“The Fragrant Pharmacy” Valerie Ann Worwood
Authentic essential oils are one of the most powerful tools in the wellness regimen. Essential oils have been vilified as causing serious side effects and to avoid at all costs. Most people associate essential oils as “smell good”, which doesn’t do them justice. Essential oils are not fragrance, they are more than “smell good”.
Essential Oil Therapy known as Aromatherapy is the Art and Science of creating a synergistic blend of various essential oils for their therapeutic qualities to enhance our physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.
What are essential oils? Essential oils are highly concentrated aromatic extract from plant materials. Not all plants produce essential oils.
Science of essential oils: each essential oil contains more than 100 chemical constituents, hence the therapeutic qualities. There are more that the scientists haven’t discovered yet.
It takes a trained practitioner to achieve both safe and therapeutic blends of aromatic oils.
All these volatile molecules inhaled through our olfactory exert powerful effects on the limbic system of our brain, which regulates our thoughts process and senses, perceptions, emotions and memories, thus eliciting neurological and physiological changes.
Applied topically, essential oils reduce inflammation, calm the itching, repair damaged skin barrier and provide powerful skin healing properties.
Used internally, essential oils get rid of infections, heal the guts, manage depression and anxiety and improve sleep quality, among others.
Art of essential oils: the artistic blending of different essential oils like symphony of aromatic elements. This is when a practitioner’s knowledge, expertise and experiences, and intuition come into play – how to create a synergistic, safe, effective and pleasant blend, taking into consideration complex factors such as the client’s individuality and spirituality, plants’ chemical constituents, aromas, organ affinity, energetics and doctrine of signatures, and the parts of the plant.
Sweet marjoram ( Origanum majorana ), a popular culinary herb, produces essential oil high in Monoterpenols. Marjoram has a woody and floral aroma and is one of my favorite oils for its calming, comforting and antispasmodic properties. A CNS sedative, it relieves anxiety, stress and insomnia. Blended with Lavender ( Lavandula angustifolia ) and Peppermint (… Continue reading Marjoram (Sweet) Origanum majorana as a Sedative
According to Dr. Robert Pappas and Aromatic Plant Research Center, 80% of the essential oils on the market are adulterated. Is the number exaggerated? I think not, based on my 18 years of experiences purchasing oils from various companies. So, it is very likely that the essential oils you are using are not as pure… Continue reading What to look for when buying essential oils?
As hot and humid summer days gave way to dry, crisp Autumn air, now it is the season to nourish and tonify the lung, especially if you or your child/children have asthma, chronic cough and susceptibility to bronchitis and pneumonia in the cool months ahead. According to TCM, lung needs proper moisture in order to have… Continue reading Herbs and Essential oils to Nourish and Tonify the Lung
My friend's little girl who is 9 years old got yeast infection due to a strong antibiotics that her pediatrician prescribed for an infected elbow wound. She got severe itching down there and red bumps all over her torso and face. And they were itchy too. Prescription painkiller didn't help. She has asthma, taking medication twice a… Continue reading Yeast Infection (Candida) and Essential Oils
Lavender and Roman Chamomile are calming due to linalool and linalyl acetate. And this report reinforces its therapeutic properties in clinical setting. Pediatric Experts Find Aromatherapy Effective for Promoting Infant Healing, NAS Recovery
Creating a natural bathroom deodorizer, you need a wax warmer (my is an owl :-)), a beeswax melt or a handful of beeswax and a blend of pure essential oils or you can make your own blend. It is a great way to use up oils that are past shelf life. As the aroma dissipates,… Continue reading Aromatherapy Bathroom Deodorizer
Sweet Orange belongs to Rutaceae botanical family and is cold pressed from fresh fruit rind. So it is very important that the essential oils are produced from the unsprayed fruit. Sweet Orange oil is not phototoxic as oil from Bitter Orange and is high in Monoterpenes which are highly volatile. Shelf life of this oil… Continue reading Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis ) for Irritable Bowel Syndrome
In my previous post, I wrote about 4 powerful Chamomile essential oils. You can read it here. In this post, I combined those 4 oils with amazing Helicrysum Italicum to create a powerful, healing emollient for nosebleed, itchy nose from dry air, allergies or colds, eczema, minor skin irritations, rashes, insect bites, scar tissues, diaper… Continue reading Natural Healing Emollient
I had a cold last week and the nasal congestion was so severe that I had to breathe through my mouth. I made a stock blend of the following essential oils for steam inhalation and for use with Aromatherapy inhalers. This blend can be used for nasal congestion caused by common cold, flu or allergies.… Continue reading Sinus Congestion – Which Essential Oils to Use for Relief
When I started out in Aromatherapy, I was very confused by all the essential oils with Chamomile in their names. So, how many are there? There are 4! And they all belong to Asteraceae botanical family. Chamomile, German ( Matricaria recutita): also called blue Chamomile. The content of azulene gives it its characteristic blue color.… Continue reading How many Chamomile essential oils are there?
Puressential Aromatherapy 