This week’s oil is Neroli (citrus aurantium var. amara ), steam distilled from bitter Orange Flowers.

Have you got your Q-tips ready?  Start sniffing.  What do you think?  Is it sweet?  Is it an airy-fairy light weight of an oil, or is it more like liquid sunshine?  Don’t forget your note.  What is it, do you think?

One nice thing about Neroli, is that you don’t have to worry about Photo toxicity, which is NOT the case for most the citrus oils.

Neroli’s main chemical component is Monoterpenes and is used for: hysteria, depression, PMS, labor, aphrodisiac, shock, stress, colic, gas, acne, oily skin, mature skin, stretch marks, thread veins, scars, bronchitis, immunostimulant, tonic for the liver.  Neroli’s actions are: antidepressant, anti-infectious, antibacterial, antiparasitic, antispasmodic, aphrodisiac, bactericidal, cicatrizant, deodorant, fungicidal, emollient, digestive tonic, stimulant.

Now it’s time to discuss the amount of Neroli should be used in a tablespoon of oil.  Keep in mind that this Citrus is different from Bergamot.  For instance it is steam distilled, whereas Bergamot is expressed (squeezed). A lso Bergamot is a light weight top note only, and Neroli is...well, did you decide what Neroli is?

Neroli is a Middle to base note.  Which means the amount of oil should automatically register as lower that a top note.  In one tablespoon of carrier oil, one should use only 2 drops of Neroli.  Anymore and it’s a complete waste of money.

Okay, now onto our side subject for the week.  Essential Oils and Your Liver.  Sounds a bit like those weird cartoon movies that we used to watch back in high school.   The same essential oils should not be used for more than four days in stretch.  Why?  Because it becomes a strain on your liver.

One of the main jobs that your liver performs is detoxification.  It takes all substance that enters your body that is potentially harmful and breaks it down so that it can be excreted in the form of feces or urine.

If, however, you subject the liver to a toxin over a long period of time, it becomes weak, damaged, and unable to perform it’s job.  Alcohol is well known for this destructive effect on the Liver.

Which is why it’s so important to switch your oils around, so that you are not using them for more than three days in a row.  ESPECIALLY those are high in KETONES.

And THIS brings me to another side subject Essential oils and Cats.  Simply put, this is the biggest NO-NO in Aromatherapy.  Essential oils and cats do not mix.  They simply cannot metabolize the oils, and they are quickly poisoned, sometimes even killed by them.

I can hear some of the protest now: "I use essential oils on my cats all the time, and they’ve never been harmed;" or "I diffuse my oils all the time around my cats, the LIKE them"

Yep, I hear you.  I too, when I didn’t know any better, used Essential Oils on my cats, and except for the last time when they bounced off the walls for about three hours (I mean they went NUTS from Tea Tree), nothing has ever gone wrong.  I diffused them around them, I used some of those nice recipe’s from lots of aromatherapy books that abound.

The fact is, I WAS LUCKY!  Cat’s are not able to tolerate essential oils.  Their Livers cannot process the toxins, which can build up rapidly and kill them.  You have to appreciate that cats are so different from us and even dogs.

For example, dogs and humans can live and thrive on a vegetarian diet, whereas cats MUST have meat in their diet or they will die.  It’s the same with essential oils. They can and DO kill cats.

And that’s the end of this weeks lesson.  Hang in there, just a few more to go.

Final exam question:   What is an Aromatherapist? Easy Question? We'll see.  Remember, I would like to see your answer at the END of the course.

Sources of Information: Besides my own course notes, and things I’ve learned along the way, for this course I also use:
 

• The Aromatherapy Practitioner Reference Manual By Sylla Sheppard-Hangar

• Plant Aromatics A Data & Reference Manual on Essential Oils and Aromatic Plant Extracts By Martin Watt

• Advanced Aromatherapy by Kurt Schnaublet

• The Aromatherapy Work Book by Shirley Price

• Aromatherapy for Health Professionals by Shirley Price and Len Price.

© 2001 Kathleen E. Petrides, SmeLLeNNium
 

© 2001 Mother (page layout only)