The information we are displaying below is trying to appeal to anyone that reached this section of our website to find out more details about the wonders of essential oils and Aromatherapy. Hopefully the smell of trees after the rain or the smell fresh fruits fueled your curiosity at some point in time, and you decided to research organic solutions that bring back those scents in a natural way.

If that is the case you came to the right place because UpNature not only plans on delivering the best scents that nature has to offer but you will also benefit from a complete essential oils guide that comes with all to knowledge you need to have in order to create a good balance between your mind, spirit and body. Consider this your Aromatherapy oils guide with the purpose behind this practice and everything that Aromatherapy stands for being explained.

A guide to essential oils, introduction and small history

Essential oils represent organic substances that are extracted from plants, a practice used for more than 5000 years in many cultures due to its healing properties. This type of practice goes by the name of Aromatherapy and it can lead to an improved state of health the person in cause. Beauty products, cleaning and natural medicine can also be mentioned as additional usages.

We can easily point out flu, cold, sore muscles, skin, hormonal and digestion conditions and wrinkles as a few dysfunctions that are commonly treated by essential oils. Considering the fact that oils are present in many cultures, it’s hard to decide where the therapeutic practice begun but we can find essential oils used by Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Indians and Jews for both cosmetic uses and medicinal purposes for a few thousand years.

In the year of 1928 in France, Rene-Maurice Gattefosse decided to use an essential oil for the first time in modern medicine to heal a small burn on his hand. Seeing that the substance is able to perform well he decided to research and study how the plant’s oil can be used for treating infections, small cuts and skin burns. This is how Aromatherapy emerged as a way of curing our body and the use of these oils begun to spread even if this alternative medicine method was not known in U.S.A. until 1980. This is when oils were extracted and added to body substances and candles by therapists, massage practitioners, authorized personal in charge with nutrition and regular doctors.

Beginner’s guide to essential oils – how do companies extract them?

If you think there’s an industrial way to produce large amounts of essential oils that eventually end up being sold you’re wrong. First off essential oils come from certain parts of the plants such as the bark, the flower, the fruit, the seed, the leaf or the root so extraction takes the most when creating an essential oil.

With such great care being necessary to produce the oil it’s impossible to neglect all the strict requirements and focus on quantity rather than quality. Some plants actually have specific hours and time of the day requirements when being taken down for extraction. Essential oils are usually created through the process of distillation and that means the oil is separated from water based compounds from the plant by using the steaming process.

Essential oils are highly concentrated and have a strong aroma so when this type of product is being made you need to separate what the plan has to offer best for us. Just to give you a quick example, to make a 15 ml bottle of rose-based essential oil you need 65 pounds of rose pedals.

Essential oils are now being distributed in regular hospitals as well

Essential oils have a proven effect when used to treat medical conditions along with other therapies. Hospitals such as Vanderbilt hospital decided to catch up on great ways of treatment provided by essential oils and are using them to treat stress, low confidence and small skin wounds for their patients.

To back that up a study made in 2009 found that patients who are prepared to enter an operation and received treatment with essential oils are less stressed than the one sent to surgery without any additional preparations. Several essential oils have a long standing tradition to help patience better manage their anxiety attacks.

Some of these substances have amazing results when being used to reduce stress disorders during birth as well. A study made in 2007 shows that woman who use essential oils and Aromatherapy during childbirth experience less pain during childbirth and will need less pain medication during labor. (*source)

The plant oils can also help eliminate bacteria and fungi with skin massages being able to heal  certain conditions. Besides helping you get rid of burns, cuts or scrapes, massaging your skin will also help you reduce stress and get you in a better shape for your daily activities.

Other oils may help you boost your immune system or help you battle insomnia, a condition that affects about 1 in 4 workers in United States.

Essential oils uses list - top 10 essential oils

1. Eucalyptus oil

Eucalyptus oil is an essential part of Aromatherapy because this product is able to improve respiratory issues such as bronchitis, sinusitis or different type of allergies.

2. Cypress oil

This is destined for anyone that has blood circulation issues. Cypress oil is able to reduce varicose veins and on the long run it can also have a good impact on healing broken bones.

3. Frankincense oil

This oil is able to help you re-build your immune system while supporting the brain in its daily activities.

4. Ginger oil

Able to reduce inflammatory conditions while supporting the joints and improving your digestion. On a short term ginger oil is able to reduce nausea.

5. Grapefruit oil

This is the perfect choice to use if you’re experience metabolism problems. You can also mix it with a carrier and put it on areas where you’re experiencing cellulite or if the situation requires internal administration but don’t forget to dilute it with water and be aware of the right dosage.

