ESSENTIAL
OIL
What
is an essential oil ?
I
suddenly thought to myself well what is essential oil?
A lot of people confuse themselves by thinking it’s
only for diffusion in a room; this is only part of its
use and certainly not its predominant function. Essential
oils are found in cosmetic skin care, perfumes, aroma
therapy and diffusers. So heres a little bit about them
and their origin and uses.
An
essential oil is any concentrated, hydrophobic liquid
containing volatile aroma compounds from plants, which
are called aromatic herbs or aromatic plants. Let me
explain what hydrophobic means to those of you who think
it’s too complicated to carry on reading. In chemistry,
hydrophobic which means the combining form of water
in Attic Greek hydro- and for fear Phobos, refers to
the physical property of a molecule which is named hydrophobe
that is repelled from a mass of water. Interesting isn't
it so I'll carry on, Hydrophobic molecules tend to be
non-polar (non magnetic for the rest of us) and thus
prefer other neutral molecules and no polar solvents.
Hydrophobic molecules in water often cluster together
forming a group scientifically called a micelle. When
water comes into contact with a hydrophobic surface
the entry must be of a high contact angle, sounds like
we're ready for take off, I don't work for NASA...yet
:) Examples of hydrophobic molecules include the alkanes,
oils, fats, and greasy substances in general. Hydrophobic
materials are used for oil removal from water, the management
of oil spills, such as The Tory canyon a horrible childhood
memory of mine, and chemical separation processes to
remove non-polar from polar compounds.
Sounds
complicated doesn't it but it’s actually quite
a simple process : Essentials oils are also known as
volatile or ethereal oils, or simply as the "oil
of" the plant material from which they were extracted,
such as oil of the Eucalyptus. Oil is "essential"
in the sense that it carries a distinctive scent, or
essence, of the plant. Essential oils don't possess
any specific chemical properties, apart from the fact
that each essential oil has its own characteristic fragrance.
People some times mix up essential oils with essential
fatty acids, I don't quite know how as they are two
totally different things with totally different uses!
Essential
oils are generally extracted by distillation. Other
processes include expression, or solvent extraction
to make "Absolut". They are used in perfumes,
cosmetics and bath products like shower gels or bath
creams, for flavouring food and drink, and for scenting
incense and household cleaning products. We don't produce
this form of oil.
Various
essential oils have been used medicinally at different
periods in history.
History
The
history of Aromatherapy dates back at least to 4000
BC, although the term “aromatherapy” was
first used in the 1920s by the French chemist René
Maurice Gattefossé who accidentally discovered
in his laboratory that lavender oil relives pain and
assists minor burns in healing. The word “Aromatherapy”
is a compound Greek word made up by the word fragrance,
aroma and the word treatment, therapy. It is historically
proved that the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and
Persians used aromatherapy oils. Moreover, there is
historical evidence in the Bible, back to Sunday school
here folks, when Jesus Christ was born the three wise
men bore gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, and
if you've never smelt Myrrh then get a grip because
it really smells awful but is reputed for its virtues
as an anti septic, an anti inflammatory and an analgesic.
In
ancient Egypt, plant oils were widely used for cosmetics,
spiritual relaxation, as well as for embalming and mummification
of their dead. They also played a part in rituals on
special occasions as men and women would wear on their
heads a gradually-melting solid cone made with essential
oils that released its fragrance as it melted. As a
consequence of the Egyptians’ love for aromatic
plants and herbs, and the importance of appearance,
the fragrance industry and aromatic medicine were developed
more than in any other ancient culture.
The
history of Aromatherapy leads us to Ancient Greeks who
actually borrowed many healing and relaxation techniques
from the Egyptians. They used herbs and aromatherapy
oils for medicines and cosmetics. Asclepius (circa 1200
BC) is the first known physician in history who experimented
with herbs and plants in his surgeries. Hypocrites (circa
400 BC), “the father of medicine”, studied
the beneficial effects of hundreds of scented plants
and herbs. He believed that good health can be promoted
with aromatic baths and oil massage and therefore surgeries
should be avoided when possible. Well I can agree with
that, we all feel better and more Zen after a massage
with essential oils. Other Greek physicians who dealt
with herbs and aromatic oils are Pedacius Dioscorides
and Theophrastus who prescribed herbal and aromatic
remedies. The Romans developed the Egyptian and Greek
techniques for distillation and extraction of aromatic
floral waters taking advantage of their knowledge of
the natural medicines. The most well-known physician
of that age was the Greek Claudius Galen (circa 150
AD) who after studying herbal medicine and treating
hundreds of wounded gladiators with botanical remedies;
he became the personal physician of the Roman Emperor
Marcus Aurelius.
