The Historical Use of Aromatherapy in Skincare

More and more people are becoming allergic or extremely sensitive to the chemicals found in brand name perfumes and skin care products. Before discovering aromatherapy and beginning to work with essential oils, I commonly used synthetic perfumes and brand name skin care products because I didn't understand what the actual ingredients of these perfumes were.

Now, I can't be in the vicinity of a synthetic perfume without having an adverse reaction to it! And I have slowly changed my skin care routine to include only products I have made with pure essential oils.

Although essential oils, as we know them today, weren't around hundreds of years ago, a form of 'aromatherapy' was; people used natural plants and oils from plants for cosmetic purposes.

Since historic times, many ancient civilizations have used natural plants and oils in their skin care routines. The Romans were famous for adding lavender to the Roman baths; the Romans also thought highly of rose too. On a trip to the ancient city of Pompeii in Italy last summer, I was fascinated to discover that excavations of Pompeii have unearthed proof that many Pompeiians both grew and used many flowers and herbs for culinary and cosmetic purposes; these plants are ones which we are familiar with today and include rose, lily, laurel, fennel, myrtle and myrrh.

Another important figure from history - this time French history - is Marie Antoinette of France (1755 - 1793) who used many natural perfumes and oils in her skin care routine; Marie Antoinette had her own personal perfumer to make her natural scents and lotions on a whim. In fact, it is said that Marie Antoinette's obsession with her perfumes and lotions may have cost her her life; the delay in preparations for fleeing France was due to Marie Antoinette's toilette preparations, which made those no longer loyal to the Queen suspicious of her intentions. Marie Antoinette was eventually captured and sent to the guillotine.

For more information, read my articles The Perfumes of Marie Antoinette and The Ancient Perfumes of Pompeii.

If you are really interested in Marie Antoinette of France and, in particular her use of perfumes, I highly recommend reading A Scented Palace by Elisabeth de Feydeau 2007 I.B. Tauris and Co. Ltd (UK and USA).

For more on the ancient perfumes of Pompeii I highly recommend Perfumes, Unguents and Hairstyles in Pompeii (Profumi, ungenti e acconciature in pompei antica) by Carlo Giordano, Angelandrea Casale 2nd edition Bardi Editore Roma, Italia.

If you have any thoughts or comments on the historical use of aromatherapy in skin care please post a comment!

Next time, I'll discuss essential oils suitable for skincare...

Essential Oils Not Recommended for Aromatherapy Use

This subject area is quite complex, so much so, that it became too long for a blog post and I wrote a complete article on it!

Essential oils which are 'safe' and essential oils which are not 'safe' is always an area of discussion in aromatherapy; but if you look at the chemical content of some essential oils you will realize, from their chemistry, that they really are not suitable for therapeutic practice in aromatherapy.

To learn more read Essential Oils Not Suitable for Aromatherapy Use...

You may also wish to read the related articles of Essential Oils for Baby and Phototoxic Essential Oils...

If you have any comments on any of these essential oils or have more to add to the list please leave a comment or contact me!

The Importance of Latin Names in Identifying an Essential Oil

Cranesbill is not where geranium essential oil comes from
There are many species of lavender

There is often confusion between the the identification of some essential oils and their uses for therapeutic purposes in aromatherapy. The misunderstanding often arises because people often use the common english name of a plant and not the botanical latin name. The following plants are often confused:

Pelargoniums and Geraniums

Marjoram and Oregano

The Sage Essential Oils

The Chamomile Essential Oils

The Lavender Essential Oils

Reading these individual articles will give you some idea of the confusion between these various plants. These common misunderstandings should remind us that when identifying an essential oil for a particular purpose, we should learn the latin name (ie the botanical name) of the plant. Not only do plants/essential oils get mistaken for other species/varieties by using english names but there are many different varieties of a plant species.

Lavender is probably one of the most well known and popular essential oils - but there are many species of lavender. Not only that, but depending on the growing season and region, the same lavender species may produce a slightly different chemical composition than the previous year. Lavender essential oils include the following varieties:

Lavandula angustifolia/officinalis - common/true lavender

Lavendula x intermedia - lavandin

Lavendula latifolia - spike lavender

Lavandula stoechas -different to the above 3 lavender varieties in that it is high in ketones and not in common usage in aromatherapy.

