With the changes in the weather from freezing cold to roasting hot – some of us have been caught out with the sun.
I was one of them! Although I carefully put on sunscreen, I spent too long in the sun one day and caught a little too much the sun on my back. So it has prompted me to give you some aromatherapy blends and treatments for sunburn.
Here are some suggested aromatherapy essential oil blends to soothe skin that has been in the sun, or to replenish moisture after sun exposure.
It is, of course, preferable to always use sun cream with a good spf before going into the sun and limit your time in the sun. (I did the first well, but not the second!!). These blends can be used as replenishment for skin, this is ideal. Sometimes however we need to soothe the skin as well. So here are some aromatherapy for sunburn suggestions for you:-
Essential oils that can be helpful – tea tree, lavender, roman or german chamomile, carrot seed, frankincense, peppermint, rose geranium.
Carrier oils to use: our own comfrey macerate oil and calendula macerate oil can be really helpful as a base oil. You can also use jojoba, rosehip, sesame and of course our own aloe vera gel which is incredibly soothing and cooling. If no further sun exposure is to be had, ie overnight – St Johns Wort macerate oil can be soothing.
One suggested blend would be 10ml calendula macerate, 5ml jojoba, 5ml rosehip &10ml aloe vera gel. Add 8 drops lavender, 2 drops roman chamomile, 2 drops tea tree, 1 drop german chamomile, 1 drop peppermint.
Another possible blend would be 10ml comfrey macerate and 20ml aloe vera gel. Add 9 drops lavender, 3 drops carrot seed, 3 drops frankincense, 2 drops roman chamomile, 1 drop peppermint.
Another blend would be 10ml rosehip and 20ml aloe vera gel. Add 10 drops lavender, 5 drops geranium, 1 drop peppermint
You could also simply use the aloe vera gel (30ml) on its own with one of these blends. Or indeed if you only have lavender essential oil to hand. Use only lavender in the gel and mix together to give a simple, but effective blend. It doesn’t always need to have many ingredients to do the job well. But if you have the other ingredients to hand, the synergy of the oils is really helpful.
To mix the blends use a spoon or a stirring stick to stir to blend the oils and gel completely before use on the skin. You can of course experiment with the suggested oils. But keep to the quantities suggested for safe usage or use less is fine too.
I hope you enjoy trying these aromatherapy for sunburn blends. They can help soothe your skin after sun exposure, plus re – mositurise, calm and protect your skin.
If your skin is red and tight, then it may be preferable to use a couple of drops of pure lavender on the area first. Lavender essential oil is an emergency treatment for minor burns. Then use one of the blends later. You may need someone to help you if the sunburn is on your back.
My recommendation on a good natural, ready to buy sunscreen, would be from Green People
For severely damaged or burnt skin always seek medical advice. For complex medical conditions always contact a qualified aromatherapist or your medical professional.
Welcome to another of Organica J’s Top Ten Uses! This month will be focusing on 10 helpful uses for patchouli essential oil (pogostemon cabin). Often I hear patchouli get a bad rap from how it was over used in the 60’s, but for feeling the power of love – all kinds of love, not just romantic love, including accumulating self-love – it is a very fabulous oil. I have patchouli as an ingredient in my very popular essential oil Love essential oil blend and Love Soap
When working as a clinical aromatherapist I often use Patchouli, it has an incredibly distinctive fragrance, yes, but the joy of this is you need so little patchouli to make an impact and underpin/hold together a gentle, soothing and loving blend. In a blend I would make up for doing aromatherapy massage with a client, if Patchouli was what they needed to be in the blend that day, often the blend only contained 1 drop or perhaps 2 of Patchouli for its positive impact to be felt. The oil in aromatherapy is synonymous with skincare and much used as a perfume & incense base too.
1. Can be calming on irritated or inflamed skin. 2. May help reduce anxiety & low moods 3. Good for fungal skin issues & dandruff 4. Suitable for a sensitive skin & skin prone to allergies. 5. Can be soothing for damaged skin & eczema-prone skin 6. It can be helpful in stress reduction 7. Rejeuvenating & regenerating for mature skin
8. Can be helpful to reduce fluid retention
9. Can act as an insect repellant and be helpful for bite treatment
10. Calming for an over active mind, due to over thinking or worry
The patchouli I have in stock right now is from Indonesia . The patchouli essential oil is a brown viscous oil. It has a rich fragrance, sweet/spicy/rooty with incredible depth. Patchouli is a bushy plant, with big, soft, furry green leaves and small flowers. The whole plant growing up to a metre in height. It is necessary to rupture the walls of the patchouli leaf before steam distillation to create the essential oil
If you wish to use this oil on skin always blend in a carrier oil, as a rough guide 1 drop of blend to 5ml of carrier oil
For using essential oils for specific or complex medical problems always contact a qualified aromatherapist or check with your GP.
To help get into the Christmas spirit, we are excited to announce our spectacular 12 Days of organic Christmas promotion!
Enjoy our 12 days of organic Christmas from the 1st to the 12th of December, we will be running a different deal on each day. The code for each unique promotion will last 24 hours, but it will change everyday at midnight.
We don’t want to spoil the surprise of all the amazing offers we will doing, but for example, one day could be a big discount on a particular item, then the next could be a free gift with each order!
Welcome to another of Organica J’s Top Ten Uses! This month will be focusing on 10 helpful uses for my Orange and Frankincense Blend. This blend is incredibly popular at the run up to Christmas, but it properties and benefits go way beyond being just a Christmassy scent. When working as a clinical aromatherapist I often blend these two oils together, as they have such a great synergy. Below you will find some of the uses I have for the blend.
