Unique aromatherapy

How to use Aromatherapy.

Massage or Body Oil: Add 10 to 15 drops of Essential Oil to 1 oz.or 30 ml of good quality carrier oil.

Inhalation: Put a few drops on a tissue, handkerchief or on your pillow case, before going to bed.

Steam inhalation: Add 2 to 5 drops of oil to a bowl of hot water,cover your head with a towel to clear sinuses.

In a diffuser: Add 5 to 10 drops for refreshing air.

Bath: Add 8 to 10 drops to a cup of Epsom salt or sea salt and mix with bathwater.

Compress: Soak cloth in warm water with few drops of oil and apply to injured or sore part of the body.

Skin Care: Add 5 to 10 drops per 30 ml of a single oils or your chosen blend to your favorite body lotion and skin care.

Hair Care: In your shampoo or hair conditioner. Add 5 to 10drops for every 30 ml

Perfume: Mix 5 to 15 drops of Essential Oil blend with 15 ml of carrier oil and pour into a roller bottle.

The exact date of the invention of Hungary water was lost to history. It is equally unclear who created it. The oldest surviving recipes called for extracting fresh rosemary and thyme possible distilling it with brandy while following formulations contained lavender, mint and sage, marjoram, costus, orange blossom and lemon.

According to these same legends Hungary water first appeared outside of Hungary in 1370 when Charles V of France, who was famous for his love of fragrances, received some.

Hungary water was known across Europe for many centuries, and until Eau de Cologne appeared in the 18th century, it was the most popular fragrance and remedy applied. Similar to other herb and flower-based products both Hungary water and Eau de cologne were not just perfumes, but also valuable remedies; the earliest recipes advised the user to both bathe in it and drink it, to receive the most benefit.

The Egyptians were responsible for the origin of perfume. They utilized scents in everything from religious ceremonies to burial preparations and even daily wear. The wealthy elites of Egyptian society, male and female alike, would adorn themselves with aromas to denote their status. At festivals and celebrations, priestesses at the temples used to wear perfumed cones on their heads which would melt under the heat, releasing their beautiful fragrances. The production of perfumes was closely linked to religion. The formula of "kyphi," a floral and sweet scent, is engraved in hieroglyphics on the walls of the temple of Edfou. Priests were often also accomplished perfumers.In the early days before distillation became standard practice, plant material and flowers were steeped in hot oils, or animal fats and extracted the fragrant oils using pressure. The perfume oils were stored in alabaster or stone vases and were kept airtight. This method is still used for St. John’s wort oil.

The Persians took over the use of perfume as a sign of political status, but after the Greeks and Romans became acquainted with it that it began to be viewed as a form of art and commercially produced. Archaeologists recently uncovered a perfume factory from 2,000 BC, located in Cyprus, which seemed to have specialized in the production of scents like coriander, laurel, myrtle, lavender, and rosemary. Perfume slowly spread throughout the globe, for a while, scents were reserved mainly for use in religious ceremonies. After the fall of Rome to the Barbarians in the fifth century, the use of perfume took refuge in the Byzantine empire. When the Crusaders returned from their expeditions in the East, they brought back cosmetics and perfumes; Rosewater, in particular.

Arabs played a decisive role in the evolution of perfume with the development of the still and the coil. These instruments allowed alcohol distillation, a technique that opened the path to modern fragrances. Since then Stillrooms could be found in most “affluent” households.The Church condemned the use of perfume as a symbol of the extravaganza of the pagans. The exception was “holy water” or Frankincense, used in religious rituals. During the next centuries, distillation took a great leap forward. Better extraction methods brought forth more uses of plant extracts.

Distillation, Cold expression, and extraction by solvents or CO 2 extraction are now the most used ways of extracting EO from plants.

One of the earliest applications of perfuming comes from the burning of incense and aromatic herbs for religious services, often the aromatic gums, frankincense, and myrrh gathered from trees. It did not take long, though, for people to discover perfume’s romantic potential and it was used both for seduction and as preparation for love-making. Both Napoleon and Marie Antoinette were fervent users of EO and fragrances and perfumes.

With the arrival of eau de cologne, 18th-century France began using perfume for a broad range of purposes. They used it in their bath water, in poultices and enemas, and consumed it in wine or drizzled on a sugar lump.With the growth of organic chemistry in the second half of the nineteenth century, new scents were created by blending artificial scents with traditional aromas.

In 1868, the chemist Perkin synthesized the principle liberated from its natural origins by the fragrance of the Tonka bean, Coumarin. This synthetic product, evoking the smell of freshly mown hay, was present for the first time in Houbigant's famous "Fougère Royale." Afterward, Reimer launched the industrial production of vanillin, and Baur created artificial musk. Coco Chanel’s perfumer: Ernest Beaux created No.5. He used quite a large quantity of aldehydes. That gave the fragrance its sparkle. Beaux presented Chanel with ten scents to choose from. She then decided on perfume number five, hence the name.Although Indie, or niche perfume makers remain to cater to the very rich, the perfumes of today enjoy widespread use—and not just among women. The selling of fragrance, however, is no longer just the purview of perfume makers.

