Aromatherapy for beauty

Essential oils & skin care

The judicious use of essential oils in skin care helps to rejuvenate and beautify the face and body. We can call this "cosmetic aromatherapy"- a natural way to enhance the skin's condition and maintain it in good health. However, following the holistic approach of aromatherapy, we need to look further than our faces.

Beauty is more than skin deep, because what you eat and drink, how you cleanse your skin and your overall general health area all reflected in your face. Taking a holistic approach to caring for your skin helps ensure that you face the world looking as good as possible. This means examining what you eat and making changes to help your skin from within.

Lifestyle checklist

Some people can eat pastries and fries and still have lovely skin, but they are in a tiny minority. Most of us need to eat sensibly to keep our skin in good condition. This means drinking lots of spring water, substituting herbal teas for tea and coffee, and eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, together with whole grains. Eliminating or reducing salt, alcohol, fried foods, red meat and sugars will help the skin to retain its natural glow.

Fresh air and sufficient exercise, avoiding smoking (or second- hand smoke) and reducing stress complete the lifestyle checklist for healthy, beautiful skin. Once skin care has been tackled from the inside, it is time to consider how essential oils can be used to improve your complexion, treat specific skin conditions and generally care for your skin.

Essential oils have been used for cosmetic purposes for centuries, notably by the Egyptians, who included frankincense and cedar wood in embalming procedures. Scientific studies have revealed that certain essential oils, such as rose, frankincense, neroli and lavender, stimulate the regeneration of healthy new skin cells. Some essential oils also have a rejuvenating effect on the skin, restoring vitality and regulating capillary activity. Essential oils are, therefore, of great value in skin care.

Drinking lots of mineral water helps keep your complexion clear and glowing.

What is the skin?

The skin is the largest organ of the body, and its functions include temperature regulation and the manufacturing of vitamin D as well as protecting the body beneath. The skin is divided into three main layers, with each layer having specific characteristics.

The layers of the skin

• The first, outer or top layer is called the epidermis, and is also known as the stratum corneum. This is what we see when we look at the surface of the skin. The epidermis is composed of essentially dead cells of a flat appearance.
• The second, middle layer is called the dermis, and is considerably thicker than the epidermis. It contains blood and lymph vessels, hair follicles, sensory nerve endings and sebaceous and sweat glands. The dermis manufactures new, living skin cells, which gradually emerge onto the surface epidermis.
• The third and bottom layer of the skin is known as the subcutaneous layer. This is where the tiny muscles that keep the skin toned and firm are located, along with fatty tissue that supports the skin.

How aromatherapy can help

The epidermis is the area that you concentrate on with your skin care regime, although its condition is interdependent with the two lower layers and the rest of the body. The appearance of the skin is conditioned by how quickly the dead surface cells are replaced by new cells from the dermis. The more rapidly this process occurs, the softer, smoother and healthier the skin appears.

When dead skin cells collect on the surface of the skin, the completion appears lifeless, dull and lacklustre. This is one of the functions of cleansing the skin: not only do you remove dirt from the surface and dirt trapped in the pores, but you also remove dead skin cells. In this way gentle exfoliation can improve a dull complexion. 

As we age, the natural process of cell renewal slows down, and the youthful elasticity of the skin diminishes. Rejuvenating aromatherapy skin products stimulate rapid regeneration of cells in the dermis to help retain a beautiful complexion as you age.

Using aromatherapy products to look after your skin will help to keep it looking youthful and beautiful.

Facial Steam for Deep Cleansing- Aromatherapy

Facial steaming with essential oils offers an extra dimension to the cleansing process. A facial steam increases perspiration, deeply cleanses the pores and encourages the elimination of deep-seated wastes and toxins. Steaming also softens and loosens the dead skin cells, making them easier to remove, and hydrates the skin.

Avoid steaming if there are spider veins or broken veins, because steam will aggravate these. If the skin is very sensitive, or if there is sunburn or other inflammation, steaming should also be avoided. All other skin types will benefit from a weekly facial steam with essential oils- especially oily skin. Special facial saunas are available, some of which are designed for home use. However, you can achieve almost as good an effect using a bowl of boiling water and a towel to cover your head.

A facial steam is a good way to thoroughly cleanse your skin.

