Can Rose Essential Oils Save Your Skin? Plus: Aromatherapy 101

By Siobhan O’Connor for NoMoreDirtyLooks.com

Mais oui, according to a new study.

We told you a few weeks ago that thyme has been shown to be more effective than benzoyl peroxide—that skin-destroying ingredient that, in my opinion, totally doesn’t work if you’re over the age of 15. Many of you jumped with joy (which is to say posted comments about how awesome that is), and now we have even more interesting news: Rose essential oils can block the effects of stress on skin when inhaled—not applied topically.

This is the kind of research that gets me excited. As anyone with skin woes can tell you, the impulse to reach for a product to fix the problem is tough to beat. Unfortunately, as we’ve said many times, this doesn’t do much for you in a big-picture way. It’s the old “treating the symptoms, not the condition” thing. When it comes to just about everything, and especially our skin, this kind of spot treating (ha) does not work. Or if it does, it doesn’t work for long.

Rose has been shown—in a human and rat study—to significantly inhibit cortisol, the stress hormone that causes inflammation (which causes zits). It also blunted transepidermal water loss, which happens when your skin’s barrier function is compromised.

There are many ways you can put this into play in your life. Prevention.com has recipes for both thyme and rose skin solutions here.

Or you can seek out a potion that contains rose and huff the stuff when you’re stressed. Here’s some things that are worth knowing about aromatherapy:

1. Not all oils are created equal. The tidy rows of bottles you see lining the counter at health food stores? Not what you’re looking for. To work, essential oils need to be super-concentrated and carefully crafted, and when they are, they are incredibly powerful for your mind, body and your spirit. Many of these plants and flowers have incontrovertible evidence supporting their use to heal us, but you’re not going to get these benefits unless you’re working with high-quality oils. That means organic, wild crafted and, ideally, made in small batches.

2. You can use them anywhere, anytime. I basically always have aromatherapy and flower essences in my handbag, as anyone who’s been to a bar with me can attest. (I like dosing people whether they ask for it or, as with our friend Erika, violently protest.) I also keep some on my desk at work, which many a coworker has gotten in the habit of popping by to borrow. This makes me happy.

Keep reading the rest here…

Managing Stress: 6 Good (And 5 Bad) Things To Do When You Can’t Sleep

By No More Dirty Looks

When my insomnia hit the other night, I did everything wrong.

I’d managed to work myself up about something before bed, but because I have the stamina of a toddler when I’m upset, I tired myself out quickly and crashed hard around 11:30pm. Then, at 4:30am, my brain went on like a light. There I was, in that strange time when “tonight” becomes “tomorrow” and the last thing in the world you should be doing is witnessing it. (Unless of course you’re doing something really fun—which I wasn’t. I was lying there with looping thoughts, the lights on, a search window open on my laptop, and Twitter fired up on my phone…)

We have written plenty about sleep hygiene here. We polled you once to find out how much you sleep (a lot!); we asked you guys to share your bedtime rituals with us (they were great!); we’ve explored how sleep can help your looks (duh); and we’ve covered ayurvedic principles about sleep before, as well.

But isn’t it funny (dumb) that no matter how much you know about the Right Thing To Do for your wellbeing, it’s often exactly when you need that advice the most that it escapes you?

With that in mind, here’s a primer, filled with things you already know, on the best and worst things to do when you can’t sleep. Obviously this advice is highly subjective. Where appropriate, we’ve mentioned some actual science to back us up. And, as always, we want your tips in the comments.

The Bad

1. Tweeting, emailing, checking your stocks, approving comments on your blog etc. Research shows that light-emitting devices can suppress the production of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin—which means when you wake up to check your cell, or simply have it on blinking at you from the bedside table, you’re sending signals to your brain that it isn’t time to chill out. Turn them off, use airplane mode, or put them on the other side of the room. When you wake up, try your best not to check them.

