Aromatherapy for Headaches

Headaches are one of the most common of medical complaints. Most people experience headache pain at one time or another. Everyone, young and old, male and female, suffers from headaches from time to time. These may range from minor, nagging headaches to full-blown, incapacitating neurovascular migraines.

Most headaches are not caused by serious medical conditions. The most common classifications of headache pain are tension, cluster, and migraine. Another disturbingly common type of headache is the rebound headache, which appears to be the result of taking prescription or non-prescription pain relievers daily or almost daily. The good news is that there are a growing number of natural alternatives to treat headache pain. Aromatherapy is one of the choices a growing number of people are turning to for effective relief of primary headache pain.

The powerful effects of your favorite essential oil seeps deep in to the nervous constitution to reduce the pain emanating from different lobes of brain. Head aches are known to originate out of many internal and external influences; deep strain inflicted in your mental constitution is known to be a major cause. Several aromatic oils have the capacity to prevent and/or reduce the throbbing pain caused by emotional stress and rigors.

The following aromatherapy recipes can also be used as a preventative measure, and can even help ease your pain. Once you've guessed what is triggering your migraines, prepare the appropriate recipe mixture by pouring the oil essences into a 10-ml bottle, and adding vegetable oil to fill. Make sure that you are mixing this concoction very well.

If the pain persists even after trying the suggested remedies above, you are suggested to visit your physician for further consultations.

Aromatherapy Blend #1 – Head aches due to negative emotions
3 drops Roman Chamomile8 drops Lavender

Aromatherapy blend #2 – Head aches due to muscular tensions
4 drops Lavender5 drops PeppermintMassage the forehead, temples, neck and shoulders.

Aromatherapy blend #3 – Head aches due to nervous tensions
3 drops Roman Chamomile3 drops Neroli5 drops Marjoram

Massage the forehead, temples and solar plexus very gently. Breathe it in deeply and slowly.

Pour 15 drops of this aromatic blend into the bathtub and soak for at least 15 minutes.
Useful Oils for Head Ache

Lavender and Sweet Marjoram will both help to relieve the intensity of pain, while Roman Chamomile is generally soothing and very relaxing. For sinus congestion related head aches, add Eucalyptus and/or Peppermint for their decongestant properties. Sweet Marjoram is particularly useful for headaches association with menstruation, while True Melissa or Rosemary can help to relieve a migraine.

Inhalation: This method can bring relief to headaches and migraines if used as soon as symptoms begin to appear. Add 2 drops each of Sweet Marjoram, Lavender, and Peppermint onto to a tissue; for a migraine, add 1 drop of True Melissa. Inhale deeply three times. Symptoms should subside with in minutes.

Application: To relieve a tension headache, moisten your forefinger with 2 drops of Lavender and rub gently over your temples, behind your ears, and across the back of your neck. Apply two times, if necessary.

Massage: Dilute 3 drops each of Lavender and Eucalyptus in ½ fl oz (15ml/2½ tsp) of carrier oil and use the mix to massage your forehead and behind your ears, pausing to apply gentle pressure around the hollows on the outer corners of the eye bone.

Bath: Add 3 drops each of Sweet Marjoram, Roman Chamomile, and Lavender to a bath to help relive tension headaches.

Aromatherapy oils bring a refreshing change in treating head ache and migraine related pains; the biggest advantages of using these oils lie in its magical properties of healing power.

Cassandra Stinchcombe - Find out more about how aromatherapy can help to improve the quaility of your health and life. Visit http://www.envisionaromatherapy.com today.

Stop Smoking With Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy and essential oils change moods and influence how you feel. Try experimenting with the oils of thyme, ylang ylang and pine.

Put ten drops of each oil mixed with ten drops of a carrier oil suchas jojoba. Inhale this mixture often and see if it helps stop thecraving for cigarettes.

Another blend that might help relieve the effects of nicotineaddiction includes lavender, marjoram sweet, palmarosa, frankincense,geranium, cedarwood and vetiver. This is a strong blend of oils, butten drops of each oil mixed with an equal part of jojoba oil helpsrelieve anxiety, stress, restlessness, nervousness and thewithdrawals of nicotine. This blend can be inhaled through a tissue, cotton handkerchief orcotton ball. Use it in a room diffuser around you for support too.Single oils such as peppermint, cinnamon or nutmeg help with thefeeling of needing to smoke. Keep the bottles around you and pick oneup if you feel the need for a cigarette.

Black pepper oil is another singular note essential oil that worksfor some to stop smoking. Experiment with some of these when tryingto stop smoking naturally. Some oils may work better than otherswork, keep trying until you find the one you like. Mix them up as well.

One day try one oil and another day try a different oil. Youwill find they may work differently on different days.

How to Make Your Own Essential Oil Skin Care Remedies

To make your own essential oil skin care recipes is quite simple....if you know a few basic concepts. Before you start your own essential oil skin care remedy the most important thing to be aware of is your unique skin type.

