Online guide to aromatherapy essential oil recipes
This Sunday in Australia and New Zealand it will be Mother’s Day. If you’re struggling to come up with a suitable gift for Mum this year here are some wonderful Aromatherapy Perfume Recipes that she may appreciate.
You can also find a Mother’s Day Perfume recipe especially for the occasion!
Making any of these aromatherapy perfumes is straightforward, just follow the easy instructions on making aromatherapy perfume recipes.
The secret ingredient in this anti-aging facial clay mask is Slippery Elm powder.
Slippery Elm (Ulmus fulva) has wonderful healing and hydrating properties. When added to a facial clay mask, it is the perfect ingredient for aging or dehydrated skins that needs that extra nourishment.
In powder form, Slippery Elm is an extremely soothing herb with a high content of mucilage. Once it is mixed with water, it will swell and form a thick, gel-like paste, making it easy to spread over your face.
Red clay is also added to this facial mask as it is excellent for dry, sensitive and mature skin.
The essential oils of Immortelle, Chamomile and Bergamot complete this clay mask recipe to further enhance its healing, soothing and rejuvenating actions.
Click here to view the recipe for Anti-aging Facial Clay Mask
I often receive emails from readers asking for more information on the shelf-life of the Natural Skin Care recipes on this website.
This is an important consideration as none of these recipes contain preservatives, unlike many commercial products on the market.
Each recipe is different, depending on the individual ingredients used. To start with however, you should follow a few simple guidelines around hygiene:
Assuming you are vigilant with your hygiene as outlined above, below is an indication of the shelf-life for the different types of natural skin care recipes:
Other considerations:
Did I miss any aromatherapy recipes you’re unsure of the shelf-life of? Leave a comment below or on the Facebook page.
Blending your own essential oils can sometimes be quite an art and it’s always fun to experiment. Whether or not you’re familiar with making your own essential oil blends, you’ll only improve with practice.
If you’re new to aromatherapy your stock of essential oils will be much more limited than if you have been collecting them for years. Personally I have built up my aromatherapy stock of around 70 essential oils for over 20 years but when I started out I just had the bare minimum that I could afford at the time.
A good base to start from could include Rosemary, Lavender, Orange, Eucalyptus, Geranium, Cedarwood and Bergamot. You can build on these over time and as a suggestion try to include an oil from the various aromatic families such as woody, citrus, earthy, floral, herbal, medicinal, and spicy. This gives you a greater variety of which to base your essential oil blends.
Examples of each of these families are:
It’s also good to have a variety of notes – top, middle and base notes. There is more information about these and aromatherapy blends here.
Depending on the mood you’re in when making your own essential oil blends, this can also have an impact on the outcome. It may sound a bit odd and it’s difficult to explain but blends can turn out very different for each individual, even if you use the same essential oils. I like to think that each oil has it’s own personality, just like we do!
Often when I want to make a new blend I’ll open my cupboard where I keep my essential oils and use my instinct to choose the first one. Once I’ve chosen the first oil, I then either instinctively know the next two or three I’m going to blend with it. If my ‘gut’ isn’t working too well that day, I’ll take inspiration from the list of essential oils I know to work well with it.
As an example, if I choose Frankincense as my first oil, I can see which other oils will blend well with it from its profile page. Also taking into account the top, middle and base notes, from the list I would then choose as my final blend Frankincense, Black Pepper and Orange.
If you’d like to share your blends or ways you like to blend, please leave a comment below.
With the New Year brings a fresh motivation to do those little tasks that never seem to get done. For a few months now, I’ve been meaning to refresh my reed diffuser jars which have all dried up and I’ve been wanting to try a new reed diffuser recipe to do this.
Previously I have used Jojoba along with vodka and essential oils to refill my diffuser jars however a good quality Jojoba oil can be expensive when you have a few reed diffuser jars that need refilling. So for a change I decided to use Dipropylene glycol.
Dipropylene glycol is used as a base for many commercial cosmetics and skin care and I wouldn’t usually use it for aromatherapy recipes, however for a reed diffuser base I believe it has no nasty side effects. I would avoid it in natural skin care recipes however.
The benefit of using Dipropylene glycol in this case is it’s cost effectiveness so I wanted to test it out and see whether it is just as effective as a base for my reed diffuser refills as Jojoba.
I’m pleased to say it’s worked a treat. I made up two refills last week and since then have noticed the beautiful aromas permeating throughout the house. My husband has even requested I make one up for his office!
So here’s the recipe I used:
You will also need a reed diffuser jar and the reeds. If you don’t already have the jar, the best type is one with a narrow neck. You can purchase the rattan reeds online or from a craft shop.
Simply fill your jar about 75-80% to the top with the Dipropylene glycol. Add your chosen essential oils and mix well so the essential oils are dispersed effectively into the base. Add the reeds to the jar and stir gently if you have enough room, if not gently shake the jar.
You can turn the reeds at this stage or you can leave them as they are and the mixture will eventually makes its way up the reeds to diffuse the scent.
Turn the reeds weekly to refresh the aroma, gently shaking the jar at the same time.
