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It depends on what you're planning to do with them all, and how educated you want to be in the subject. For general "layman" use, I recommend:
Lavender: 1st and 2nd degree burns, and as a "neutralizer" between minor depression and minor anxiety (it's good for either end of the spectrum)
Tea Tree: all skin problems, including minor first aid for cuts/scratches, also as a gargle for sore throat. Not for burns; use lavender instead.
Eucalyptus/Peppermint/Wintergreen (diluted): E: to promote a productive cough if you have symptoms of bronchitis, winter cold, or similar. E&P: to open the sinuses. EP&W (diluted): to relieve muscle ache, anything requiring "deep heat" treatment. Use with caution, never use wintergreen on the skin undiluted, it can blister.
Peppermint can also be used in cooking, especially if you're making a pot of "from scratch" hot cocoa with milk and cocoa powder. A single drop will give you hot mint chocolate good for 4 mugs worth.
Lavender can also be used in cooking, in particular angel food cake. Three drops in the batter, stir well before pouring into your cake pan. Gives it a very mild, very lovely aftertaste.
Eucalyptus can also be used in a simmering pot on the stove in the wintertime as a natural air disinfectant.
Edited to add: I also recommend keeping a bottle of jojoba oil to use as a carrier oil. That's what you'd use to dilute your essential oils, whenever you want to use them diluted. Lavender and tea tree are rarely used diluted for medicinal purposes, but lavender makes a nice perfume and a very pleasant massage oil fragrance, and that's when you'd dilute it. Jojoba is the closest thing in nature to human sebum, so it makes a perfect massage oil base.
It depends on what you're planning to do with them all, and how educated you want to be in the subject.
For the most part, generally mood elevators/relaxors, also alternatives to perfumes and for massage oils. Basically "feel goods".
If they have other topical benefits as well, then that's even better.
I am interested in learning.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnonChick
Edited to add: I also recommend keeping a bottle of jojoba oil to use as a carrier oil. That's what you'd use to dilute your essential oils, whenever you want to use them diluted. Lavender and tea tree are rarely used diluted for medicinal purposes, but lavender makes a nice perfume and a very pleasant massage oil fragrance, and that's when you'd dilute it. Jojoba is the closest thing in nature to human sebum, so it makes a perfect massage oil base.
This is great advice, thanks. I used some sweet almond oil for one mixture, olive oil + vitamin e for another. I will definitely get some jojoba oil next time!
Sweet almond is awesome but it has a fairly short shelf life. It shouldn't be refrigerated, but goes rancid if left out in the heat too long. Olive oil is terrific, especially as a general skin moisturizer. It's a little too heavy for the face though, better for the rest of the body instead.
For perfume, I have a few favorites that I like to mix up (I only buy 1 perfume, it's l'Hadrien by Anick Goutal). The psychological effects of the following blends tend to be pretty much what you'd expect them to be:
Tea tree + Geranium = reminiscent of tea rose, very light and delicate floral. Unusual combination.
----Uplifting, mild antidepressant, very "clean" smelling.
Jasmin absolute + rose absolute + neroli = dusky, earthy, floral with a hint of spiciness. My favorite.
----This is extremely heavy, you'd want to wear it -very- lightly or it can be overbearing. It's a warm, comforting sensation to smell. Also painfully expensive.
Bergamot + sandalwood = a more masculine combination, adding hint of neroli in there makes it even more woodsy and spicy, deepening the blend. Bergamot is the main aroma in the original men's cologne, from the German city that bears its name.
----A mild, pleasant, slightly spicy scent, it's citrus and earth mixed together. Just like earth, it is psychologically grounding, but can also uplift the spirits. A great winter-time blend for men or women.
All of these oils have antisceptic properties. Bergamot is a psychological antidepressant. Geranium is a "specific" for bruises. You'd apply it "neat" (undiluted) directly to the area of the bruise, and it will thin the surface clots enough to get the blood flowing again. Not a good idea to use if you're taking blood thinner medications though (yes these oils really can be that strong).
Rose is can be useful for women; it can help speed up menstrual cramps (to get them "over with faster"), and it can even be used when a woman starting labor of childbirth to help promote contractions. Also, the reputation of a rose as a "love" offering has its basis in the fact that it can trigger hormonal response in women. Not as strong as a pheremone, obviously, but in the aromatic plant world, it's pretty much as close as it gets to one, for humans.
Neroli is one of those very unusual oils that can go with almost anything. It is from the flower of the bitter orange tree. The leaf produces oil called petitgrain, the fruit produces bitter orange essential oil. It smells kind of strange by itself, as though it has many layers of depth to it. On first sniff it smells one way - let the sniff linger in your mind a moment, and you realize it also smells some other way. Take a second whiff, and you'll notice yet a third hint of something different...and so on.
Sandalwood is good for the skin, good for the hair. Mixed with a little jojoba and vitamin e you have an amazing leg moisturizer. Go lightly though, it's got a strong lingering aroma and not everyone appreciates it. It's not -nearly- as strong as patchouli, and the scent itself is much more subtle and refined. But it's still one of those "long-haired hippie" fragrances that makes people wonder when Jerry Garcia got himself resurrected. Personally I really like it as a "base note" in my perfuming.
I've been really pleased w/ my use of Frankincense oil lately...The fragrance is divine, but I'm not sure how great the quality is. My bf was given some @ a local botanica so it doesn't have much info on the bottle... It is very aromatic, thick, and also very dark brown...
Anyways, I am looking into buying some that is definitely 100%pure, and can be used on the skin for its healing properties, not just the perfume kind.
Do you know which is better, boswellia serrata or carterii ?
Some of these are very expensive (Sandalwood and Rose, for instance and Patchouli has just gone up . . .
These all sound great.
My main problem is finding an actual store that I can smell & sample the scents firsthand. Many places I've been to only seem to carry a select few...
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