Category: Alternative Health

The History of Essential Oils

In modern times, essential oils are used in aromatherapy to aid people with their physical and emotional health. In the past, they have been used by many people all over the world and in different cultures to do just that. The history of essential oils is a long one. Thousands of years ago, the Chinese were using plants with aromatic qualities for healing. Although these plant substances were being used in the medical practices of the day, they had not yet been distilled into essential oils.

The Egyptians, and perhaps also the Persians and the people of India, were the first to make distillation machines. Oil of cedarwood distilled with such machines was used along with myrrh, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg oils to embalm the dead.

The Egyptians were concerned more with the sense of smell than with any of the other senses. They believed that it was the most important and dominant sense. They adopted the essential oils they made to their medicine, cosmetics, and fragrances.

The use of essential oils was taken up by the Greeks next. Hippocrates did an ancient form of aromatherapy. A Greek named Megalleon invented a perfume called megaleion. This substance was used in aromatherapy and as an essential oil as an anti-inflammatory and to heal wounds. A Roman, Discorides, wrote on the uses of 500 different plant substances. Distillations were also made of such substances. However, these distillations didn’t produce essential oils. Instead, they made floral-smelling waters.

Avicenna was a Persian man who refined the process by inventing a distillation machine with a coiled cooling pipe. This allowed for more effective cooling. Eventually, the focus shifted towards more emphasis on true essential oils and their uses.

Paracelcus was a doctor of the fifteenth century who began using the term “essence.” His emphasis was using essential oils for medicine. During this time, many new essential oils were being produced. Among them were juniper, rosemary, rose, and sage. During the sixteenth century, people would go to their apothecary to get essential oils for many different uses. Around this time, the advent of new essential oils flourished. In the next few centuries, essential oils changed little except in their use in perfumes.

The major chemical ingredients of essential oils were identified. Scientists became more interested in the subject of essential oils. In the twentieth century, this became a problem for those interested in the use of true essential oils.

Much of twentieth century science has been consumed with creating synthetic versions of essential oils. However, an early twentieth century Frenchman named Gattefosse became increasingly involved with the study of essential oils and their medicinal values. He was the first to use the term “aromatherapy”. Aromatherapy and the use of essential oils were not well known in English-speaking countries. Robert B. Tisserand changed all that. He wrote the first English book on the subject, and many other books and articles.

As the years go by, people are becoming more and more interested in natural ways of doing things. They want to find ways to soothe their minds and comfort their bodies without synthetic drugs. Essential oils give them a way to do it.

Starting Your Essential Oils Collection

How do I know which essential oils are right for me? There are over 90 essential oils and each can have one or more (most times more) healing properties. Choices! Choices! That’s a huge selection to choose from.

The first thing to consider when making your selection is whether or not the scent appeals to you. Every scent might have a useful medicinal property for each of us, but only certain scents work for us. The aromas of the essential oils work to stimulate our nervous system and brain functions. If we are distracted by the side effect of a scent irritation in our body or the aroma simply does not appeal to our senses, then the essential oil probably is not a good choice. Try to sample the scent if possible especially if we are purchasing it for the first time. This can be accomplished by taking a trip to a local essential oils supplier or at the very least, to a local bath products retailer.

The next thing to consider is the effect we would like to create with our essential oils. The oils have long been known to promote emotional balance and stability in addition to having healing properties and just plain smelling great! Wow! Experience a physical healing in your body and mind and experience a great scent at the same time. That’s two effects for the price of one! How would we like the essential oils to benefit us? The essential oils promote several effects such as providing an atmosphere of peace and tranquility, reducing stress, anger, anxiety, and depression. In addition, the oils are also known to promote a sense of confidence, reduce fatigue and tiredness, reduce feelings of fear and loneliness, and promote memory and concentration. There are many more effects that the use of essential oils provides! It is important to note that not all essential oils promote or reduce all emotions. Time must be taken to learn which essential oil promotes or reduces which effect.

The next thing to consider is the cost associated with the use of essential oils. Not only does the essential oil have to be purchased, but if you are buying from a mainland supplier, shipping and handling costs should be taken into account. If you plan on combining the essential oil with a carrier media such as oils, creams, salts or soap costs should also be estimated as well. The oils need proper storage elements. Wooden craft boxes are relatively inexpensive and are helpful in keeping your bottles in a safe manner while making the transport of those bottles easy to do. Estimate costs for items such as bottles to store your blended oils and diluted mixes. Also knowing the costs of equipment such as distillers (if you plan on making your own essential oils) or a diffuser for refreshing a room would be helpful.

