Essential Oils and Herbal Skin Care

If you live in a harsh winter climate, it can take a toll on your tender skin causing it to flake and sometimes peel. You can overcome these problem and benefit by arming yourself with essential oils and herbal skin care products. Your skin can also benefit from extra care and attention while you lose weight to keep it looking healthy and taut.

Do you have dry skin? Aloe Vera is nature's best known moisturizer and it's a plant that grows easily indoors in a pot. You already know that most commercially prepared moisturizers have added chemicals that can be harmful to your skin and that can cause allergic reactions.

You can combine chamomile, elder flower and rose in oats to rejuvenate dry, tired skin, especially your face and if you suffer from sensitive skin, use calendula and chamomile instead.

You can make your own cosmetics from simple ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen cupboards. Mix an infusion of fennel with plain yogurt for a natural skin cleaner. If you want to revive dull skin make an infusion of chamomile and lavender flowers and rub it on your face and body.

Do you have oily skin? Try an infusion of lavender flowers, peppermint, rosemary and yarrow added to oatmeal or plain yogurt add to your bath water or rubbed on your skin before taking your bath or shower. The oatmeal will add extra skin softening properties without drying your skin.

Natural Facial

For years, I have used this simple facial made from 10-drops of peppermint oil in 2-quarts of hot water placed in a glass bowl which I would lean over while covering my head with a towel. This also has the added benefit of relaxation as it forces you to be calm and breathe deliberately. You can finish this up with a facial mask made from an infusion of fennel tea, lemon balm and a little plain yogurt. Make into a paste that you would apply to your face and throat and let it dry. After about 15-20 minutes, you can wash off with plain water and pat dry.

Home Spa Treatment

Everyone can use a little pampering from time to time but you may not be able to afford the expensive European spa treatments. This home spa treatment can be prepared from ingredients you either have at home or you can buy at your local health food store. On a Friday evening after a long day at work, you can retreat to your bathroom to some soft music, dim lights or candles and a good book. Fill your bathtub with warm water and add the following natural ingredients:

* 1 teaspoon oatmeal
* 1 cup of elder
* 1 cup of fennel
* 1 cup of sage
* 5-drops of lavender oil
* 1 cup of lemon balm
* 1-cup of sea salt

Use a Loofah sponge on a brush to rub your skin while it is still dry before entering the bath water - relax and enjoy while you soak. If you have a significant other, you can invite them to join you for even more fun and enjoyment. Towel-dry your skin and rub extra virgin olive oil on your skin while your body is still damp.

Aromatherapy Absolutes - The Secrets and Their Characteristics

Aromatherapy is all about using your sense of smell to enhance mood and improve how you feel about, as well as connect with, your body, mind and soul. As a result, when practicing aromatherapy nothing is more important than the way a substance smells.

Absolutes are only recently becoming part of aromatherapy. Historically a method known as enfleurage was used to extra an absolute. This meant putting the flowers in lard and replacing them every so many days. This method was superseded by solvent extraction long ago because of the time and labor involved; even though twice the amount of oil an be produced.

Currently an absolute is created by putting the flower or plant matter into hexane, separating the heavy matter from the plant and leaving the oil and waxes, then evaporating or vacuum extracting out the hexane making a concrete. The concrete is then put in ethanol and the temperature is dropped it minus 25C solidifying the waxes for removal. Then ethanol is vacuum extracted from the oil which leaves just the essential oil.

Absolutes are similar to essential oils in that both are extracted from plants. In fact, an absolute is a more concentrated form of an essential oil. How absolutes differ from essential oils is the method that is used during the extraction process. Essential oils are primarily extracted using a steam distillation process.

However, the process of extracting absolutes involves the use of chemicals and solvents. This extraction method creates a more concentrated version of the plant's essence - one that is far more fragrant. The only drawback as it relates to aromatherapy is that the process does not produce a pure essence. The extracted substances often will contain traces of the chemicals and solvents that were used during the extraction process.