How to perform it

YOU WILL NEED:

• A facial sauna or bowl of boiling water
• A large towel
• An essential oil appropriate to your skin type (check out our next Aromatherapy for beauty blog, coming soon!)
• Flower water appropriate to your skin type
• A light moisturizer

WHAT TO DO:

1. Prepare your facial sauna or bowl of boiling water, making sure that you have a large towel nearby.
2. Add 5-10 drops of essential oil, according to the strength of aroma desired.
3. Either place your face in the facial sauna, according to the manufacturer's instructions, or hold your face a little way above the bowl of boiling water and essential oil, and place the towel over your head.
4. Keep your eyes closed, but be careful not to get your face too close to the hot water. If the initial vapour of the essential oil is very strong, lift your head away for a few moments, until the vapour is less powerful.
5. After steaming for five minutes, wipe your face and allow it to cool. Then spray it with flower water, allowing it to dry naturally. This further cools the face and closes the pores.
6. Finally, apply a light moisturizer.

Techniques to relieve low energy- using aromatherapy

Techniques to relieve low energy- using aromatherapy

There is a subtle difference between being tired and having low energy levels, although these two states do get confused. Whereas tiredness is caused by long and perhaps strenuous activity- whether mental or physical- low energy can affect you even first thing in the morning, before you start your day.

Low energy affects you mentally, emotionally and spiritually, as well as on the more physical level with symptoms of reluctance and sluggish activity. It can have a simple physical cause, such as not getting proper nourishment or not eating enough, but there are often underlying causes as well. It is in this sphere that essential oils can help. Low energy may be the body's way of telling you that you are chronically tired and need a proper rest. Although in this instance a vacation will help restore normal energy levels, you need to find ways to prevent tiredness affecting you so badly in the first place.

Useful remedies

• Checking your sleep routine is helpful. Perhaps you go to bed late and overtired, so that you have difficulty sleeping, or perhaps you suffer from insomnia and wake up feeling tired and lacking energy. If so, you need to use calming, sedative oils in the evening to assist sleep and stimulating oils in the morning to boost your energy levels.
• Lavender is excellent to help you sleep easily and well, and marjoram, Roman chamomile and German chamomile, neroli, clary sage and sandalwood are all useful. Take an aromatic bath (not too hot) before going to bed, and put a drop or two of lavender on your pillow.
• In the morning use stimulating essential oils to start your day with good energy, which may well sustain you throughout the day. If you start off with low energy, this will only deteriorate. Sprinkling essential oils on the floor of your morning shower just before you get in is a good technique. Rosemary and basil are stimulating and refreshing, and smell invigorating in combination with citrus oils.

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Lemongrass Essential Oil

Lemongrass 
(Cymbopogon citratus, Cymbopogon flexuosus)

Family: Graminea or Poaceae
Description: Lemongrass is a tall, aromatic, perennial, fast-growing grass. The two varieties are distinct species, but share similar properties. The essential oil is steam-distilled from the finely chopped, fresh or partly dried grass.
Countries of origin: Guatemala, India
Characteristics: Lemongrass has pungent, fresh, lemon, hay-like top notes with earthy, green, grassy undertones. It blends well with most citruses and florals and also with marjoram, black pepper, rosemary, angelica root and ginger.
Main therapeutic properties: Analgesic, antidepressant, antimicrobial, antiseptic, astringent, bactericide, carminative, deodorant, febrifuge, insecticidal, nervine, tonic.

Lemongrass is called the "connective tissue essential oil", because it tightens and tones the skin and connective tissue. This makes it useful in massage and compresses after sports injuries, general strains and sprains, and after dieting when the connective tissues and skin may have lost tone and become slack. Overall, lemongrass is cooling, refreshing, and stimulating. It has excellent antiseptic and deodorant properties, which make it a good choice to use in a burner to clear and freshen the air. Lemongrass is a powerful insecticide, and as a local wash or spray for pets it keeps fleas and bad odours at bay. Lemongrass is soothing for headaches, but should be properly diluted before applying it to the temples, and it is good blended with lavender.

Psychologically, lemongrass is uplifting and energizing. It is especially useful to get you going in the morning, and a few drops sprinkled in the shower surrounds you with fresh, new energy. Lemongrass is also good for concentrating and clear thinking, so it is useful in a burner when you are studying or meditating.
Contraindications: Do not use on sensitive or very sensitive skin. Use in moderation- no more than 3 drops in the bath and no more than 2 percent in massage oils.

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