Aromatherapy, part two

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aromatherapy, essential oils

With aromatherapy one of the first uses that often comes to mind for me is skin care. Probably because that is one of the first ways I used essential oils. And who doesn’t love a great feeling and smelling body lotion or a relaxing aromatherapy facial!

Yet there are many other uses for aromatherapy and essential oils.

Aromatherapy can help stimulate your circulation and the healing process for various areas of your body. Helping to release tension and aid with relaxation is a great way to use essential oils.

There are several ways that essential oils can be used so that they enter your body to help the healing process. Inhalation is a very easy way to work with essential oils. You can smell them straight from the bottle, make up a small inhaler to carry with you, or use a diffuser in your home or car. Another way to get essentials oils into your body is through your skin. Massaging in oils or lotions that have EOs added to them is not only an effective delivery system, it also feels good!

Remember to always consult a qualified aromatherapist before using any essential oil. They are powerful substances and should be treated as such. Keep them away from children and pets.

Tubiflorae

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essential oil, Labiatae, plants, Tubiflorae

Tubiflorae is the order for today! It signifies plants with numerous tubular flowers. I use plants from the Labiatae family of this order. Here the tubular flowers look a bit like lips. This family is very large and includes many aromatic herbs and shrubs like mint, thyme, sage, and rosemary.

In general, members of the Labiatae family are warming, good for helping with the respiratory system and with common muscle aches and pains. I use peppermint EO frequently at home in the winter to help get rid of my chest congestion. Oregano, thyme, marjoram, basil, and rosemary herbs go into many of my sauces when I’m cooking in the fall and I use the EOs in various treatments. This is a very versatile and useful family of plants and I use something from this family everyday either as an EO or in the form of the physical plant itself.

Rutales!

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botanical families, rutales

Let’s take a look at the botanical order of Rutales. There are two families connected to this order that I deal with a lot.

The first is the Rutaceae family. This is where all of the citrus plants belong! In general, plants of the Rutaceae family are detoxifying. They aid digestion by stimulating the flow of gastric juices. They also tend to be uplifting and calming in nature. With skin care, I use orange EO with my sugar scrub. Lemon EO is incorporated occasionally into my treatments at the clinic. And Bergamot EO is one of the ingredients of my facial compress oil. I also use citrus EOs frequently in my cleaning products around the house.

The second family under the Rutales order is the Burseraceae family. This includes frankincense and myrrh. I use these two EOs very often, both personally and in my treatments for others. General properties include helping soothe dry respiratory issues, wound healing, and again a calming nature. I often use frankincense in my facial treatments. Myrrh I use at home to help heal small cuts and as one ingredient in my mouthwash (a mix of water, baking soda, peppermint EO, and myrrh EO).

Botanical families

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botanical family

It occurred to me that I have tried to include the botanical family connections in my EO posts but I don’t think I have ever discussed what botanical families are in general.

All plants are divided up into classes, then orders, then families. Most of the plants that we are dealing with as EOs are part of the class called Angiosperms. This means they produce seeds within an enclosure. They are often called flowering plants and include fruit producing plants.

Next plants are divided into orders. There are several orders under the Angiosperms class that we see on a regular basis. They include:
Magnoliales – woody plants that flower
Geranioles – mostly herbaceous or shrubby plants that have 5-parted regular flowers
Tubiflorae – plants with tubular flowers
and several others!

Family is the next division. One order can have multiple families. And a family can have several different plants in it. In general these plants have some similar qualities when it comes to looking at what their EOs do. I’ll take a look at the various families and their properties over the next few weeks here on the blog!

Tea Tree

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essential oil, health, tea tree

Tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) is a very beneficial EO that I seem to have gotten away from using! Long before I started actively studying essential oils, tea tree EO was my go to oil as it seems to fix just about everything. Tea tree belong to the botanical family Myrtaceae, the same family as Eucalyptus. The EO is distilled from the leaves of the plant, native to Australia and New Zealand.

Tea tree EO is not something I use in facial skin care, though success has be reported with using it to treat acne. A very antiseptic EO, it does have a strong smell. And there are lots of other EOs that will help the skin with a more pleasant scent! It is good for helping to treat nail fungus and athletes foot.

For me this was something I used often when taking care of small cuts (like paper cuts when I was doing corporate admin work) or to help ward off colds in the winter. Tea tree is antibacterial and antiviral so works well at keeping germs at bay. Just a whiff of it can help open up congested air passages and, in the winter, I often put a drop on my coat collar as I walk out the door to walk through the cold and then get on a crowded, germ-filled subway. I am looking at some inhalers for the fall/winter season and will most likely be incorporating a bit of tea tree into at least one recipe.

Tea tree EO should never be taken internally and should be kept out of reach from children (as should all undiluted EOs).