The blends above I used for the different areas of my home. The uplifting blend is perfect for my office and the relaxing blend for the living area which is upstairs so neither aroma interferes with the other.
For an alternative recipe using the Jojoba as mentioned above please see the Reed Diffuser Refill Recipe.
Holiday season is fast approaching, and if you haven’t already started, it will soon be time to get busy shopping for gifts to give your loved ones. But have you ever considered the idea of making your own gifts instead of shopping for them?
There are plenty of aromatherapy recipes on this website to get you started. You can choose from Bath and Body recipes, Natural Skin Care recipes, Aromatherapy Diffusers, even Aromatherapy Holiday recipes.
If you want to try your hand at making your own aromatherapy perfume recipes, you can find detailed instructions as well as over 20 perfume recipe suggestions at the Aromatherapy Perfume recipes section.
You can try blending your own essential oil blends both for perfume recipes and diffuser blends as well as many of the bath and body recipes and other recipes throughout the website. As long as you have an understanding of aromatherapy blends, all you need is your creativity and imagination.
For an even wider choice of aromatherapy gifts you can make this holiday season, you can check out the Aromatherapy Gifts ebook which has something for everyone. From perfumed bags to scented candles, geranium soap balls, potpourris, aromatic bath salts and much, much more. There is even a section on wrapping paper, cards and gift decorations. You’ll never be short of ideas with this ebook, not just for this holiday season but for years to come.
So why not try making your own aromatherapy gifts this holiday season? You can start off by trying out many of the free recipes already on this website and if you want to take it a step further, consider purchasing the specialized ebook on the subject, Aromatherapy Gifts.
Healthy looking skin is often a reflection of your inner health. Many factors come into play here including diet, exercise, environment and lifestyle. If you lead a balanced, healthy life taking all of these factors into account you’re well on your way to a healthy and radiant complexion.
To further enhance your skin, the use of natural skin care products can make a huge difference to your appearance. Incorporating as many natural ingredients as you can into your skincare regime is not only sensible but satisfying as you know you’re doing your bit for the environment.
Aromatherapy essential oils are are among the most effective ingredients you can treat your skin to. They should never be used neat on your skin however, but are best included in a specially devised preparation along with other natural ingredients. These could include carrier oils such as almond, apricot, avocado, rosehip, jojoba, wheatgerm, and grapeseed. Ensure you only use high quality vegetable oils such as these and never consider using mineral oils like baby oil which can clog pores and do more harm than good to your skin.
Other ingredients worth noting that are suitable for adding to natural skin care products include beeswax, cocoa butter, floral waters, facial clays, Fuller’s earth and even some ingredients commonly found in your kitchen such as yoghurt, honey, cinnamon, lemon, cider vinegar, cucumber and fresh herbs.
Many of these ingredients have natural healing abilities and you’ll find that using fresh ingredients from your kitchen or garden can be extremely rewarding. The importance of feeding your body fresh, organic foods is well documented so why not treat your skin with the same respect!
Learning how to prepare and blend various natural skin care recipes can be lots of fun and is not as difficult as you may think. You’ll find many aromatherapy essential oil recipes for natural skin care throughout this website. For those of you who would prefer to have an easy-to-follow companion guide all in one place, I have compiled the most popular recipes into a beautiful ebook for a very reasonable price. You can find more information about this new Aromatherapy Natural Skin Recipes ebook here.
Making your own shower gel is as easy as adding your favorite essential oils to a good quality shower gel base. This recipe recommended a blend of uplifting essential oils making it a suitable recipe for your morning shower but you can easily substitute other aromatherapy oils making it your own.
Click here to go to the recipe – Easy Shower Gel
If you constantly suffer from headaches you know how debilitating they can sometimes be.
Often the cause can be unknown but there are common triggers such as stress, lack of sleep, sinus problems, stomach upsets or excessive alcohol to name a few. Other causes could be spinal issues, eyestrain, dental problems, depression, PMT and some medications such as the contraceptive pill or HRT (hormonal treatment therapy).
Headaches are the result of the membranes and blood vessels around the brain and the scalp muscles tightening or stretching.
Aromatherapy and essential oils can help to ease the pain caused by headaches by aiding in relaxing these tight muscles. Blend the mixture below and gently massage into your temples, scalp and back of your neck. Find a quiet place where you can lay down and relax with your eyes closed, preferably with an eye bag placed over your eyes. Breath deeply and enjoy the aroma of the essential oils and feel them relaxing all your tightness leaving you feeling calm and releasing any pain.
30ml sweet almond or apricot oil
15 drops Lavender essential oil
10 drops Peppermint essential oil
10 drops Rosemary essential oil
Usually headaches are not linked to any serious disorder however if you suffer chronic headaches or you constantly wake up with an extremely painful headache or if they interrupt your sleep you should seek medical advice.
This Natural Laundry Soap recipe is kind on your clothes as well as being much kinder on the environment than many of the chemical laundry products found in many laundry cupboards.
As well as being biodegradable, this natural laundry soap is easy to make and inexpensive – not to mention it smells fabulous!
Click here to go to the recipe – Natural Laundry Soap
