Tag: Extracts

Proper Ways to Apply Essential Oils

Although essential oils are a mild, natural way to help fight off mental fatigue, stress, sore muscles, and other physical conditions, they are also very potent and need to be applied properly. After you have purchased the perfect essential oils for your condition, it is important to know how to apply them. If used without proper direction, they can have a negative effect which can frustrate you. They may even cause harm if not applied properly.

First, using undiluted essential oils directly on your skin can harm rather than help your condition. Used directly on the skin, essential oils can sometimes leave a rash or a burn. The essential oils are powerful solutions to many issues, but used improperly they can cause painful sores when directly applied to the skin. Diluting the essential oils in cream, or non-greasy oil will keep it from strongly affecting your skin.

Like many creams or lotions, spreading essential oils directly on the skin can cause an overdose. Essential oils are absorbed by your skin quickly. If the oil that you are applying isnt diluted, it can lead to an overdose that will cause a rash, irritation, or skin breakout. It is also important not to have overexposure to sun especially if youve accidentally applied too much. Essential oils and sun exposure can lead to adverse effects.

Even though essential oils are naturally occurring extracts from plants and trees, they are also powerful therapeutic agents. It is important to keep them out of the reach of children. Spreading essential oils undiluted onto a childs skin can be dangerous and leave a very painful breakout rash. If ingested, it can be lethal to a child and the caretaker should contact emergency medical personnel immediately.

When applying essential oils be sure to keep it away from your eyes, nose, or ears. The oils should never be ingested or allowed to enter the internal body. Keeping the essential oils away from openings on your body can ensure your overall health and remove the possibility of an overdose. You may even want to use latex gloves so that they are not improperly absorbed on your fingers.

Never ingest essential oils. They can be harmful or even lethal if swallowed.

Never go into a tanning booth or tan in the sun after using essential oils. Some oils are incredibly sensitive to sun exposure. Citrus oils especially fall into this category. Popular citrus oils to avoid the sun after using are bergamot oil and grapefruit oil.

Before fully using essential oils, make sure to test them on a very small part of your skin. This includes essential oils that you may use in aromatherapy. Apply a small dab to your arm and observe any reaction for twenty four hours. For essential oils that you will apply as a cream, dilute the oil into vegetable oil and apply to the skin. Observe for any reaction for twenty four hours to make sure they are safe for topical use.

Finally, overuse of essential oils can cause dizziness, headaches, or other side effects. If you believe you have accidentally overdosed on any essential oil, make sure to contact emergency response personnel immediately. Although essential oils are mostly therapeutic, using essential oils safely is important for your safety and good health.

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How to Make Your Own Essential Oils

Essential oils are homeopathic ways to help mental issues, fatigue, stress, or even physical conditions. Essential oils are extracts from certain plants or fruits that are distilled and placed in a container. Packaged essential oils are highly potent and very concentrated. Below are basic instructions on how to extract, distill, and cultivate your own essential oils.

Buy a Distiller

The first important item you will need to make your own essential oils is to purchase a distiller. Distillers cost a few hundred dollars, so make sure the one you choose is durable and will do the job well. Distillers have several components to consider. The heater is important to properly steam and heat the plants so that you can extract the oils. The holding tank will decide how much water you will be able to use. Smaller holding tanks will mean less steam. The condenser collects the steamed mixture. The condenser collects the steam and holds it for cooling. Finally, the separator is used to separate the water from the oil.

Decide what plant you would like to use. You can also buy the harvested plants or you can choose to grow them yourself. Some expensive essential oils are only available from other countries such as France. Africa is also a host of several essential oil plants. Make sure to research which essential oil is most useful for the illness that you need to alleviate.

When you receive the plant, you need to dry the plant for the distiller. Drying the plant will dry some of the oil, but it will yield a higher extract product. Drying is a slow process and it should never be done via sunlight. Sunlight can damage the oils and render the plant useless. The distill process should be done immediately after drying is complete.

Add the water to your distiller, and pack the plant material in the container. You dont need to cut or break the plants since the distiller will extract from whole plant material. You can pack the plant matter thickly to make sure you receive enough extract.

Boil the water so that steam starts to form. Keep an eye on the distiller to make sure it does not overflow. It is also important to make sure that the water does not run out. The heat without the water can break your distiller.

You can optionally filter the solutions. By pouring the solution through a cloth fabric, you can catch some of the small imperfections and contaminates that can cause allergies. It will also remove dirt from the solution making it more pure.

Store the oil in a container. The container for essential oils should be dark glass or stainless steel. Never use clear glass or your product can spoil more quickly. The essential oils should be kept in a cool, dark place away from contaminates. Most essential oils have an approximate shelf life of 2 years.

The remaining part of the distillation process that is not the oil is the hydrosol. It contains some of the oil and fragrance material that also has therapeutic effects. You can use the water for other uses such as bath water or a light scent. For others, they prefer not to keep the hydrosol and it is thrown away.

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How to Choose Essential Oils

When you decide to use essential oils to help your mood, stress, or physical illness it is hard to decide from the many available products which one is right for you. Essential oils come in a variety of scents and fragrances and the different extracts act on different components. Some help your mental fatigue, others relieve stress, and others can be used as topical creams that help you alleviate scars or acne.

The first thing to consider when choosing an essential oil is to inhale the fragrance. Some scents are very pungent, others are citrus, and others have a flowery smell. If any of these scents bother you, then the essential oil will not help with the relaxing effects. Make sure to be familiar with the fragrance before you make your purchase. When testing the scent, make sure to keep it a few inches away if it is not diluted. Undiluted essential oils can give you a headache.

When testing scents, make sure to take a break from the testing. Do not continually inhale too many fragrances or they will ultimately cause you to get dizzy or give you a headache. You also may not be able to distinguish between the scents after saturating your senses.

Avoid buying essential oils that do not have a variety of prices. You may ask why that is important. Some essential oils are rare and expensive. If a company is selling essential oils at a consistent price, the chances are that the more expensive oils are not authentic. They may also have been distilled with cheaper methods that leave some of the by-products in the packaging.

If you are sensitive to oily solvents, then avoid using essential oils that are diluted with vegetable oil. Although this is a recommended way to dilute the extracts, it leaves an oily residue behind. To test if an essential oil has been diluted this way, place a tiny drop on a piece of paper. If it leaves behind a residue as the drop slides off the paper then it has likely been diluted with vegetable oil.

When shopping for bottles, use manufacturers that list the Latin name on the bottle. This leaves no confusion on the actual extract that is contained in the bottle. Some extracts are closely related to the common names that we know, so they are falsely advertised as the real thing. Also take note of the country. Some essential oils come from exotic places such as Africa while others are native to France. This will give you an idea if it is authentic as well.

The best essential oils are pure. Some companies sell synthetic essential oils which can be dangerous. The synthetic oils do not contain the therapeutic effects that pure essential oils contain. Also, the synthetic oils can cause allergies or painful headaches.

Choose pure essential oils over synthetic essential oils. Aromatherapy experts prefer pure oils, saying that synthetic oils do not have the same therapeutic properties as pure essential oils. Also, synthetic oils are thought to cause more headaches and allergic reactions.

Containers used to keep essential oils should be dark or navy blue. Clear bottles allow sunlight to enter the oils and they can spoil the extracts more quickly. Make sure to keep extracts out of sunlight and in a dry, cool place.

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