6. Lavender oil

Lavender oil is the perfect choice if you’re seeking relaxation when using essential oils. Regardless of the circumstances where it is used or the method, this type of oil will most likely improve your overall mood.

7. Oregano oil

Despite having a well-known tradition as a product with culinary purposes, oregano can also be used in Aromatherapy and in this case it features strong properties to eliminate bacteria while being able to kill fungus if you were unfortunate enough to encounter this affection. Oregano oil can also help you get rid of a cold faster.

8. Peppermint oil

If you’re having problems with your digestion this is what you need to pay attention for. Not only it features an incredible smell but peppermint oil also supports digestion while improving focus and boosting your energy. It is recommended to use this when trying to reduce fever or headaches as well.

9. Rose oil

This is probably one of the most valued essential oils in the world with a 15ml bottle going for more than $1000 on the market. Rose oil does wonders for skin inflammation and it has an extended usage in the beauty industry.

10. Rosemary oil

This is a great oil to add in homemade shampoos because rosemary will thicken your hair but this type of product will also improve brain functions and the use of memory so feel free to use it while working, reading or studying.

What are the best essential oils for common care?

While having more than just one way of being introduced to your body, essential oils come with great benefits for certain areas that suffer from common or less common affections. The main categories where essential oils have a proven effect are:

• Skin care and beauty products

Why go for purchasing expensive skin or beauty products when you can make them all by yourself at home! The companies that manufacture these products aren’t always honest with what they add inside of them and there are proven cases when a product created more damage rather than a positive effect after being applied.

Below we created a table of content with the most common skin affections and a list of essential oils that can be used for treating them.

Skin rashes	Lavender essential oil
Work on certain spots on our skin	Frankincense essential oil
Help treat acne	Rosemary essential oil
Improves hair thickness	Myrrh essential oil
Skin deterioration	Tea tree essential oil

 

• Essential oils and hair growth

An entire industry was developed for skin care with surgeries, products and treatments being sold for billions of dollars every year. However, oils extracted from plants are actually able to treat hair loss despite costing less than what we mentioned previously.

Oils extracted from rosemary flowers or sage can help thicken your hair by having a benefic impact on the follicles and the process happens naturally without having any suspicious chemicals involved. It’s a known fact that we can find essential oil to support our hair beauty by balancing the estrogen levels in your body and rosemary essential oil for example works by infusing our scalp with dihydroxy-testosterone (DHT) that is able to terminate the loss of our hair.

Here is a common method to stop hair loss with the use of essential oils:

• Put a few drops of oil on your hair and scalp
• Massage your hair for 2-3 minutes so that the oils get inside your skin
• Put a clean towel on your head and hold it there for half an hour max
• Wash your scalp to obtain the effect you desire
• Essential oils for weight loss

 If you’re looking for that extra boost while being on a diet and exercising, best believe essential oils are able to deliver!  Here are a few oils that help use lose weight:

• Grapefruit essential oil: this is the superstar of this category. It contains d-limonene which is found in citrus peels. Supplementing d-limonene will improve the enzyme in our metabolism and your efforts will turn out with better results.
• Peppermint oil: able to stop the cravings and to help our digestion.
• Cinnamon essential oil: will help our blood sugar and this will help us lose weight.
• Ginger oil: has a substance called gingerol with good healing properties for inflammations while also being able to boost the metabolism.

Even if essential oils have a benefic usage on your body, you need to remember that these products need to be diluted before their internal usage so be aware of toxicity before administrating them for weight loss or anything similar.

What are the best carriers for essential oils?

Most essential oils are too strong to be used in their pure form without diluting them in a substance so using a carrier is recommended especially if you plan on applying this type product on your skin. Many people think that using a substance to dilute the essential oil reduces the benefic properties of the oil but this technique actually increases accuracy while providing the right distribution of the essential oil if we’re talking skin appliance or hair.

The best carrier oils are:

• Almond oil
• Avocado (oil)
• Coconut oil
• Jojoba oil
• Olive oil (especially for internal usage)
• Pomegranate seed oil

Aromatherapy oils guide for contraindications

Essential oils are strong substances so there are two main situations where we don’t recommend the usage of this type of products due to high concentrations.

• Pregnancy, due to effect on hormones.

While being pregnant we don’t recommend the use of essential oils due to possible unbalances when it comes to hormones.

• While using heart medications, due to possible adverse side effects.

If you’re using heart medications we recommend you skip the use of these products due to possible side-effects.

Hopefully this was the essential oil guide you were looking for before moving on and experiencing the amazing benefits that these products have to offer for us. You can use the comment section for any additional questions about essential oils and if you have any concern whatsoever feel free to write us using our contact page.