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“the way to health is to have an aromatic bath and a scented massage every day,”
Hippocrates, the father of medicine, 4th Century B.C.
What’s Aromatherapy?
Aromatherapy is the use of aromatic substances to promote vitality and well being. What we use are essential oils. These oils are distilled from seeds, flowers, fruits, leaves, grasses, roots, bark, wood and stems. Make no mistake. They are highly concentrated, up to 70 times stronger than the original plant. If not handled properly, they can cause injury. There are only two that can be directly applied to the skin without being diluted in another “carrier” oil, in a bath salt, lotion or soap, for example. They are Lavender and Tea Tree.
Only 20% of medicinal plants yield essential oils and of those only a small percentage are safe to use in aromatherapy. One of the oils you will find in our Moonglo line is Jasmine essential oil. To give you and idea of what is involved in creating an essential oil, eight million jasmine blossoms are distilled to yield 2.2 pounds of essential oil. Jasmine’s scent is warm, rich, and sensual floral. It has euphoric properties, alleviates depression and anxiety. For dry, mature skin, Jasmine is soothing, healing and moisturizing. This oil is very concentrated and its fragrance can be dominating if not blended carefully. In the perfumer’s world it is considered a middle note. There is a touch of Jasmine in Moonglö-- Morgana’s Glamour Bath Salts.
Aromatherapy History.
Aromatic use dates back to ancient Egypt, China and India at least 5,000 years ago. In Egypt, Imhotep, physician to King Zoser, recommended massage with aromatic oils. In China calamus root and mugwort leaf were used for hygiene. The sacred Vedas of India refers to aromatics and massage. Indian temples are built of sandalwood for its meditative scent.
The Romans advanced aromatic knowledge which unfortunately was mostly lost during the dark ages. The golden age for aromatics spanned 200 years from the 17th to the 18th century when all doctors and herbalists used essential oils. By the 19th century, advances in chemistry turned medicine from herbal therapy to a reliance on synthetic medicines made only from the active ingredients in plants such as aspirin whose active ingredients come from Birch, Wintergreen and Meadowsweet.
Aromatherapy’s resurgence came about by accident. In 1937 Rene Gattefosse, a cosmetic chemist, burned his hand. Plunging it into the first liquid nearby to quell the pain, he found it was lavender essential oil. The surprise was how fast his skin healed and how little scaring occurred. He began extensive research into the antiseptic and antibiotic properties of essential oils. A World War II surgeon, Dr. Valnet, used essential oils to treat war wounds and continued in his practice. His research was published and he taught other doctors about essential oils’ healing properties. Robert Tisserand of Britain translated Valnet’s book and brought aromatherapy into the mainstream. It is now a complementary holistic medicine approach throughout Europe.
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