I wrote a blog post two years ago, about aromatherapy for loss and grief, but because of what I personally have been through along with most everyone else in the UK and indeed the world this year, it was time to rewrite it and revisit this important topic. Aromatherapy is an extremely gentle, but powerful tool when loss and grief is present.
(more…)Welcome to another of Organica J’s Top Ten Uses! Here I focus on 10 helpful uses for Lemon Scented Tea Tree. This is not an extremely well known essential oil, but it is an essential ingredient in my Midges & Mozzie Balm. I do love it, and do also use in it my aromatherapy practice, so I would like to share some of its uses with you.
(more…)
I recently did The Allergy Show at the SEC in Glasgow and had a lot of people looking at the essential oils and asking questions about oils that they had bought and advice on what to look for when buying them. So I thought it would be helpful to give some information on this at this subject here.
We will examine what to look for when buying essential oils to ensure that you are getting the best therapeutic quality.
1. Essential oils should be in a dark coloured glass bottle to protect from light.
2. There should be a dropper to dispense the oils safely.
3. If you see the words fragrance oil or similar, it is probably a synthetic blend not a pure essential oil and so will have no therapeutic value. Look for ‘essential oil’ on the label.
4. Price is another likely indicator of quality, if all the oils in the shop or online are the same price, again they are unlikely to be of therapeutic grade. Due to the hugely diverse nature of: method of extraction; availability/success of harvest; the quantity of the plant required to make an essential oil, prices will be widely different. Sweet orange – easily obtained and extracted by expression, is more economic, whereas rose needs around 4,000kg of petals to obtain1 kg of oil, and so is at the upper end of the price scale.
5. The latin name of the plant (and any chemotypes, if relevant) should appear on the label on the bottle, this is important as there are many different varieties of some oils, eg lavender & eucalyptus, that have varying therapeutic uses and safety considerations.
6. Check the best before date – citrus oils (and some others) have shorter shelf lives, while base note oils such as patchouli have longer lives. Some oils degrade after a time eg black pepper, and change their use therapeutically . So it is always best to buy in small amounts.
7. If you are recommended to use the essential oils for internal use, ensure that the person selling them has completed a full course on essential oils for internal use and is insured for this (and/or is working directly with your GP/Clinician). This is an entirely different qualification and is usually not included in aromatherapy training here in the UK.
These are general suggestions, there are more detailed information which affects quality such as; the country of origin, the colour and texture of the essential oils. When buying for my business to supply you, I am very particular, dealing with only a few trusted suppliers. I also like to know how the oils are produced, ie that they come from an ethical supplier and of course I require an organic certification to stock them within my businsss.
These are a few baseline things that you should find helpful when looking for a good quality, therapeutic essential oil, but I am delighted to help with any further or more detailed queries that you may have. Just email me at: jacqui @ organicaj.co.uk
You can find all the organic essential oils that I currently stock here:
Welcome to another of Organica J’s Top Ten Uses! Here I focus on 10 helpful uses for Lavender essential oil. Remember there are a lot of varieties of lavender, which have different properties and scents. Here we are talking on the variety lavandula angustifolia (true lavender). I have found after much experimenting with other varieties from various countries, to use a French lavender, which I personally like best for therapeutic use and in my products for what I need from its properties, and with its soft, but powerful fragrance.
Lavender is an aromatic evergreen shrub and the oil is made by steam distillation of the flowering tops. It is colourless or pale yellow in colour.
I use lavender in many of my products, such as my Gardener’s Hand Balm, Restful Evening Bath & Body Oil and Pulse Point Roller Ball , Lavender and Lavender flower Soap as well as being one of the ingredients in my Meditation Essential Oil Blend. It blends so well with many oils. I have used it recently in therapy blended with roman chamomile, sweet orange and ylang.
There are many different uses for lavender oil, it has been used for a long time for numerous things, but I include what I view as my top 10 uses.
1. Can reduce stress levels.
2. For insomnia and disturbed sleep.
3. Relief from muscular aches and pains.
4. Can calm anxiety & eases fears.
5. Easing headaches (rub one drop on temples) .
6. Very helpful for minor burns.
7. Relief from colds and flu.
8. A good insect repellant.
9. Helpful for pmt and menstrual cramps.
10. Can provide relief from sunburned skin.
If you feel that lavender would be a useful oil for you, you can buy it here. There is also available a full range of other aromatherapy essential oils, with information on their uses available in the essential oil category on the website. If you require further information on any oils, feel free to contact us by email or phone.
For using essential oils for specific or complex medical problems always contact a qualified aromatherapist or your GP.
Gardeners Hand Balm is one of our best selling products, which contains our own hand harvested comfrey. Great for this time of year for all gardening hands. Many customers are not gardeners, but love using this extra rich moisturising balm for restoring skin on all types of hands.
Great healing & moisturising for hands that may be:
Recommended to use as a treatment for tired hands at the end of the day. Keep by your bedside. After application this very rich, nourishing balm soaks into your skin to moisturise, soothe and protect. Our own wildcrafted comfrey is one of the main ingredients in the balm, which helps your skin regenerate while the organic essential oils heal, soothe and protect. Lavender for its antiseptic and skin healing properties, rose geranium is so balancing for all types of skin, and lemon to give a protective antiseptic & bactericidal properties. We get so many clients feeding back that they notice
after a few days application how different their hands feel. A little goes a very long way with the Balm. As it is so rich, only a small amount needs to be used in each application, and makes this an economic, as well as highly effective hand balm.
We also have many customers who like to use this for hands that have rheumatism and arthritis as the comfrey and lavender in the balm can be extremely helpful for these conditions with regular use.
We don’t use any preservatives in the Gardeners Hand Balm, as they are not necessary. We use organic rosemary extract as an anti-oxidant for promoting the Balms longevity. So you can be assured that you are using a totally natural product.
The Gardeners Hand Balm is available in a 60ml glass jar, ideal for recycling.
Ingredients: *helianthus annus (sunflower), ~symphytum spp. (comfrey leaf), *prunus dulcis (sweet almond), *cera alba (beeswax), *triticum vulgare (wheatgerm), *lavandula angustifolia (lavender), * pelargonium graveolens (rose geranium), *citrus limon (lemon), *rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary extract), citral, geraniol, citronellol, limonene, linalool. (from essential oils).
* organic ingredient ~ wildcrafted ingredient