There are many things to consider when selecting your oils because there are many beneficial effects that the use of the oil provides. Do some planning and know what benefits you want to receive through the use of essential oils. Start your collection and experience a wonderful journey!

Methods of Using Essential Oils

You can have all kinds of recipes for mixtures of essential oils. You may know just what these blends are meant to do for you. Yet, if you don’t know the methods for using them, they won’t do you much good.

Possibly the most popular method of using essential oils in the US today is inhalation. This method is favored in parts of Europe, and is called the German method. You can breathe in the aroma of the oils by putting a few drops of them on a tissue and inhaling. Or, you could just hold the bottle under your nose for awhile.

Breathing in the vapors of essential oils is very effective in most cases. It stimulates the olfactory system which has a great affect on the brain. This can help in cases of mood disturbances, for example. It can help with any ailment that is primarily associated with the brain.

Another method used in the US is massage. The essential oils are dropped into a carrier oil and massaged onto various parts of the body. This is called the English method. It is especially helpful for muscle pain, but can be useful for other ailments as well.

The French method of using essential oils is to ingest them. This should only be done with the purest, therapeutic grade essential oils that have been approved to be taken orally. A tiny amount of certain oils can be used to treat ailments like indigestion, for instance.

Sometimes, essential oils can be applied directly to the affected area. This is often the case with skin disorders. Usually a single drop of an essential oil will do the trick. If you use essential oils this way on children, be very careful. Make sure essential oils are well diluted with oil or water before applying to the skin.

You can do a patch test to determine if you are allergic to a particular essential oil. Mix a drop of the oil with a drop of carrier oil such as vegetable oil. Put it on an inconspicuous area, like under the arm. Cover it with a bandage for twenty four hours. If you have no reaction, you should be safe to use the essential oil on your skin.

Countless different problems can be aided by using essential oils in a bath water solution. Just add a few drops to your bath and soak for at least fifteen minutes. This will allow the essential oils to enter through your olfactory sense. It will also absorb into your skin, and finally into your bloodstream.

One way to use essential oils is to make a compress to put on an affected area. Put up to three drops of the essential oils on the affected area. Once the essential oils are in place, cover them with a hot, moist towel and then a dry towel. This increases the intensity of the vapors.

No matter how you use essential oils, you will find that they are very helpful for a variety of complaints. Of course, you still need to know exactly which oils to use. Once you know that, you can use the many methods of applying essential oils.

Making Money Selling Essential Oils

Looking for a way to generate income? Get excited because we are starting to see more and more consumers are flocking to the internet to purchase their health and beauty products and what’s more is that consumers are becoming increasingly educated about the products they choose to use. There is more of an awareness and increasing desire to use all natural, organic products as consumers become more health conscious.

That’s great news but are you still wondering how this can benefit you? Essential oils are commonly used in aromatherapy practices. The oils, when used under the guidance and care of a medical professional or aromatherapy practitioner, offer an all natural way to treat minor ailments. In addition, they are also known to stimulate emotional balance within oneself. There is a lot of information on how and what to use these oils already prepared for you on the internet. The opportunity to financially benefit from this lies in the ability to relay this information and offer products for purchase and use.

Did you know that affiliate programs selling essential oils are reported to pay 5 – 20% of the total sales? The commission can vary in each company, but that’s still not a bad sum of money considering an average sale in the health and beauty arena can easily top $50. And remember that is all being done online!

Even if you have no experience selling on the internet or working with essential oils, you can easily get set up with online business website or incorporate the oil suppliers to an existing website (easily through links). These are called affiliate programs. While it’s not recommended to be an uninformed seller, you can educate yourself through the various resources supplied via the internet. In fact, as a affiliate, the company already provides much of the information on their own website that you link to or they will provide you will a website that already has the company provided information on it. They don’t want to be at risk any more than you do!

There are several affiliate programs for companies selling essential oils. A quick search on Google will identify them. Then take some time to visit the web pages to determine if the program is right for you. Of course, you’ll also need to gain some internet marketing skills, but at least gaining clients won’t involve knocking on doors (unless you want it too)! Also, check to see if the affiliate company offers any support in developing you in online sales. If not, there are other companies that do!

Still wondering if this is right for you? The fact is that the internet is here to stay and on top of that, online sales are continuously growing! You may not be an over night success, but with education and diligent work, you can still reach your financial dreams and goals! Get your piece of the internet revenue pie. Start your online business today! Make money selling essential oils!