In the 20th century, clothing designers began marketing their lines of scents, and today almost any celebrity with a lifestyle brand is hawking a fragrance with their name on it. What was once an artisanal and luxury trade became a large, international industry.From the end of the eighties, in the context of a worldwide economic crisis, the concentration of perfume companies into a few large, international groups completed the profound transformation of perfumery.

The word” Essence” comes from,” Quintessence”, that of which the cosmos is made, according to Plato. During the Middle Ages “Essence” represented the various degrees of distiliation; the technique of purifying an organic liquid compound by precipitating and collecting the hot vapors coming off the boiling liquid. It has always captured the imagination of man for the distillation and use of alcohol is know for thousands of years.

Let’s go further back in time and explore the history of Aroma Therapy. The practice of aroma therapy is basically as old as history itself for peoples around the world improved their lives with the practice of Plant healing.In the early years of humanity, man discovered that plants did not only nourish the body but also had healing properties when ingested or applied on the skin. Today, these ancient remedies are still used and prescribed by practitioners.

Egyptians used resins and other essential oils to balsam their deceased loved ones. They also started the practice of using fragrant plant essences as perfumes. Alabaster vessels with perfectly preserved resins like Frankincense, myrrh and galbanum were found during the excavations of their temples and tombs. These resins are known to have been used at some stage to preserve the bodies of their royalty in preparation of the after-life. At festivals and celebrations women carried perfumed cones on their heads which would melt under the heat, releasing their beautiful fragrance. they also developed the use of plant material for healing and for skincare; We all know the story of Cleopatra, her beauty and seduction of men.

At the same time distillation of plant material also took place in Asia.The Chinese began using aromatic oils in their medicinal practices around the same time as the Ancient Egyptians. The Chinese used aromatherapy oils primarily medicinally, but also burned the oils as part of religious tribute rituals.

Essential oils were also an important element of the practice of Ayurveda; a natural healing system blending spiritual, philosophical and practical elements.Ayurveda has been around for at least 5000 years. Ayurvedic literature from 2000 BC records Indian doctors administering oils of cinnamon, ginger, myrrh, coriander, spikenard and sandalwood to their patients.The Vedas, India’s most sacred book, mentions over 700 different herbs and aromatics codifying the uses of perfumes and aromatics for religious and therapeutic purpose.

After the decline of Egyptian empire Europe became the heart of medicine, new methods were steadily evolving into a more scientifically based system of healing. Much of the education that became part of Greek, Roman and Jewish culture was derived from the Egyptians.

Hippocrates, the Greek physician whose influence still informs the medical community, was considered the father of modern medicine. Among other things, he studied and documented the medicinal influence of over 300 plants, he reportedly adviced that “The way to health was to have an aromatic bath and a scented massage every day.

”The Roman culture was deeply influenced by the Greeks. They used aromatic materials and essential oils on a daily base. They build many Bath houses and Thermae throughout the cities where they had massages and baths.As the Roman Empire began to decline, Europe plunged into the dark ages. There is a hiatus in the use of Aroma therapy of approximately 1000 years because of the early Christian churches’ back lash against the roman empires “extravagant use of EO. We can say that history is also the history of Fragrance and Perfumes.

Modern Aromatherapy was reintroduced by Maurice Gattefosse after he had an accident at his laboratory. In 1910 he severely burned his hands and arms in an accidental lab explosion. He submerged his burns in a large container of lavender oil, reporting that “just one rinse with lavender essence stopped the gasification of the tissue. This experience led Gattefosse to investigate the medical uses of essential oils by treating soldiers in military hospitals during World War I. He came up with the term “aromatherapie” in 1920’s-1930’s.

Jean Valnet was a Parisian medical doctor and army surgeon. He started to use essential oils as antiseptics, treating war wounds during the Indochina war. After the war, he continued using essential oils in his practice in France. In 1964 he published “The Practice of Aromatherapy”. It is still common practice in France to get EO prescriptions from a Pharmacist.In the 1980′s French MD, Daniel Pénoël along with French biochemist Pierre Franchomme, investigated the medical properties of over 270 essential oils, and put them in a catalogue. They also co-authored a reference book listing the medicinal properties of those oils. The book was published in 1990. L’aroma therapie Exactement, quickly became the primary reference book for other authors researching and writing of the medical benefits of essential oils.

Other Pioneers: Marcel Lafabre, Kurt Schnaubelt, and Gary Young from Young Living.

Andre and Wilma have been introduced to Aroma therapy by the late Rea Dunphy some 20 years ago and since then the use of EO is a regular staple in our household and our Spa business’. We consider her also a pioneer in Aroma therapy.