Aromatherapy - Medicine & Art

Aromatherapy is the medicinal science and art of the use of plant essential oils to enhance your wellbeing.

Essential oils are the very concentrated essences of plants.

Did you know that it can take three tonnes of roses to make one litre of rose essential oil?

This should give you an idea of the concentration essential oils are of the plants. Over 300 essential oils can be used in aromatherapy. Smell is an important instinct and the olfactory part of the nose is connected to the limbic part of the brain which is connected to emotions. Each essential oil can have up to 30 chemical compounds in it whereas chemical perfumes have only one – an amine.

This holistic therapy was made very famous by Margurite Maury who was a French chemist and decided to impart the essential oils to the body via the skin.

Aromatherapy has use in all areas of health & wellness in that a blend of essential oils supports the biological systems of the body. The proper application of essential oils to the body can boost wellbeing and elan vital. The main effects can be seen on stress. There is nothing better than a lovely aromatherapy massage with, let’s say, roman chamomile, grapefruit, and rosemary essential oils blended into a carrier oil like Sweet Almond oil which will also nourish your skin.

We are all hardwired for soothing in terms of our nervous systems and not harsh criticism. Soothing was the backbone of our first three years in life.

You can use aromatherapy in oil burners, lotions, massage oils, natural home fragrance and even mouth wash. Some even use essential oils in cooking.

Aromatherapy can boost your immune system and energy levels, reduce stress, enhance circulation, speeds healing, aids sleep and reduces pain and inflammation.

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

Every house should have lavender for the bedroom as it can aid a good night’s sleep. With one in four Irish people on antidepressants I would recommend using bergamot as it’s known to be very uplifting for people with depression.

One drop of lemongrass on a burner can deodorise a house without having to use synthetic chemicals. Tea tree essential oil is the only one that is anti-bactericidal, anti-fungal and anti-viral. Marjoram is a heart tonic. Peppermint is good for headaches digestion and tired feet. Ylang-ylang, cardamom and sandalwood are aphrodisiacs.

You could use our Lavender Pillow spray for the bedroom to help sleep and our Stress Busting spray for the living room and your car. You could add a few drops of bergamot to some fragranced body lotion and apply to skin after mixing it in. If you have a library in the living room you could mix essential oils of cedarwood, geranium and rosewood together and add some drops to the top pages of the books. A few drops of pettigrain in the bath makes for a relaxing bath. For chest infections you could try a steam inhalation with eucalyptus, lemon and tea tree as long as you are not asthmatic.

Well even though some products claim to have essential oils if they are mixed with synthetic fragrance is only a ‘dash’ of essential oil in the formula.

More and more people are becoming aware the synthetic fragrances are also ‘hormone disruptors’ so it’s best to stock get products that are made only with essential oils. Products also that have essential oils at no more than 1% to reduce the risk of allergic reaction as 20% of the population has reactions to allergens found in essential oils.

As long as a blend of essential oils is no more than this products are safe to use.

All of our Mindful Beauty products are aromatherapy based for the obvious reasons. We never formulate using synthetic fragrance. Two of our bestsellers are Lavender Pillow Spray made with Lavender from Provence in France and Stress Busting Spray made with lemongrass.

We source our lavender directly from the producers there and we add a little German Chamomile to this product making a lovely bed linen spray which aids your ability to sleep. The lemongrass and geranium of the Stress Busting spray is another big success with our clients. Lemongrass is deoderising and Geranium is balancing and we also add Cedarwood to soak up all the ions from pc screens and TV’s that will be in the air. People who use it in open plan offices say it really works. Others who use it in the car say it helps them stay awake.

Mindful Beauty Lavender Pillow Spray and also Stress Busting Spray are available for €9.99 (50% less than other brands) in over 300 stores nationwide and online.