Has your grandmother ever said to you, "If you can’t eat it, don’t put it on your skin"? Solid advice Grandma!
A lot of skin care products out there are so full of chemicals and toxic ingredients. These are not the best products to be buying and using on our bodies for so many reasons. I always encourage my clients to find products made from better and more pure ingredients and sources. One major list of ingredients I love seeing in products are essential oils. Not all essential oils are made equally in purity, so please be mindful of the brands you buy and use for your personal needs. As well, not all essential oils are ingestible, so do your research and ask the right questions.
History On Essential Oils
Essential oils, or aromatherapy oils, have been used by many cultures around the world for centuries. Their uses varied between cultures from religious purposes to healing the sick and wounded. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when essential oils gained notoriety as effective healing medicines, but eventually the knowledge of essential oils spread around the globe.
The earliest evidence of human knowledge of the healing properties of plants was found in Lascaux, located in the Dordogne region in France. There, cave paintings suggest the use of medicinal plants in everyday life that have been carbon dated as far back as 18,000 B.C.E. In Egypt Evidence and recorded history have both shown that the Egyptians used aromatic oils as early as 4500 B.C.E. Ancient Egyptians became renowned for their knowledge of embalming, cosmetology and beauty products, ointments and aromatic oils. Aromatic gums such as cedar and myrrh were used in the embalming process and traces of these have been found on mummies today.
Just picked a few of my own personal favorites Essential Oils;
Lavender is one of the most popular and widely used essential oils today. In addition to its relaxing sleep-inducing characteristics, lavender also has natural antiseptic properties and assists in stimulating circulation to support your body’s natural healing functions. We use it here at the spa to help fight acne and heal post breakouts. It is more gentle on the skin than myrrh.
What to say about rose! It has amazing antiseptic characteristics but doesn't irritate the skin at all. Great for everything from rashes, irritation, acne, and anti aging. It has a high potency of Vitamin C which gives it an amazing ability to regenerate, rehydrate and soothe the skin. I can't speak highly enough about this amazing ingredient!
Chamomile is another very popular and widely used herb that you can use internally to help tone the digestive system, liver, and kidneys. Many people drink it as a calming digestive tea before bed. Chamomile is also a wonderful external addition to your skin care regime, especially if your skin is sensitive and/or irritated, dry and chapped, or if you have open lesions. Apply cool chamomile tea bags or a soaked cloth on affected areas of your skin to help soothe it. Many irritated skin soothing balms have chamomile in them to help heal burns, skin ulcers, eczema and lesions.
Myrrh,- I personally cannot say enough about the power of myrrh! We use it here at the spa a lot in the fight against acne. Many of my most severe acne clients have to go home with their faces covered with pure myrrh. It works like a charm! Myrrh is known in the Bible as 1 of the 3 gifts the Wise Men gave to Jesus when he was born. For good reason! It is antibacterial, anti-parasitic, healing, soothing, calming, and helps fight Cancer. We also recommend it for canker sores inside the mouth and cold sores on or around the lips.
We have entrusted a local herbalist and aroma therapist, Blaine Andrusek, with his well sourced pure essential oil line that is also carrying in some well respected local natural Calgary stores. Selling his oils in our retail in the last couple of months as one of our new lines has brought great excitement to all our practitioners. Our Estheticians, Massage Therapist and Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine have all been able to upgrade their treatments using these beautiful, addictive oils, essential for life!