You should base your essential oil recipes on one of four skin profiles; normal or combination skin; dry or mature skin; sensitive skin; oily or problem skin.

I have listed below the best essential oils to use with each skin type along with 4 simple strategies you can use today to apply these remedies.

Using essential oils as the basis for herbal remedies is not a new concept. Did you know essential oils have been used by many indigenous populations across the world for thousands of years?
Essential oils and are derived from roots, seeds, leaves, and skins of the plants. In fact, the essential oils contained within plants and flowers is what gives them the scents and fragrances that we all know and love.

What makes essential oils such a great alternative to toxic synthetic oils used in most mainstream cosmetic and skin care products? Simple, essential oils contain hormones, vitamins, and other natural elements are found within essential oils. Even though the oils vary in concentration when in their natural form they are nevertheless are therapeutic in nature.
Nobody knows exactly how essential oils work, but we do know that they are absorbed through the skin and into the bloodstream.

The best places on the skin to administer essential oils are on the face, behind the ears , the eyelids, and inside the wrist. These areas on the skin are thin, which allows for easier absorption.
To make your own essential oil recipes work effectively you first have to know what skin profile you have. Here are the four major skin profiles and the essential oils appropriate for that skin type.

Know Your Skin Type
1. Normal or Combination Skin: If you have normal or combination skin make your own essential oil skin care recipes using these oils:

Calendula Essential Oil - soothes, heals and restores
Chamomile Essential Oil- anti microbial, calms and restores
Marshmallow - softens, revitalizes and hydrates
Olive Leaf - repairs, tones, firms and anti-oxidant
St. Johns Wort - moisturizes, refreshes, tones
Lavender Essential Oil - soothes, relaxes and regenerates
Rose hip Seed - regenerates, moisturizes and heals

2. Sensitive Skin: If you have sensitive skin make your own essential oil remedy using these oils:
Chamomile Essential Oil - anti-microbial, calms, soothes
St. Johns Wort - moisturizes, astringent, refreshes,
Witch hazel - drains, astringent, anti-free radical
Carrot Seed - regenerates, tones and heals
German Chamomile - anti-bacterial and wound-healing
Rose hip Seed Oil - regenerates, moisturizes, heals

3. Oily or Problem Skin: If you have oily or problem skin make your own essential oil recipes using these essential oils.
Echinacea - purifies, stimulates, calms
Plantin - astringent, soothing and healing
Witch hazel - drains, astringent, anti-free radical,
Tea Tree - astringent, regulates and repairs
Lemon Myrtle - astringent, anti-bacterial and repairs
Jojoba - nourishes, moisturizes, anti-free radical

4. Dry or Mature Skin: If you have dry or mature skin make your own essential oil recipes using these oils:
Gotu Kola - anti-wrinkle, anti-aging, heals
Organic Hops - stimulates, tones, dark circle treatment
Nettle - circulation enhancer, anti-inflammatory
Geranium Essential Oil - tones, softens, soothes, balances
Rose Essential Oil - anti-wrinkle, regenerates
Avocado - moisturizes, nourishes
Rose hip Seed Oil - regenerates, moisturizes, heals

4 Simple Strategies For Essential Oil Skin Care
Once you make your own essential oil recipes here are some simple strategies for skin care that you can use:

1. Make your own essential oil facial compress: Add two to five drops of essential oil to a basin filled with water, stir, then immerse a clean washcloth. Squeeze out excess water and apply cloth to face.
2. Massage your body with essential oil. Add twenty to twenty-five drops of essential oil to two ounces of canola or other vegetable.
3. Drop eight to ten drops of essential oil for your skin profile in the bath. Use warm water to relax, or cool water to invigorate or calm inflammation.
4. Add essential oil to simple moisturizing products, ten to twenty drops for every two ounces.

Adam Waters exposes the hazardous toxins that lurk in mainstream and so-called "natural" skin care products with hard-hitting product reviews at http://www.natural-skincare-authority.com that cut through the corporate hype and spin. To find out how you can lead a 100% natural non-toxic lifestyle sign up for your free mini-course, Natural Skin Care Secrets.

The Wonders of Epsom Salt

By Carol Belanger
Epsom salts are named for the mineral rich waters of Epsom, England, where they were known at least as far back as Shakespeare's day. When bathing, the magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt) is absorbed through the skin and is an inexpensive and natural way to reduce stress, treat skin problems, and draw toxins from the body.

It has been a long time remedy natural remedy for a number of ailments. An Epson salt bath is known to relieve aching limbs, muscle strain and back pain. In addition, it has been known to heal cuts, reduce soreness from childbirth and relieves colds and congestion. Furthermore, Epson salt will flush toxins and heavy metals from the body.

It is a natural stress reliever too. Stress drains the body of magnesium. An Epson salt bath absorbs magnesium into our body thus helping to relieve stress. The magnesium helps to produce adequate amounts of serotonin, a mood-elevating chemical within the brain that creates a feeling of calm and relaxation.

