Aromatherapy Skincare - From field to science, medicine and education

Is aromatherapy old hat? and mumbo jumbo? 

Yes, but I mean seriously old hat - in fact centuries old....

                                        .

Sadly, skin care products with newer names are currently in vogue such as spa, botanical and plant extracts. The reason I find this slightly upsetting, is that all these products are plant based, the same as aromatherapy essential oils.

I adore aromatherapy essential oils as they're highly concentrated plant extracts. A lot of plant extract material is needed for each of those small 10ml bottles of oil that you've seen.

I also believe there is a lack of understanding regarding aromatherapy which isn't helped by its 'new age' image. Many shops selling 'new age' products also sell aromatherapy essential oils and I find a lot of people believe that aromatherapy essential oils are simply about a nice smell.

• This is not true. 
• Aromatherapy is a real science. 
• There shouldn't be any mumbo jumbo. 
• Plants are made up of a host of different chemicals many of which are beneficial to the body. 
• Traditional medicine e.g. your prescription from the GP contain plant derivatives, but these are in the most synthetically produced. 

                                                       

I believe the gap between traditional western medicine and aromatherapy essential oils is not that great and fantastic studies are currently being carried out looking at this overlap. One example is the use of aromatherapy essential oils to treat cancer patients.

Did you know that qualified aromatherapist firstly studies anatomy, physiology and massage to 'A' level standard? Only after qualifying are they able to study aromatherapy. Unfortunately, aromatherapy is an area where many people dabble - without being qualified which can be extremely dangerous. Equally there are a lot of synthetic or fake essential oils on the market which don't have any beneficial properties. 

I qualified in 1996 and below is a link to the syllabus I studied.

http://www.itecworld.co.uk/Syllabus/Unit%20Documents/Aromatherapy%20Syllabus.pdf 

                                                    

I strongly believe in the therapeutic benefits of aromatherapy essential oils in skin care, particularly when considering the damage free radicals cause and the anti-oxidant properties of many aromatherapy essential oils. This passion I have was the focus for creating our aromatherapy skin care company INSKIN. 

I found very few companies which are aromatherapy based with a qualified aromatherapist at the helm. 


Interesting and perhaps a little worrying?

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 

Lizzy Radcliffe 

ITEC Certified Aromatherapist Graduate 1996

If you would like to test any of our products here at INSKIN skincare - please click on the INSKIN link:  http://www.aromatherapy-skincare.co.uk/inskin-testers/

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Phytonutrients - Aromatherapy Skincare

Phytonutrients - 4 Reasons Why You Need Them

Phytonutrients are nutrients derived from plant material that have been shown to be necessary for sustaining human life. These plant nutrients form part of the plants immune system and their role in plants is to protect plants from disease, injuries, insects, drought, excessive heat, ultraviolet rays, and poisons or pollutants in the air or soil. 

Phyto, From the Greek word "phuton" meaning plant - Phytonutrient - plant extracts that sustains human life

As a qualified aromatherapist, I am interested in phytonutrients (plant nutrients) as part of aromatherapy skincare as one of the main benefits are their anti-oxidant properties. 

Anti-oxidants are very important as they deal with free radicals which affect our health, can cause disease and give the appearance of wrinkled skin as we get older. For more information on anti-oxidants, please click here to my Vitamin A blog.

Many clinical trials have considered phytonutrients from two angles:

• Eating certain food types can prevent certain chronic diseases 
• Using oils massaged on the skin are effective anti-oxidants

I believe it is crucial that or bodies receive many phytonutrients, and I would recommend that we: 

1. Eat as few unprocessed foods as possible (phytonutrients are only negligable after factory processing)
2. Eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables each day aiming to cover as many colours as possible. 
3. Different coloured fresh fruit and vegetables contain differing quantities of the different phytonutrient types
4. Use a face product high in anti-oxidants, if you're concerned about your skin looking tired and older (remember face creams/ moisturisers contain 50 - 60% water, whereas a facial oil contains 100% active ingredients.)

INSKIN skincare produce a truly fabulous facial oil with very high quantities of active anti-oxidant ingredients.

Inskin Precious Anti Ageing Facial Oil 30ml

                                    

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, 

Lizzy Radcliffe

ITEC Certified Aromatherapist Graduate 1996

If you would like to become involved with our work here at INSKIN skincare - please click here to complete the form on the INSKIN website