways to use etheric essences, but firstly you should assure that you have no allergic reaction on a certain fragrant scent. For this, oil flexion of your elbow with oil to your liking several times a day. If your skin turned red, began itching, or, even worse, covered with nettle-rash, then you won't have an "affair" with this scent.
And in general, you shouldn't better use pure essential oil for cosmetic purposes. Mix 5 ml (a tea-spoon) of essence with 80 ml of refined oil, to prepare a massage or bath oil.
Scented bath. Mix extracts of chamomile, rose, orange, sandal, ylang-ylang with vegetable oil and pour this medicinal balsam into a beautiful closely packed can. 78 drops in a hot bath – and all your troubles and distresses will disappear at once.
A wonderful shampoo. Add 5 ml of pure essence in your favorite shampoo (200 ml). If you have dry hair, choose an extract of cedar, for normal hair – ylang-ylang and lavender, and for fat hair – rosemary and magnolia-vine.
Treatment for splitting hair. Mix 120 ml of vegetable oil and 10-15 drops of ylang-ylang essence. Wet your hair, rub a cure in your head, cover your head with a towel, and in 15 minutes wash your hair carefully. But be careful – a scent of ylang-ylang creates a sense of euphoria, and some may get head-ache.
Cure against acne. There's no better remedy for fat skin, than manuka oil. Add 5 drops of manuka, lavender and patchouli in 120 ml of vegetable oil and use this mixture as your night cream several times a week.
If you add 10-15 drops of manuka oil in 120 ml of vegetable oil, you'll get an excellent remedy against dandruff. Use it as a hair mask before washing your hair.
A delicious scent in your room. Don't throw away dry flowers, and put buds and petals in a transparent box with a lid. You'll collect a beautiful composition and wonderful base for aromatherapy. When you feel sad, open the box and sprinkle your immortelles with en essential oil a little: myrrh will dispose you to a meditative mood, and ylang-ylang will awake your and his sensuality.
A cure against coryza. Fill an inhaler with hot water and add a couple of drops of eucalyptus oil or manuka oil.
Cleaning and washing remedy. Hot water plus several drops of orange, lemon or grapefruit essential oil will completely remove coffee stain or harden milk from your cooker. And if you add a drop of any of these oils in your dish-washing machine, then dirty plates will be easily washed. And you'll receive a wonderful scent as a bonus!
About The Author
Yana Mikheeva is the creator of the WomansPassions site for women and about women at http://www.womanspassions.com , it is an on-line resource for women and about women. Here you can find articles on various subjects, such as: diets, receipts, health, cellulite, figure, aromatherapy, wholesome food, psychology of relationships, pregnancy, parenting, fashion and many others.
She also has a blog for women at http://www.womanspassions.com/blog/
