Knowing how to choose the right carrier oil can be somewhat bewildering for newcomers to aromatherapy because specialist suppliers usually offer such a wide range. Very little is written about this subject in most aromatherapy books, so unless you enroll on a training course knowing how to select them can seem like a bit of a black art.
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The delicate nature of many flowers means that steam distillation can not be used to extract the fragrant oil because the intense heat destroys the flowers, causing them to become compacted into a solid mass that steam is unable to penetrate. If the steam is unable to move freely through the flowers during distillation it is impossible to extract the oil.
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Floral water, flower water, hydrosol, hydrolat, hydrolate and distillate water. Those who are interested in aromatherapy should be familiar with at least one or more of these terms, and many of you will have already used these fragrant waters in aromatherapy already.
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We have all experienced the undeniable power of aroma, even though we may not necessarily have been consciously aware of it at the time. For example, at some point in our lives most of us have all been greeted by a fragrance that triggered a powerful memory, perhaps one dating back as far as our early childhood. The smell of freshly baked bread or apple pie conjures up long forgotten childhood memories of your mother baking, or a whiff of perfume you’ve not encountered for years transports you back to your first true love at high school. Read more…

The base oils used in aromatherapy are more commonly known as ‘carrier oils’ and are fundamental to aromatherapy itself. Not only do they help to dilute essential oils and ‘carry’ them into your body’s systems, but many of them have therapeutic and healing properties that can be used on their own as well. Read more…

How long do essential oils keep before they lose their healing qualities?

That’s a very good question, and one that crops up a lot on our Customer Helpdesk. Unfortunately, like so many questions in life it’s not as straightforward to answer as you might think . . .

Having invested hard-earned money in your essential oils, it certainly makes sense to look after them properly to ensure their therapeutic properties are not Read more…

One of the great things about essential oils is their tremendous versatility and ease of use in aromatherapy. An amazing amount of power is packed into each drop, and this makes it very easy to use them in daily life to improve your health and wellbeing.

It can be great fun learning how to use essential oils and trying out all the different ways they can be enjoyed, but you must use them properly to get the best results. And because they are so powerful, they usually need to be diluted before you can use them. Read more…

Aromatherapy is the controlled use of essential oils which, when used correctly, can help to alleviate a wide range of physical and emotional disorders. Used in massages, baths, compresses and inhalations, essential oils can assist relaxation and pain relief, thereby promoting a feeling of health and well-being. This in turn can help to break the vicious circle of stress, which so often leads to ill health.
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Although our sense of smell is quite poor when compared to many animals, it is still highly sophisticated and humans can identify up to 10,000 different odour molecules, sometimes at a concentration of only one part to several billions parts of air.

The sense of smell is often described as the sense tied most closely to memory, with the ability to profoundly influence people’s ability to vividly recall past events and experiences from as long ago as our childhood. Read more…