With the exception of Lavendula stoechas , all of these lavender plants look similar but their chemical composition varies slightly - they have common aromatherapy uses but this may not be the case with every species of plant. In addition, you often see lavender essential oils marketed as Bulgarian or French or English lavender; this gives you a clue as to which country the distilled lavender essential oil came from but you still need to check the chemical composition to make sure it is typical of -

a) other lavender essential oils

b) will work therapeutically for what you intend to use it for.

This is just an example of the complexities surrounding english and latin botanical names for plants and essential oils; there are also some essential oils which should never be used for aromatherapy purposes. That's coming up next....

Myrtle Essential Oil

the myrtle bush

Myrtle was used by the ancient Greek Dioscorides and has a lot of associations with love! Most notably it was associated with Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, and legend tells that Aphrodite hid her nakedness behind a myrtle bush! Greek brides today often carry myrtle in their bridal bouquets and even Queen Victoria of England mixed myrtle in her 1840 bridal bouquet, together with snowdrops. However, for its therapeutic properties, myrtle essential oil is most used for its antiseptic power - to learn more read my latest essential oil profile - myrtle essential oil...

How to Create an Aromatherapy Spa

Going to the spa in these economic times might be something which you give a miss - but that doesn't mean you have to give your spa treatments a miss too! Its relatively easy to create your own aromatherapy spa, with pure essential oil blends, at home!

To learn more read How to Enjoy Spa Treatments at Home...

Do You Have Suggestions for Aromatherapy Notes?

Is there something you are curious about? Do you want to know more about a particular essential oil? Or carrier oil? Do you want to learn more about aromatherapy in the UK? Or in the USA? Is there a new aromatherapy practice or treatment you've heard about and want to share?

I would love to hear anyone's suggestions or comments on any of aromatherapy notes blog posts or what you would like to see more (or less!) of! In addition to writing aromatherapy notes, I also maintain the Sedona Aromatherapie website library, Sedona Aromatherapie's facebook fan page and am in the process of (in the next year) adding more sister aromatherapy websites (products and articles) to the Sedona Aromatherapie family! I regularly contribute to the aromatherapy section at suite101, an online media magazine and I also tweet about Sedona Aromatherapie and other aromatherapy articles on twitter too!

Look forward to your thoughts and comments!

How to Use Essential Oils at Home

essential oils can be used in a number of ways at home

Essential oils are often used in spa treatments - but how do you use essential oils in your own way at home? Essential oils, when pure, are therapeutic in their powers and are used in aromatherapy to heal and treat specific problems. However, because essential oils are powerful, they should never be used neat, i.e. directly onto the skin, unless specifically directly to do so by a qualified aromatherapist, and even then, with extreme caution.

Essential oils are often used in carrier oils in aromatherapy blends. As discussed previously, carrier oils may not necessarily be an oil and may take the form of lotions, water, milk and honey too. But once you've mixed your appropriate essential oils in a carrier, what do you do then? Here's some suggestions:

- use essential oils in the bath in a bubble bath base, bath oil, bath salt - or with milk or honey, very luxurious!

- use essential oils in the shower in a shower gel base

- use essential oils in a shampoo base

- to treat your hands or feet to a soak (like in a manicure or pedicure) add some essential oils to a foot or hand bath

- if you have a injury, pain or inflammation, use essential oils in a hot or cold compress, depending on the situation

- some essential oils are good for treating coughs and colds; add essential oils to a tissue, on your pillow at night time (but remember to dilute in water or you will end up with an oily mess!) or to a bowl of water and inhale deeply

- use essential oils in your everyday skin care routine - add essential oils to lotions for hands, feet, face and cleansing lotion

- are you allergic to or get headaches from commercial perfumes? Make your own perfume sprays with pure essential oils

- use essential oils in a diffuser to fragrance a room and 'create' a certain mood

- essential oils can also be used in cleaning products (another topic to be discussed at a later date) .

Essential oils are extremely versatile and as you can see are not just a 'pretty smell'! All of these suggestions can easily be expanded on and I will come back to some of them in future postings. If you have any other suggestions for using essential oils at home, or I have missed something, please leave me a comment at the end of this post!