2. Watching scary TV shows. I can’t watch scary things at night anymore without getting nightmares and waking up a lot. Granted I’m on the sensitive side (cough), but there is good research that shows how disruptive this can be. It can spike stress hormones in the body and put you in an excited state (not the good kind) that doesn’t bode well for rest. Some people can watch anything before bed and fall asleep, but if you wake up in the middle of the night and decide to flip on the tube, maybe don’t try to catch up on a season’s worth of Boardwalk Empire?

Keep reading for more bad and good things to do here…

Sniff away your stress: 5 calming essential oils

By Nina Elias for Prevention.com

Did someone reheat Indian food in the office microwave…two floors down?

Your amped-up smelling ability doesn’t mean you’re turning into a superhero—it could be stress.

According to a new study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, people with anxiety can experience a heightened sense of smell, and are able to sniff out things that calmer folks might miss.

It turns out that when we feel anxious, our body naturally goes into survival mode, heightening our ability to identify threats—and the nose often takes the lead. As anxiety levels rise, so does our ability to correctly sniff out a strong or unusual stench. In other words, if you think you smell smoke coming from the kitchen or are convinced Patches the poodle left an accident somewhere in the house, it could be a sign you’re more stressed than usual.

The upside? You can use this anxiety-heightened sniffing ability to tackle the annoying side effects of stress, such as indigestion and insomnia. How? With aromatherapy, the practice of using essential oils—concentrated from flowers, leaves, fruit, bark, and roots—to ease stress.

Here are five simple ways to sniff your way out of stressful situations with essential oils, from Hope Gillerman, aromatic healer and creator of H. Gillerman Organics:

1. For constant worrying
Essential oil:  Sandalwood
How to chill: Dab a few drops on your chest, and then practice a simple mindfulness exercise: Close your eyes, sit up straight, and rest your hands on your lap. Breathe slowly and count your inhales: Inhale one, inhale two, inhale three, inhale four, etc. When you lose count, start back at one and keep counting until you feel your tension ease.

Keep reading…

Aftelier Perfumes

Aftelier is a collection of natural, artisan scents created by Mandy Aftel. She creates them by hand in small batches, the perfumes smell divine—deeper and more complex than most commercial scents, which are derived from synthetic ingredients and use alcohol as a carrier. She also makes solid perfumes and candles.

My favorites are:

Secret Garden: is all about rich sensual pleasure–rather defies olfactive family categorization, as there are many facets to its rich body. Let us perhaps call it a “fruity floriental with delicious near-gourmand hints and sensuous animalic qualities.

Poplar Buds Absolute: is fruity, floral and animalic in nature. When smelled neat it can be slightly off-putting due to the initial aroma of overripe stone fruits. If given time to breathe Poplar Buds Absolute reveals a rich olfactory impression and is an ingredient worthy of the perfumer’s palette.

Honeysuckle Absolute: offers an aromatic impression that is less complex than Poplar Bud Absolute, but it engages the senses by telling the kaleidoscopic story of all narcotic florals (Tuberose, Jasmine, Orange Blossom, Magnolia, etc.) The character it reveals is one of a white floral vintage which evaporates in fits and starts before reaching a honeyed dry down that echoes the enigmatic scent of autumn outdoors.

Fig: A mix of fir absolute, jasmine sambac, and yuzu, duplicating the aroma of this sweet fruit to a tee. Speaking of “tea,” she makes that, too — of the perfumed variety, of course.

Cocao: A blend of jasmine, blood orange, and cocao from a Costa Rican plantation. Psst — Aftel distills the cocao herself.

Checkout their other products and scents here.

Essence of Vali

I recently tried some samples from Essence of Vali which is a NYC based company that sells 100% natural aromatherapy products. They carry oils, mists and balms that does magic on you, they can solve all of your problems such as, sleep problems, stress, pain or if you want balance in your life get the Balance Restore Mist or if you want some passion in your life try their Passion products and so on. I highly recommend them to you. Their mists can be used as a body spray as well

I fell in love with the Sleep Bedtime Balm: Sleep Bedtime Balm is used to help ease you into a peaceful sleep and comfort you during times of stress. Some people report that it helps unclog their sinuses. Dab the balm above the upper lip and on pulse points. Some people like to use it as a lip balm. It is wonderful to use during the day when you are feeling anxious or stressed out.

