It's not the Product, It's the Creation

Okay let's move on to one of the MOST commonly used essential oils but one that has substantial harms attached to it if used incorrectly.  Upping the ante so to say :) Mentha x piperita is the Latin for Peppermint.  While there are LOTS of mints there is only one peppermint - otherwise it's Chocolate Peppermint or Cornmint or Spearmint and so on (I have never seen Chocolate Peppermint sold as an essential oil but if I had a still and a BUNCH of Chocolate Peppermint you can betcha that I'd distill some!!)  In any case, Menthol comes from Peppermint.  It is used alllll over the place in food and medicine and cleansers and so forth.  It is one of the essential oils that has alot of commercial and other uses.  But you do not want to get it up too close to your nose or especially around the nose of a child of any age which could cause breathing problems for that child so care must be taken when you have Peppermint Essential Oil in your home!  The other risks associated with

Citrus limon is the Latin for Lemon Essential Oil.  It, just like the Lavender, can be found in different well not species but rather different chemotypes - this just means that some trees have more of a certain chemical in their lemon essence, a slightly, but enough to make a difference, different chemical makeup, than the standard but here the differences aren't quite so much something you need to be terribly worried about.  By that I mean you are not going to accidentally come across too much of something potentially harmful like you could with the lavender (those potential harms are also where the real benefits lie - it's just a matter of what is your goal.).  With Lemon Essential Oil the main thing you want to watch out for is the fact that it's a sun sensitizer.  This just means that if you inhale, ingest, apply or otherwise get Lemon Essential Oil in or on your body you should avoid the sun for around 24 hrs otherwise possibly suffer a bad burn.  10 minutes exposur

Well I might as well elucidate the other ways to use this.  It is risky but hey I am judgment proof since I have no real property or money so not tooo big a worry right?  But y'all wouldn't do that to me - besides the info is correct but please do use your common sense and finally do so at your own risk!      I am not a doctor afterall.  :) Ok  for sleep one can use lavender in a diffuser (according to the instructions that accompany the diffuser) or put it in lotion at 2% ( see chart ) and rub on your hands and feet and back or neck or even face - the oil is sedating and the message is relaxing as well (it can be put in a light oil or lotion and used on your face to aid with acne and other skin problems, bugs, fungi, bacteria, even ringworm although there are stronger oils to use for ringworm, still it should work fairly well...).  You can put it in a very light oil at 1-2% ( see Chart ) like Apricot Kernel or Abysinian or Cammilia oil and rub this on your scalp to aid in

(picture from my garden is Lavendula stoechas or maybe Spike Lavender - not sure which but I don't have my own still so it's not really an issue.) Let's start with one most everyone is familiar with and go over how it's used.  Lavandula angustofolia is the lavender most folks are talking about when they say lavender essential oil but there are also Lavandula latifolia, Lavandula stoechas, Lavendula x burnati and even more species of course and they all have quite different properties.  So, first thing's first, when buying essential oils one wants to check the Latin name!   For lavender you definitely want Lavandula angustofolia because stoechas for instance is high in some chemicals that one may not wish to mess around with at all - there are some dangers associated with it.  It is high in camphor and shouldn't be used with children for instance while lavandula angustofolia is perfectly safe for children - one of the first even aromatherapists often reach fo

I have been working with essential oils for about 5 years for myself and in making soap and other bath products (this part only about 2 1/2 yrs) and I help out others using them as well.   Plus I have taken the French Aromatherapy course at aromaticstudies.com and am only one paper shy of certification (I will get round to that but I want to work on my business right at this time and they are not encouraging me to be finished with it right away - rather have advised I take my time due to my somewhat unusual circumstances.....well and due to the fact that I do not plan to practice as an aromatherapist - ya know with an office seeing clients that is.  Rather what I do is produce bath products that incorporate essential oils.)   While I could use more hands-on practice when it comes to the healing aspect of aromatherapy - basically it would be good for me to intern for someone, I have most the info down fairly well plus I have been very active in working with them hands on, just not in he

(Picture of my neighbor's Josephine Clematis has nothing really to do with anything expect Ain't She Pretty?) This could take a while but let me start by saying I took the course on aromatherapy because I was having a horrible time trying to figure out who on the internet was telling the truth about them and who was spreading out and out fiction.  The amount of misinformation on the web about essential oils is STAGGERING!  I hardly know where to begin.  But here we go>>>> Essential oils are plants essences - they are NOT in fact even OIL!  They are a chemical mix of things such as terpines, aldehydes, alcohols, oxides esters, etc etc.  There are NO fatty acids in essential oils. And what are oils/fats/butters made of?  Fatty acids.   We classify them with oils because they are hydrophobic - they do not mix with water.  They are very complex chemically speaking and this is why they are so good at what they do.  What do essential oils do?  They help plants commu

(I was moving when I took that pic - you can see boxes in the background - I moved to Georgia all the way from California where I had lived all my life previous to the move - next pic is of the pond my house sits on here in GA) HI ! As a start-up for a blog, I figure I should introduce myself.  My name is Cynthia Scott.  I create many things and so I thought I'd blog on it.  Why?  For several reasons but the number one reason is to get my name OUT THERE!  I would like to sell some of my creations and my understanding is that in order to do this effectively it is best to provide folks with valuable information - usually via a blog but not always. My favorite thing at present to create is soap but I don't think I'm going to write about soap-making as the topic of the blog as I don't think very many of you will be interested - although certainly there are quite a number of folks who are so there will be some posts on that.  Rather I'm going to focus on essen