It is for this reason that absolutes have been used primarily by those involved in the fragrance or perfume industries. They can be used successfully in aromatherapy however, extreme care must be taken. It's also important to note that absolutes can trigger an allergic reaction in some people.

And even though those true to the principles of aromatherapy prefer essential oils over absolutes, there are some plants whose essences cannot be extracted using traditional distillation methods. To extract the essence, chemical extraction processes must be used. Jasmine and honeysuckle are two such plants.

Some popular absolutes

Jasmine absolute
Extracted using solvents, Jasmine absolute offers an exquisite scent. Used for years in perfumes and therapy sessions, this sweet heady fragrance is among other things an effective aphrodisiac. Women with irregular menstrual cycles use jasmine absolute because it can help regulate these cycles. It can relieve headaches and is an effective antiseptic and antidepressant. It also has sedative qualities.

Lavender absolute
Extracted using alcohol, Lavender absolute has a sweet, floral and woody fragrance reminiscent of a lavender shrub. It's perfect for use in soaps, creams and lipsticks.

Oakmoss absolute
Extracted using solvents or alcohol, Oakmoss absolute has a rich scent that is both earthy and woody. Imagine the smell of damp oak along the seashore and this is what oakmoss absolute smells like - very comforting.

Rose absolute
Extracted from rose blossoms using chemical solvents, rose absolute is a feminine scent that is very intense. It's perfect for relaxing after a hard day or for when you're feeling particularly sexy. Used in creams, soaps and lotions, rose absolute also has anti-viral and anti-bacterial qualities. It takes many, many rose blossoms to produce rose absolute which is why it's very expensive.

Lotus absolute
Extracted from either pink or white lotus flowers using solvents, lotus absolute has healing qualities. It can also help build confidence and self-esteem.

Mother's Day: Remember Mother's a Homemaker

“A mother is she who can take the place of all others, but whose place no one else can take.”
Cardinal Mermillod

The crux of feminist theory is the concept of the family. The family is the building block of the society and social scientists over the ages have designated the role of holding this unit together on women. This has not gone down well with the fighters of women’s rights. They have objected strongly to this as derogatory to the independence of the woman. They have also stressed on the necessary of economic independence for the woman to raise her voice against male oppression. In the modern age, women have been able to throw off the shackles to a large extent. However, if a woman herself chooses to stay at home and raise a family?

Female students have a general tendency to work after they complete their education. If someone chooses a family life within the confines of a home, her peers may take it to be a rather timid and obsolete choice. I feel it’s the choice of the individual that matters. If she chooses to be a wife and mother at home, we cannot jeer at her decision. Nor must we feel that she lacks in ability to go out there and rub shoulders with the competitive, inconsiderate world.

A mother staying at home has to take stock of a lot of things. She makes sure that the family wheel stays well lubricated. She helps her husband and children go out for work or education. She keeps them well fed. She takes care of their things and makes sure they are there at hand when needed. She takes care of the bills and other expenditures. She takes care of the finances and plans her savings according to the income of the household. So she does everything that an office manager would be doing. The difference is tat she is doing it on a microcosmic scale, but that does not talk lowly of her efficiency.

There lies another difference too. She does it out of love. The problem arises if her family does not appreciate that love and caring. That is where feminists who are against women staying at home have a problem. The lack of economic independence does compromise her position. Mothers have it particularly difficult if the father is not responsible to the children. Many mothers stay put at home in a loveless marriage for the sake of their children just because they do not have the means to step out of the threshold of stability and security. She has to bear the consequences of not earning a living.

It is very difficult to conclude which path is the best for a mother. It depends on individual calling. Homemakers need not be totally devoid of earnings today. They can do a lot of free lancing work from home which will take care of their expenditures, even if their first priority is the family. What we can do is to empathize with our mothers who are homemakers as they deserve all the appreciation that you can possibly assimilate. What we can also do is respect the sacrifice of love that they have undergone to make us have a better life.

By: Dorothy Smith