essential oils

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mrsnesbitt

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1576

Posted: Mon Jun 20, 05 10:23 pm Post subject: essential oils
ok.....i can get a good supply.........know about lavender oil............anything else I need to know about? /recipes?

nettie

Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 5888
Location: Suffolk

Posted: Mon Jun 20, 05 10:43 pm Post subject:

HI Mrs N, what a great subject, I absolutely love essential oils. Their effect on your mood, your hormones, and their medicinal properties are fascinating, and great to experience and experiment with!

Lavender oil is the only one you can use neat on your skin, the rest need to be diluted in a carrier oil, such as almond. It really is worth getting a good book on the subject, as, like some herbs, there are many that can't be used in pregnancy etc, and some can be irritant. I have a nice little book by a lady called Charla Deveraux, and a great herbal book by Penelope Ody, although there are loads more books I should look into getting. I'm lucky in that I have a friend who is a qualified practitioner in aromatherapy, so I'm constantly picking her brains!

Enjoy it, but do read up on the safety aspects first! And have a look on the web for your oils, you'll get a much better deal (and probably better quality) than you would from Boots or your local hippy shop!

sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Tue Jun 21, 05 5:35 am Post subject:

I'll second Nettie on the safety aspect. EOs are so concentrated that even the safest oils have had reported cases of people being allergic to them, some are very strong sensitisers indeed, and can leave you with a lifelong intolerance to the base ingredient (eg a cinnamon oil reaction can bring you up in lumps years after even through eating cinnamon). Rare, but not nice if it happens to be you! Other than that, its interesting to compare locally grown EOs with the same plants from different areas, and whilst in most cases its not practical to produce them at home, in a very few cases it might be something to consider if only in the form of infusing plant material in veg oil in the sun, to extract the plant essential oils into the base oil as a handy bath or massage oil. Other than that, I woud suggest start by learning as much as you can about just a few oils that you think you might use regularly, and build up your knowledge from there.

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Tue Jun 21, 05 8:29 am Post subject:

nettie wrote:

And have a look on the web for your oils, you'll get a much better deal (and probably better quality) than you would from Boots or your local hippy shop!

Can you recommend any sources, Nettie?

Northern_Lad

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 14210
Location: Somewhere

Posted: Tue Jun 21, 05 8:42 am Post subject:
There's a company called PhytoBotanical which is based between Preston and Liverpool who produce organic oils, who my mum uses. There is a web-site, somewhere, but I can't track it down at the mo. They also go to a few farmers' markets, but I don't think they get to your region.

mrsnesbitt

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1576

Posted: Tue Jun 21, 05 8:51 am Post subject:
I have a sound supplier here believe it or not, keen environmentalists. I want some recipes to make creams, lotions etc rather than for aromatherapy....lavender with elderflower cream type of stuff.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Tue Jun 21, 05 9:40 am Post subject:
I thought you meant making them! When I get my herb garden, I plant to give this a go, but only really for fun. If I get any oils, I'lll be impressed - I expect lots of nice flower water, and an amusing day mesing about with enamel kettles and plastic tubing. OH with no doubt be playing golf on that day.......

Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Tue Jun 21, 05 10:48 am Post subject:
Mrs N, if there is a Works or similar remainder bookshop when you next go in to town, have a look at this book and see if it has the sort of recipes you're after: https://forum.downsizer.net/about4543.html

Róisín

Joined: 30 Jul 2005
Posts: 578

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 05 10:09 pm Post subject:
Really good organic oils that I use are made by a company called Atlantic Aromatics. They also have a free leaflet about how to use the stuff. www.atlanticaromatics.com The website also has some good articles on recipes etc.

nettie

Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 5888
Location: Suffolk

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 05 10:15 pm Post subject:

Judith wrote:

nettie wrote:

And have a look on the web for your oils, you'll get a much better deal (and probably better quality) than you would from Boots or your local hippy shop!

Can you recommend any sources, Nettie?

'fraid I get them from my friend, she doesn't sell them commercially. However www.baldwins.co.uk looks really interesting and fairly reasonable and has a good range of herbs and resins as well.

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 05 10:18 pm Post subject:
Thanks for the link. Do the prices look OK then? I've no idea what is good value or extortionate with essential oils.

Róisín

Joined: 30 Jul 2005
Posts: 578

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 05 10:20 pm Post subject:
The prices vary for different oils. Lavendar and peppermint, say, are usually cheap enough - I pay about a fiver (euro) for those. More expensive ones can be rose absolut or ylang ylang, which might be eight euro. Nonorganic are cheaper, starting at only three euro.

nettie

Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 5888
Location: Suffolk

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 05 10:21 pm Post subject:
They don't seem too bad...I compare them to the likes of Boots and Holland and Barrett, and if they're a fair bit cheaper and good quality then you're on to a good bet...plus the service at Baldwin's is good, they do a very prompt mail order.

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 05 10:35 pm Post subject:

Róisín wrote:

The prices vary for different oils. Lavendar and peppermint, say, are usually cheap enough - I pay about a fiver (euro) for those. More expensive ones can be rose absolut or ylang ylang, which might be eight euro. Nonorganic are cheaper, starting at only three euro.

Yikes, £24.95 for 5 ml of rose maroc

I think I will be sticking to lavender!

How much EO would you use in a small batch of soap then? Or does it depend on the smellyness of the oil? (Sorry for asking Noddy questions

sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Tue Aug 09, 05 5:22 am Post subject:
It depends on the oil, and on the relative safety of the oil when used in soap. For example, things like Tea Tree is legally restricted to I think 1% max in soap to avoid possible skin reactions, and others with known sensitizing properties like citrus have maximum usage levels as well. Anything between 1 and 5% by weight is usual, though I often use a lot less.

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