The Extraction of Essential Oils by Hydro-Diffusion (Percolation) and Carbon Dioxide Extraction

Photo of a Simple Homemade Still

As discussed in the post The Extraction of Essential Oils by Distillation and Expression, there are now new methods of extracting some essential oils. Both hydro-diffusion and carbon dioxide extraction are new methods, and there are some essential essential oils for sale which will be described as, for example, 'CO 2 extracted'. Although distillation of essential oils remains the most popular and most frequently used method of extracting essential oils, it is worth mentioning the two newer methods of hydro-diffusion and carbon dioxide.



- Hydro-Diffusion Extraction (also known as percolation) - is the newer of these two extraction methods for essential oils. It is quicker than distilling an essential oil and works much like the process of a coffee percolator (hence its alternative name of percolation). As it is a fairly new procedure for extracting essential oils, it is not known yet whether essential oils obtained through hydro-diffusion extraction is of the same quality as those obtained through distillation. Additionally, not all essential oils, are suitable for hydro-diffusion.



- Carbon Dioxide Extraction - as the name suggests, carbon dioxide extraction uses carbon dioxide to extract essential oils. It is an expensive method of extracting essential oils, using both high pressure and low temperature to extract the essential oil from the plant material. It is said that carbon dioxide extraction produces an essential oil which is closer to the essential oil present in the plant (remember that the 'essential oil' obtained through distillation is not the same as the essential oil present in the plant; chemical components are 'altered' through the extraction process). Carbon dioxide extraction does not leave a trace of carbon dioxide in the resulting essential oil and essential oil suppliers are marketing these essential oils as 'pure'; however, the essential oils obtained through carbon dioxide extraction are usually more expensive.



Personally, I have traditionally used distilled or expressed essential oils for pure aromatherapy use - until now. If research continues into the newer methods of hydro-diffusion and carbon dioxide extraction and I am convinced these essential oils are also pure, and can be bought at a reasonable price, I may consider using them in the future...

The Extraction of Essential Oils by Distillation and Expression

Photo of a Simple Homemade Still

For anyone who studies essential oils, distillation is probably the most familiar method of extracting essential oils from plant material; however, not all essential oils can be steam distilled. Most citrus oils, for example, are expressed. So what does 'distilled' and 'expressed' mean? And why are there different methods of extracting essential oils?

Essential oils can be extracted in the following ways:

- Distillation - the most common method of extracting essential oils and a method which has been used for centuries essentially. Plant matter which is steam distilled is in placed in a still, heated and the essential oils (the 'aroma' molecules of the plant) evaporate into the steam. The molecules are then carried along a pipe and when they start to cool (as the pipe passes through a cold water vat) the molecules form into liquid - the essential oils. The essential oils can be separated from the water, as the essential molecules either "sink or float' on the water.


Distillation is used to extract essential oils from the sacs stored in the leaves, roots, seeds and flowers of plants. Aromatherapy and Botany explains more of the storage of essential oils by plants. Some plants have no difficulty producing a large quantity of essential oil in one batch, others are extremely difficult to extract from with minute quantities of essential oil produced in a single batch.

- Expression - citrus fruits are usually expressed to extract essential oils. Essential oils are located in the rind of the fruit and need to be 'squeezed' out - a bit like when you peel the orange and the juice is 'squeezed' out of the fruit, except it is the rind which is expressed in the case of the majority of the citrus essential oils. The problem with expressing pure essential oils from citrus oils is that, in today's world, many fruit trees are chemically sprayed, 'contaminating' the rind of many citrus fruits. For this reason, many aromatherapists prefer to use organic or naturally grown fruits for essential oils (although these terms can be 'open to interpretation' sometimes too!)

Newer methods of extracting essential oils include Carbon Dioxide Extraction (CO 2 essential oils) and Perculation which is coming up next...

Do you have any comments to add on my post on the extraction of essential oils? Add you comments below if you do!

When is an Essential Oil not an Essential Oil?

...an interesting question which expands on essential oil, fragrance oil or hydrosol last month. Plants are capable of producing many things from their 'material' - aside from essential oils, plant material can be eventually made into concretes, absolutes, resinoids and oleoresins, depending on the plant and depending on the material and extraction process. However, aside from essential oils, none of these other substances are completely 'natural', as they involve some sort of chemical processing through solvent extraction.

