Aromatherapy Clary Sage - Relax....Just Do it

Relax... Just Do it - the sort of serious relaxation you need after a hard day at the office, after a meeting, long drives across country, business flights - I think you know the sort of relaxation I'm talking about.. This blog explains how clary sage helps the decrease in brain dopamine to decrease blood pressure and also how its usage has been increased in midwifery wards for pain relief.

Clary sage essential oil is well known for its relaxing properties and many people will give testament to how relaxing they found it.


Indeed as a qualified aromatherapy practitioner I used to massage a gentleman with an incredibly stressful job. After the massage using clary sage, I had to tie his shoe laces and his wife had to always drive him home as he was so deeply relaxed. He also enjoyed the benefit of a wonderful night sleep.


So why is clary sage so good?

Research has shown that relaxation occurs when clary sage (NOT to be confused with clary which is highly toxic) is used in baths, massage or inhaled. Tests were carried out to measure the modulation of dopamine. Dopamine is found in the brain and from it, it is possible to measure levels of increased/decreased heart and blood pressure.


The decrease, which was found, is the reason why clary sage is so deeply relaxing.


For more information on dopamine effects caused to clary sage (salvia sclarea) please follow this link:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874110002667


Indeed, clary sage is now recognised as a relaxant within many hospital's midwifery wards. in 1990, 585 women used clary sage to control labour pain through relaxation, with most finding it beneficial.


For more information please follow this link - Clary sage oil usage:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/147097-clary-sage-oil-uses/

At Doncaster and Basselaw maternity ward, clary sage is recommended for the following:

"Clary Sage is useful for relieving pain, and helps contractions. It is better used as a compress or bath rather than as a massage oil. It may make some people feel sleepy." 

For more information please follow this link to NHS Doncaster and Basselaw maternity ward - Aromatherpy usage including clary sage: http://www.dbh.nhs.uk/Library/Patient_Information_Leaflets/WPR21180-Aromatherapy.pdf

INSKIN Skincare produce a fabulous Deeply Relaxing Bath Salt Scrub which contains clary sage.

Please note - although I adore the therapeutic benefits of clary sage, it mustn't be used if pregnant (it may be used in labour only).

Many thanks for taking the time to read this blog, and if you've found it interesting I'd be delighted if you'd ask your friends to take a look, please take a look at the video below.

Many thanks, hugs and kisses

Lizzy Radcliffe

ITEC Certified Aromatherapist Graduate 1996


If you would like to become involved with our work here at INSKIN skincare - please complete the testers form on the INSKIN website at http://www.inskin.org/testers.htm

Aromatherapy - Meet Lizzy the Guru

Rosehip Oil - silky skin packed with Vitamin C

ROSEHIP OIL

• Rosehip oil nourishes and moisturises the driest of skins.
•  It is readily absorbed into the skin leaving the skin silky soft and NOT looking or feeling oily.
• It is incredibly high in vitamin C ( a powerful anti-oxidant).
• Rosehips are berry like fruits which are left behind after the rosehip bush dies. 

• Rosehip is a dense bush with the foliage having an apple fragrance
• Although it readily grows in the UK, the main supplier of rosehip oil is Chile due to its superior extraction methods.

Imagine your face as a car that's getting a little older. You wash, polish and wax it and it looks fantastic - that's how rosehip oil will leave your skin.

However what about the engine?  There's little point only making the outside look fantastic, the engine needs constant attention, which is where the vitamin C found abundantly in rosehip oil comes in.

Although vitamin C is the only vitamin that cannot be produced by the human body due to the mutant gene -  L-gulonon-y-lactone oxidase, vitamin C is important for both our health and to slow down the ageing process.

There are 2 facts I'd like to share with you about vitamin C

1. There is 20 times more vitamin C in rosehips than in oranges
2. Vitamin C is far more readily absorbed through the skin (dermal absorption) than if taken  orally. If 12g of vitamin C is taken orally, only 16% of it is absorbed.

Rosehip oil is relatively new to the skincare industry but is increasingly popular due to it's fantastic properties both on the surface of the skin, and lower down where the skin's cells are being formed.

One study was carried out using rosehip extracts of 18 samples in order to evaluate their antioxidant activities.


The study showed that vitamin C in its own right had a high antioxidant capacity which was related to high contents of phytonutrients. (Phytonutrients are nutrients derived from plant material that have been shown to be necessary for sustaining human life.)


For further reading, please follow this link: 

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/1097-0010(200011)80:14%3C2021::AID-JSFA745%3E3.0.CO;2-2/full

I personally find it fascinating how  vitamin C works in conjunction with both vitamin A and vitamin E.

Vitamin C in conjunction with vitamin A

Vitamin A is extensively used in the skin care industry to aid the anti-ageing process. Collagen  is found in the skin and is a set of fibres giving the skin its plumped up appearance. From the age of 30 onwards, the production of collagen rapidly slows down. As collagen is part of our DNA, other treatments using collagen can only be a very short term soloution as the body will reject it as its DNA is not recognised. 

However, vitamin A acts on something called fibroblast cells, and these cells are then stimulated to start the production of collagen again.

Vitamin C then comes into its own. VItamin C goes through a process called hydroxylation which is  important as this process creates hydroxyproline which is essential in the production of collagen. 

Subsequently, this creates a tight cross linking of something called the triple helix. The triple helix are three strands of our DNA wound around each other.

To summarise  

• Vitamin A creates new collagen through fibroblast cells
• Vitamin C works on the newly formed collagen, creating a tight knit collagen structure using our DNA

Vitamin C in conjunction with vitamin E


Vitamin E is used within the skin care and food industry as an anti-oxidant to 'fight' free radicals.


Free radicals are damaged parts of oxygen and are in the air around us with many being created from the sun and pollution. Free radicals age the skin as well as being involved with many illness' such as cancer. Where there are damaged oxygen particles it is known as oxidative stress.


However, vitamin E needs vitamin C to regenerate it, and some studies have shown that vitamin C is able to regenerate 60% of vitamin E proving that both vitamins work in harmony with each other.

For further reading on: 

'Partners in defense, vitamin E and vitamin C', please follow this link: 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8313238

One of the main ingredients in INSKIN Precious Anti-Ageing Facial Oil  is rosehip oil.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this blog, and if you've found it interesting I'd be delighted if you'd ask your friends to take a look.

Many thanks, hugs and kisses

Lizzy Radcliffe

ITEC Certified Aromatherapist Graduate 1996


If you would like to become involved with our work here at INSKIN skincare - please complete the form on the INSKIN website http://www.inskin.org/testers.htm