Are we getting out Q-tips out.  Getting out your bottle of Petitgrain?  What do you think of Petitgrain?  A favorite?  Does it smell like cough drops?  Does it make your teeth hurt when you smell it?  Or do you gambol over the meadow like a lamb?  And what do you think the perfume note is?  Top, mid or base?

Main Chemical Components: Esters and Alcohols.  These two alone should tell you that this a very mild oil.

What does one use Petitgrain for?  I like to use it for acne and oily skin, but here comes the list:
 

• skin (acne, oily skin, oily hair, scars, boils); respiratory system (respiratory infection, asthma);
• muscular/skeletal system (arthritis, rheumatism, joint inflammations, muscle spasms);
• immune system (immune stimulant);
• digestive system (gas, general tonic);
• nervous system (insomnia, stress, mental fatigue, panic, anger, actions: antiseptic, antispasmodic, anti-infectious, anti-inflammative,antibacterial, cicatizant, deodorant, digestive tonic, sedative-tonic).

Now: you ready to do your drops?  Well, is it a top, mid or base note?  Remember knowing this will help you a lot in deciding just how much of an essential oil to use.  Okay, well here we go.  Petitgrain is clearly a top note, but it’s also a mid note, which means that you have a mid range of drops one uses in a tablespoon of a carrier oil.  I use between 4 and 5 drops of Petitgrain.

Side Lesson for this week is a couple of things.  We will start off with soapers.  I know a lot of people who take this course makes soaps.  I just wanted to talk a little bit about oils with a high ketone content, or which is a strong dermal irritant, especially oils like cinnamon and wintergreen which smell delicious and seem to be an obvious choice for soaps.

Unfortunately, cinnamon is extremely irritating to the skin, even in low quantities and can trigger all sorts of nasty reactions such as rashes, burning, swelling, dizziness and even worse if the reactions are more severe.   There is no reason to use cinnamon in soaps, there are so many other Essential oils that smell wonderful and are so much safer to use on the skin.  If you cannot do without Cinnamon soap then please use a Fragrance oil.  That goes for the others as well.

I also wanted to mention Ventilation again.  I know that a lot of you do your potions and lotions in your kitchen. I t’s the logical place to do it.  What is the ventilation like?  Do your smells build up, or is there somewhere for them to escape?   If you DO, do your mixing and mashing in your kitchen, make sure you have your window’s open, and try a get at the very least a fan to blow out the fumes.

Hhow much of the essential oils are you getting on your hands?  None?  Some every time you work with it, or are you a slop artist like me?  You need to protect your hands when working with essential oils.   Otherwise your risk sensitisation, and being sensitive (allergic) to some of the oils is no fun.  Try using one use latex gloves so you can throw them out with each use.

Also, what if you are a masseuse and using Essential Oils all day long?  Obviously you can’t put on gloves when the client walks in.  So - this was a neat little trick my instructor taught me when I became pregnant and was doing Massages.  Try greasing up the palm of your hands with Vaseline.  Real nasty slimy stuff, but it prevents the oils from penetrating the skin.

Carrier oils: What type of carrier oil should you use.  Ahhhhh!  There are tons of carrier oils, and each one has their own qualities.  There are (just to give you a sampling): sweet almond, grapeseed, apricot kernel, peach kernel, fractionated coconut, pumpkin, olive oil, sunflower oil, jojoba oil, avocado oil, hazel nut oil, walnut oil, and so many more.

There is a book that may be at Amazon or B&N (probably online only) all about Carrier Oils by Len Price. While I haven’t read it myself yet, I’ve heard only good things about it, and it will be a big help as your studies
progress.

Also, coming out soon (hopefully) is a book on Hydrosols, written by Suzanne Catty.  She told me that, "It covers alot of ground theoretically, includes distillation info, storage and shelf life parameters, monitoring techniques, loads of recipes, and profiles of over 60 different hydrosols."  It looks like a book well worth waiting for!

And that’s it for this week.  As mentioned before, your last lesson is next week.  On Sandalwood.

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)