Concretes and absolutes are often used in the perfumery world as they maintain the fragrance that perfumers require - but they do not possess the therapeutic properties of essential oils for aromatherapy use.

To learn more read When is an essential oil not an essential oil? And methods of distillation and extraction of essential oils will be discussed in my next blog post...

Medieval 'Aromatherapy' Herbals

Herbs and plants were in use in Medieval Europe, despite the Witchcraft Acts and the often misunderstood powers of herbs and plants. Two English herbalists who contributed to the popularity of herbs and plants for medicinal purposes were John Gerard and Nicholas Culpeper. Nicholas Culpeper even mentions the use of 'essential oils' in his famous Culpeper's Herbal; although they were not known as essential oils in the Medieval period, they were essentially similar to the essential oils we use today in modern day aromatherapy.

Read The Use of Medicinal Medieval Herbs to learn more...

When Not To Use An Essential Oil

Essential oils have different safety 'standards' in different countries; as I've mentioned previously, essential oils in France are dispensed through a pharmacist. In the UK and in the USA, this is not the case. Anyone can walk into a store, or order online, any essential oil regardless of their knowledge about essential oils.

Essential oils, if used correctly, are relatively safe to use - those three words, 'if used correctly' are what makes the difference. Before qualifying as an aromatherapist and having no knowledge of aromatherapy or what essential oils actually were, I did not realise the power held in one essential oil bottle. Since qualifying as an aromatherapist, I am asked all sorts of questions about the use of essential oils which makes me question whether essential oils should be on restricted sale! After all, 'knowledge is power', and the lack of knowledge about essential oils could make a huge difference to someone's reactions to a particular essential oil.

I discussed the safety of essential oils in a previous blog post but thought it prudent to mention some of the 'risk' factors (or contra-indicators) on when not to use an essential oil. Essential oils are made up of different chemical components and therefore the chemical make-up of an essential oil can determine the 'risk factor' of a particular oil. Some essential oils are toxic, sensitizing and an irritant. Some other potential risks of essential oils, and therefore 'contra-indicators', include:

- risk to pregnant women

- risk to children and babies

-risk to those with liver problems

-risk to those with kidney problems

-risk if not used in moderation

- risk if used in sunlight

- risk of skin irritation.

Not all essential oils carry these risks, it is dependent on the chemical make-up of the essential oils; some essential oil 'families' do share common characteristics and therefore similar risk factors. For example, the majority of citrus essential oils are photo toxic, and the high menthone content of most mint oils is a huge risk factor for young children and babies; however, there are often exceptions to the rule (and between different botanical species), making it wise to have some knowledge of essential oils before using them.

For those with little or no knowledge of essential oils, it is important to note that essential oils should normally be administered through a carrier oil; only few essential oils should be used neat, and then only with care and knowledge. There are other methods of essential oil administeration, oral and vaginal among them, but these practices are studied at advanced level.

As I continue to learn about essential oils and their uses, I really do believe that education about essential oils is vital in their correct use. I don't think it is necessary to be 'medically qualified' to administer essential oils but I do believe that having some knowledge about essential oils before using them is important. If you want to know more about a particular essential oil, click on any of the essential oil profiles on the left side of this blog to get started - and take note of any 'risk' factors! I would like to finish by saying that essential oils can be used in most cases relatively safely - 'if used correctly'...

Vetiver Essential Oil Profile

Another of the scented grasses which produces an essential oil is vetiver - not as well known as citronella or lemongrass , vetiver is a popular plant used in ancient perfumes of India.

It is also extremely useful for problematic skin and is a gentle, non-toxic, non-sensisitizing and non-irritating essential oil due to its high chemical content of alcohols.

Learn more about vetiver essential oil by reading my latest essential oil profile vetiver...

Quality Testing Essential Oils

Essential oils undergo a number of quality tests to test for their purity; as discussed in the previous blog post on essential oil suppliers, it difficult to know if an essential oil is pure. Many 'pure' essential oils are, in fact, 'fragrance oils'. However, quality testing essential oils with such tests as the GC-MS and GLC means that some 'pure' essential oils will not 'pass the test'. Some essential oil suppliers will provide you with the GC-MS test reports if you ask.

Quality testing essential oils is a scientific and complex process but I have tried to explain, in simple terms, the process of quality testing essential oils in my latest article Essential Oil Quality Testing...