Relief Massage and Bath Oil: The ingredients of this mixture contains: Jojoba oil, essential oils of lavender oils, peppermint leaves and birch bark. This mixture combines together to help relax the body, penetrate into the muscles and soothe away pain.

Check out the other products here.

 

Massage with Oil

Massage therapy has been used throughout the centuries as one of the simplest forms of medical care. Today it is still widely practiced for pain management, to help alleviate emotional stress and to promote relaxation. Massage has also been shown to improve the function of the circulatory, lymphatic, immune and nervous systems and may improve the rate at which the body recovers from injury and illness and of course other then taking oil baths, an oil massage will give you the aromatherapy effect and relaxation as well. Try it and you’ll know it how a body and head massage feels. I feel it helps me to perform better during the day and my mind just works more faster, whatever it is, it works. You can use any oil for a good massage and when visiting a spa make sure they carry only clean products.

Oils for Healing

For centuries women in Asia and South Asia have been using the healing treatments of oils for their mind and body. It gives you a good fresh and relaxed mind that a busy and stressful women might need. It even helps your body to relief stress. You can use any oil such as, coconut oil, lavender oil, olive oil or jojoba oil. Here’s what I do: I fill the tub with warm water and add a few drops of oil and then get in. For more magic turn off the lights and light your candles. You will also get the effects of aromatherapy by this which is so relaxing that I can’t even describe it to you.

More Benefits of taking oil bath:

1. It clears oily substances from the skin of total body and facilitate the same to transfer heat from its inside to outside.
2. By giving healthy cold to our body we can have good appetite and feeling of taste.
3. Healthy cold prevailing in our body prevents many diseases like jaundice, cancer and other viral diseases.
4. We can get healthy, deep sleep and good concentration in our daily activities.
5. Side effects of severe diet control can be cleared by this good healthy habit.
6. Skin and hair health can be maintained as it removes surface tension on the body.

And you can find organic, raw oils from any health food store

Tata Harper

I call her the queen of natural skin care and her name is Tata Harper, who is an industrial engineer and the founder of Tata Harper. She decided to create her own natural skincare line free of toxins after her stepfather had cancer and the doctors recommended products free of synthetics. The doctors at the clinic informed them that going forward her father could only use natural personal care products because of the potential harmful health risks of synthetic products. It was then she realized there were no 100% natural non –toxic skincare lines backed by clinical data and the latest in beauty technology. She wanted to create a line, which offered women preventative anti aging beauty products that would not force them to

Tata Harper at her farm in Vermont

compromise their health and wellness. Her products are not just for mature women but their even great for young girls and their for any skin type even the most sensitive skin. She creates her products from her 1,200 acre farm in Vermont. All of the products are made with natural and active ingredients. Her products will give you the natural glow that it needs. The mother of two says, that her own skincare routine only takes a minute. You can even order a sample pack that comes with every product that you can’t live without. So, far this is the only line that I can promise that works and the results are always 100% positive.

I love her complete line. Tata’s line includes every product for the face, body, beauty sets and aromatherapy

Checkout her products here.

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is the practice of using the natural oils extracted from flowers, bark, stems, leaves, roots or other parts of a plant to enhance psychological and physical well-being. The inhaled aroma from these “essential” oils is widely believed to stimulate brain function. Essential oils can also be absorbed through the skin, where they travel through the bloodstream and can promote whole-body healing and there are also sprays that can be used to smell and it works the same like an oil would work. A form of alternative medicine, aromatherapy is gaining momentum. It is used for a variety of applications, including pain relief, mood enhancement and increased cognitive function. There are a wide number of essential oils available, each with its own healing properties.

I am looking for more and exciting Aromatherapy brands I love to carry them with me in my bag because you never know when you need to spray some on

Some 0f the famous and really good ones I know are as following:

1. Intelligent Nutrients (http://www.intelligentnutrients.com/cart/categories.php?category=Aromatics)
2. Tata Harper (http://www.tataharperskincare.com/shop/aromatherapy)
3. Essence of Vali (http://essenceofvali.com/)