Ithas many uses, as an all body exfoliate to remove dead skin cells and promote circulation, as a foot soaking agent to smooth, relax and refreshes your feet and neutralize odors, and as a facial exfoliate.

Below are some easy skin care recipes using Epson salt. The cost is minimal yet very beneficial for your skin.

Just Like the Spa!
Massage a handful of Epsom Salt mixed with 1-tablespoon bath oil or olive oil and rub all over wet skin to cleanse exfoliate and soften the rough spots! Rinse well. Note recommended on freshly shaved legs.

Easy Facial Cleanser:
Mix ½ Tsp of Epsom Salt into cleansing cream for a deep-pore cleansing. Massage on skin. Rinse with cool water. Pat dry.

Epsom Salt Detox Bath Recipe
1 Cup Epsom salt1 handful sea salt2 Tablespoons bath oil
Pour the ingredients into the tub while the tub is filling.

It has wonderful properties and uses that are beneficial to the mind, body, and soul. In addition, the cost of a box of Epson salts is so minimal compared to all the fancy packaged skin care products, that you can indulge yourself as much as you like.

For those people that suffer from high blood pressure, heart problems, or diabetes, you should consult your doctor prior to using it in the bath. Additionally, the information provided above is not intended to replace the care or advice of a physician if you suffer from skin disorders, severe stress or anxiety, or other health problems.

Carol Belanger, author of 300+ Skin Care Recipes
For wonderful homemade skin care recipes, including body scrubs, facial peels and masks, etc., visit Complete Skin Care Therapy

How To Whip Up Luxurious Bath and Body Products For 25% The Retail Price

By Katherine Durkes

If you think about making your own spa products - such as lotions, body washes, and exfoliating scrubs - you probably think it sounds difficult. It probably brings to mind lots of weird ingredients, chemicals, and slaving away over a hot vat of goo for hours. After this article, you'll know that nothing could be further from the truth!

In fact, using my method (which I call The Easy Way), making your own bath and body products takes less time than going to the mall, and you get twice the quality of skin care.

There are two ways to make your own bath and body products - The Hard Way, and The Easy Way. The Hard Way means investing a lot of time in books and trial-and-error in your kitchen, and a lot of money in ingredients. Often, you need patience and perseverance as you attempt to make a basic lotion or liquid soap, but it doesn't come out as well as you'd hoped. Heck, you don't even get to the fun part, which is adding the scent and color!

The Hard Way is what is taught in soapmaking classes, websites, and books. It can be fun and rewarding because of the natural ingredients and the high-quality products that result. Shea butter lotions... aloe body washes... If you are prepared to invest the time and money, and you have a lot of patience, The Hard Way does pay off. You get wonderfully moisturizing products in your favorite fragrances - even hard to find ones - that are much better than Bath and Body Works.

The problem is, The Hard Way is often incredibly discouraging to beginners. As they pour their failed body wash down the bathtub drain, most beginners start to wonder if it's really worth the trouble. Sooner or later, they go back to the mall and pay too much for what is essentially drugstore-quality products in fancy bottles and scents.

The Easy Way of making bath and body products is, well, easy! With The Easy Way, you get all the benefits - the natural ingredients, the high-quality skin care products, and your favorite scents - for only 10% the work. The Hard Way is like baking a fancy Julia Child cake recipe, but The Easy Way is more like making a cake mix.

The Easy Way uses professional unscented product bases (also called "cosmetic bases") that are specially manufactured for this purpose. These bases are made with natural ingredients, such as shea butter, avocado oil, aloe, and goats' milk, so you still get high quality skin care, the same as if you had made the bases yourself with The Hard Way.

You can get unscented bases for almost any liquid product you can think of: body lotion, massage cream, bath oil, shower gel, bubble bath, salon-quality shampoo and conditioner, body scrub, hand soap, and face wash.

To these basic products, you add your own fragrance, color, and other special ingredients, such as silk proteins and botanical extracts. You can even experiment with natural anti-aging ingredients such as carrot seed oil, green tea extract, and collagen. These ingredients are what makes your products unique!

If you compare three bottles of shower gel from Bath and Body Works, The Body Shop, and Origins, you will see a lot of similarities in their first few ingredients. That's because they're all taking a basic body wash and making their own improvements on it, just like you can with The Easy Way.

There's no need to reinvent the wheel (or a basic body wash.) If what you want is to quickly and easily create your own high-quality spa products, The Easy Way is the method for you!

Katherine Durkes is an experienced teacher of bath and body. She runs a popular website on how to make bath and body products with articles and e-books, as well as the Yahoo Group “Home Bath & Body.” Her first e-book, “The Fast Guide To Making Bath Bombs (& Fizzies)” has over 10,000 downloads and has been featured on About.com and in Ready Made Magazine.
To find out more about The Easy Way of making products, you can request a quick 8-page PDF about The Easy Way with a recipe and photos. Just send a blank email to productreport@excellentlivingguide.com, and it will be emailed to your inbox. You must be able to receive attachments over 1MB (it's 1.1MB.)
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