The Power of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy

Learn the power of essential oils to relax and rejuvinate. You can use it for aromatherapy simply by placing some on a cool bulb and turning it on, to using a ring on a bulb, or using a difuser. Or you can use them in soaps, bath salts and moisturizers.

You can simply make hand milled soap by grating plain bar soap and melting it down and adding essential oils and even things like toasted old fashioned oatmeal or cinnamon powder to color and scent it. To do this, prepare all the mixtures such as 1 tbsp palm oil in a glass cup. Mix fragrance, such as essential oils in another container, all ingredients premeasured and ready to melt into soap, and any colorants. Preparing a mold can be as simple as putting a little petrolium jelly on the mold. You can use a six inch 2 inch diameter pvc piece of pipe and cover the bottom opening with plastic wrap in several layers and secure with strong rubber bands. Or use pre made molds. Grante three bars of purchased soap in a heat resistant glass measuring bowl. Add any oil for the recipe. Add water that it is called for.
Then place the heat reistant bowl in a saucepan filled with 2 inche of water. Bring to a simmer, mix the soap gently. First the soap will clump together. Break up the soap with a wooden spoon used exclusively for soap. Mix the watter and oil carefully to avoid too much sudsing. Soon it will look like watery cottage cheese. Keep stirring over boiling water. The final stage, it becomes struigny and acts like lumpy marshmallow cream. This is the string stage. It becomes thick. It will be 10 to 15 minutes to reach this stage. Keep heating it until it becomes stringy. Take the glass bowl out of the water and mix any colorants. Then the fragrance add botanicals next. Herbs, spice powders, flowers. As you see fit. Stir it thoroughly to mix all the soap. Spoon the mixture into the mold. Tamp to remove the air bubbles. Remove the soap after it is hard. It should take for to five hours. Chill in the freezer if it is hard to get out.

You may have trouble getting it out, it may be because you didn't let it get to the stringy stage. If this happens, you can start over and reheat it until it does reach the final stringy stage. Then once you get it out. Slice the soap into rounds or quarters. Let dry on rack to cure for about three weeks. Turn the soap to keep it from warping. Turning is critical in first frew days.

Some ideas for soaps include lavender essential oils and flowers with violet food coloring using red and blue in equal parts. This will make a relaxing blend. Lavendar is known for its healing properties, preventing even burns from worsenning. Rose essential oils with a little red food coloring will make a pink soap and is good for the skin. You can even add pieces of loofa sliced up with scissors or grated. This is safe for even the most sensitive skin. Chamomile and oatmeal can be used with 1 tblsp dried ground camomile, 1 tblsp ground toasted oatmeal. 10 drops camomile oil and 5 drops clary sage oil. Ylang Ylang oil can be added for a more floral scent. This is good for cleaning, relaxing and healing properties. Other good scents for the skin are geranium, vanilla, and peppermint. You can make a sport soap for aching muscles using peppermint, eucolyptus, camphor, spearmint, wintermint, and menthal using 4 drops of each. Be careful not to get it in eyes or other sensitive membranes.