Hydrosols, in the words of Suzanne Catty, are "the next aromatherapy". I recently purchased my first hydrosol and was amazed at the potency of it. I'm familiar with essential oils but not hydrosols. Hydrosols, sometimes called hydrolats or flower waters, used to be discarded in the essential oil process, as a 'waste' product. It is only recently that they have become more popular. So what exactly is a hydrosol? A hydrosol is the by-product of the distillation process so it naturally contains some of the properties of the essential oil from which it is distillled. Hydrosols are popular in skin care. Unfortunately though hydrosols are open to abuse as much as some essential oils and can be adulterated, so check your supplier carefully. Hydrosols should also not be confused with fragrance oils, which are popular in the U.S - fragrance oils are synthetic and not naturally extracted from plants.To learn the differences between an essential oil, a hydrosol and a fragrance oil read my article - Essential Oil, Fragrance Oil or Hydrosol?
For books on hydrosols, I reccomend Suzanne Catty Hydrosols: The Next Aromatherapy (see the link on the left) and another one, which I have not read (yet) , but have several books by the same author, so have no hesitiation in recommending it, is Len Price Understanding Hydrolats: The Specific Hydrosols for Aromatherapy A Guide for Health Professionals.
Check on the left hand side of the blog for links to the recommended books.
I am really amazed at the power of the hydrosol I purchased and would highly recommend giving one a go!
If you have any comments on this post please leave me a comment below!
No comments:
Post a Comment