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.