Lemon Essential Oil

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essential oil, lemon, skin care

Lemon (Citrus lemon) EO is an oil I should use more often. Not sure why I don’t as I love the fresh crisp scent that it has. The EO comes from the peel of the fruit and is obtained by the expression method. (https://lazycatoils.wordpress.com/2013/04/27/how-is-an-essential-oil-made/) It belongs to the Rutaceae botanical family along with all of the other familiar citrus fruits like oranges and limes.

Among its many benefits, lemon has antibacterial, antiviral, and astringent properties. It has a very uplifting scent and it always makes me smile when I smell it.

For the skin and hair, it can be helpful in reducing excess oil. It can also help restore dull looking skin to a more vibrant look by helping increase blood circulation. It is used to treat acne and oily skin. Many of the citrus oils are also photosensitive. Damage to the skin can be caused if the skin is exposed to sunlight after using oils like lemon. It is recommended to avoid sunlight for up to 24 hours after using some of the citrus EO. And of course, using any EO in a diluted form is always recommended.

Benzoin Essential Oil

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benzoin, essential oil

I have been doing some bulk ordering this week. There are several of us working at various stages of aromatherapy who have met through classes over the past couple of years. We have become a great support network for each other and a great source of resources as we each bring our own different expertise to the group. While gathering info for what everyone needed for this order, I was reminded of another EO that I don’t personally use much but which has intrigued me in the past. So Benzoin has become my topic for this week!

Benzoin (Stryrax benzoin) is a tree native to Southeast Asia. It belongs to the Styraceae botanical family. The EO is a resin that comes from tapping the bark. It is a thick, dark (brownish-red) liquid that has a vanilla-like smell.

Commonly used as a fixative in perfumes and as incense, benzoin EO has many other great uses. It is often used to help relieve coughs and cold, having antibacterial and expectorant properties. I look forward to exploring that more next fall! It is also said to be helpful in treating arthritis so I need to do some further investigation into that over the coming months and see what I discover.

For skin care, it is used sparingly and is not something I use in my facials. It can help with chapped, irritate, red skin. But it should be used in small quantities. It can be useful in treating more wound-type skin conditions like psoriasis. Not something to keep in the cupboard to use everyday but useful when treating something more severe on a short term basis.

Mandarin Essential Oil

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essential oil, mandarin, skin care

Mandarin (Citrus reticulata) EO is cold pressed from the peel of the fruit. It is part of the Rutaceae biological family which also contains the other citrus fruits.  Mandarin trees are smaller than orange trees and generally grow in Europe.  Tangerines are botanically the same as mandarins and generally grown in the U.S. Mandarin is also used in Chinese medicine and it is said that the name mandarin links back to the Mandarins of China and the probable origins of the original plant.

I first encountered Mandarin EO when looking a blends to help with stretch marks for some pregnant friends.  We don’t use many essential oils during pregnancy or on young children.  However, Mandarin EO is one of the gentlest and is often one that can be used in both of these instances.  It is good for helping to prevent stretch marks and is very calming.  For facial skin care, Mandarin EO can be used in a blend for those with sensitive skin.   

Neroli Essential Oil

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essential oil, neroli, orange blossom

There are so many different citrus essential oils! Neroli EO comes from the blossom of the bitter orange tree. The Latin name is Citrus aurantium and it comes from the Rutaceae botanical family which includes all of the other citrus oils like lemon and lime. Generally the EO is extracted by the distillation process.

It is quite an expensive EO as it takes 1000 pounds of blossoms to make 1 pound of the EO. For skin care, Neroli EO is generally used sparingly due to the expense. It is good for helping regenerate skin cells and can be used to promote healing of scar tissue and stretch marks. Overall it can have a calming effect on your body and mind and is great for anxiety and many other emotional issues.

Ylang Ylang

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essential oil, Ylang Ylang

Ylang Ylang (Cananga odorata) is an EO that I do not use very frequently but it intrigues me so I added it to my list of ones to research.

The essential oil is steam distilled from the flowers of this tree, native to the Philippines and Indonesia. There are several different types of ylang ylang essential oil, each coming from different stages of the distillation process – Ylang Ylang Extra, Ylang Ylang I, II and III, Ylang Ylang Complete. Normally an essential oil is collected at the very end of distillation. With Ylang Ylang, the distillation process is stopped at various points and the oil to that point is collected. Ylang Ylang Extra is collected after a very short period of distillation. The process is paused, the oil collected, and then the distillation process resumes. Ylang Ylang I, II and III are collected at various other points along the process – all coming from the distillation of the same flower parts. Ylang Ylang Complete is actually the essential oil that occurs when the distillation is not interrupted at all and it is collected the very end. For aromatherapy, we use either the Ylang Ylang Extra or the Ylang Ylang Complete, as they contain the highest amount of components from the plant in the essential oil. Ylang Ylang I, II and III are often used for perfumes.