The next important step in the history of Aromatherapy
was made by the Persian civilization. Ibn Sina, a great
physician of the age, known in Europe as Avicenna (circa
1000 AC), invented a pipe which steam distilled the
plants and produced true essential oils and not aromatic
waters as in the past. Essential oil distilling has
just been perfected.
The Crusaders returned from the Holy Places, and brought
back many different oils, many aromatics, herbal remedies
and scented plants from the Middle East which became
well known to Europe. The initiation of plants healing
different ailments had started.
However, in the medieval era the Catholic Church rejected
the aromatherapy remedies, because of their belief that
every disease is a punishment sent by God. When Men
don't understand something they erase it.... Although
with the out break of the Black Death they tried to
find a remedy for it but to no avail.
With
Marco Polo discovering the East, the trading merchants
brought to Europe new aromatherapy remedies and a rich
variety of exotic plants and herbs. In Europe, many
wealthy people used aromatic handkerchiefs to avoid
unpleasant smells, let’s not forget that the drainage
systems were non existent, phew… and protect themselves
from microbes. Moreover essential oils were used in
fumigation of hospitals with great success. At the same
period of the history of Aromatherapy, physicians, pharmacists
and chemists used to distillate more plants to create
essentials oils and many of them published books about
aromatic remedies and the use of aromatherapy essential
oils for relaxation and pharmaceutical purposes.
As years went by, “apothecaries” who were
herbalists and medical practitioners engaged in the
formulation and prescription of pharmaceutical remedies,
started to sell herbs, essential oils and fragrances.
However what began in the East over 4000years ago was
becoming industrialised in Europe, which provided oils
for the pharmaceuticals, flavour for the food industry
and fragrance for perfumeries.
Interest
in essential oils has revived in recent decades, with
the popularity of aromatherapy, (AROMA/An aroma compound,
also known as odorant, aroma, fragrance, flavour, is
a chemical compound that has a smell or odour and when
two conditions are met: the compound needs to be volatile,
so it can be transported to the olfactory system in
the upper part of the nose, and it needs to be in a
high concentrate to be able to interact with one or
more of the olfactory receptors. a branch of alternative
medicine which claims that the specific aromas carried
by essential oils have curative effects. Oils are volatilized
or diluted in carrier oil and used in massage, or burned
as incense, for example. Aromatherapy has been developed
on a larger scale over these last few years.
Coming
back to essential oils and its Medical applications
proposed by those who sell ranges of medicinal oils
from skin treatments to remedies for cancer, I disagree
with those who proclaim this as there are no medical
papers confirming this statement. Whereas I know that
Helichrisum can regenerate the liver cells I WOULD NOT
state that it can cure a cancer and give false hope
to someone that is psychologically feeble and whose
body is "tired». Such claims are now subject
to regulation in most countries, thank goodness.
The history of Aromatherapy continues during the 20th
century, when many aroma therapists contributed their
knowledge to aromatherapy and created more natural products
and more effective and pleasurable techniques. As mentioned
before, the French chemist René Maurice Gattefossé
was the first to introduce the term “aromatherapy”
in 1928.One of his follower an army doctor called Jean
Valnet treated very successfully gangrene war wounds
during the Second World War. An Austrian biochemist,
Marguerite Maury, used essential oils as an integral
part of healing by massage and practiced the use of
aromatherapy for cosmetic benefits. The results and
techniques experimented by Valnet, Maury and her co-researcher
Micheline Arcier’s are considered as the basis
of modern aromatherapy that today is taught all over
the world.
The first book in the history of Aromatherapy published
in the English language was the “Art of Aromatherapy”
written by the English aromatherapist Robert B. Tisserand
in 1977.
Another classic book dedicated to medicinal herbs is
“Health through God’s Pharmacy”. Its
author, the Austrian Herbalist Maria Treben, claimed
that “There is a plant for every illness”.
My
conclusion on this is really that they knew more than
us 4000 years ago, we still don’t know a quarter
of what our elders knew, even if we have modern techniques.
All that we've done is to take their knowledge and worked
from it, should we really take credit for that ?
Where
to find a good source of helichrysum Italicum beside
our company ?
We
have no hesitations to invite you to learn more about
theses companies :
