History

Aromatherapy is becoming one of the fastest growing complimentary therapies in the country. It is also gaining recognition from the medical profession.

Aromatherapy takes a holistic approach by searching for the root cause rather than just the symptoms. Aromatherapy is far more than the application of nice smelling essential oils; diet and lifestyle should always be considered.

Aromatherapy dates back to Egyptian times. It is documented that Egyptians were using aromas to help with many emotions, like nervousness, to uplift spirits and to help with preparation of war.

The Greeks then developed on the work done by the Egyptians. Hippocrates, also known as the “father of medicine”, advocated aromatic baths and massage to help with female problems. Theophrastus also discovered that applying oils externally had an effect on the internal organs.

It is also known that in Roman times soldiers would carry myrrh with them to heal their wounds in battle. The Romans had great knowledge of plants and many of the herbs we have growing here are from Roman times, e.g. parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.

It was in the 18^th and 19^th centuries that aromatherapy declined due to scientists finding the chemical constituents of plants and developing synthetic copies, these were cheaper and were guaranteed to be the same each time.

It was not until 1937 that the term “aromatherapy” came into use by Rene Maurice Gattefosse. He had discovered its healing properties when treating the injured in the 1^st world war.

Aromatherapy was introduced to Britain in the 1950’s by Marguerite Maury, she added essential oils to carrier oils and then applied them through massage. This how they are predominately used today, although they can be used in a variety of other ways, some of which include: in creams, baths, inhalations, and compresses. Essential oils should only be used under the advice of a qualified aromatherapist.

How Essential Oils are Produced

Essential Oils are sometimes called the "Life Force", "hormones" or "soul" of a plant. They are extracted from varying parts of plants. The table below shows some common oils and from which part of the plant they are extracted.

Part of Plant	Essential Oil
Flower	Rose
Flower Stem	Lavendar
Flower Bud	Clove
Berry	Black Pepper
Bark	Cinnamon
Wood	Sandalwood
Fruit	Bergamot, Orange, Lemon & Mandarin
Seeds	Fennel
Roots/Rhizomes	Ginger & Vetivert
Leaves	Eucalyptus
Gum	Frankincense, Myrrh
Grasses	Lemongrass

Trees - The Orange tree provides three different essential oils;

Orange (From Fruit)

Neroli (From blossom)

Petitgrain (From leaves & twigs)

How they are Extracted

There are a variety of ways in which essential oils are extracted. The most common way is through steam distillation, this is when steam is passed through the plant, this breaks down the plant and the oil is released. The steam with the oil is collected in a cooling tank and as it cools returns to water leaving the oil on the surface to be extracted. The second most common form of extraction is expression, this is mainly used for the citrus oils, such as lemon, lime, grapefruit and bergamot as the essential oil is found in sacks just under the rind and by pressing the peel the oil is extracted. The third way is through solvent extraction, a more costly way and is usually used for flowers, gums and resins, this method produces Absolutes and Resnoids, and because there is always some residue of the solvent they cannot be called 100% pure. Absolutes are often adulterated to keep the cost down. Always beware if an absolute is cheap, the likelihood is that it has been blended with another oil.

Why do essential oils vary in price?

Prices vary for many reasons:

1. How available is the plant?

2. What method of extraction is used?

3. Was it a good harvest?

4. The weather

5. The quantity of the plant to produce just one drop of the essential oil.

Some oils are very expensive because of the labour intensive work involved. Distillation and other extraction methods can result in only a 1-2% yield.

For example;

100Kg of raw product	Yield in Essential Oil
Lavendar	3Kg
Eucalyptus	3Kg
Frankincense	5Kg - 10Kg
Ylang Ylang	1.6Kg - 2Kg
Juniper	500g
Rose Petals	33g

It takes 30 roses to produce one single drop of Rose Oil !

Oils & Chakras

Essential oils have long been associated with Chakras, click on the chakras shown on the image below to find out which ones.

1st/ Base or Root Chakra

Oils: Myrrh, Rosewood and Vetiver.

Color = Red

Element = Earth

Sound = LAM

Minerals = Tiger's Eye, Smoky Quartz & Hematite.

2nd/ Sacral or Lower Abdomen

Oils: Rose Otto, Sandalwood, Ylang Ylang and Sweet Orange.

Color = Orange

Element = Water

Sound = VAM

Minerals = Red Jasper and Ruby.

3rd / Solar Plexus

Oils: Juniper, Neroli, Petitgrain and Vetiver.

Color = Yellow

Element = Fire

Sound = RAM

Minerals = Citrine and Yellow Jasper.

4th / Heart Chakra

Oils: Bergamot, Rose Geranium, Jasmine and Ylang Ylang.

Color = Green

Element = Air

Sound = YAM

Minerals = Aventurine and Rose Quartz.

5th / Throat

Oils: Lavender, Clary Sage and Palmarosa

Color = Blue

Element = Ether

Sound = HAM

Minerals = Aquamarine, Blue Lace Agate and Turquoise.

6th / Brow or Third Eye

Oils: Juniper, Rosemary and Helicrysum.

Color = Indigo

Element = Mind

Sound = OM

Minerals = Kyanite, Lapis Lazuli, Sodalite and Sugilite.

7th / Crown Chakra

Oils: Frankincense, Rosewood and Mandarin Orange.

Color = Violet