Aromatherapy

Patchouli oil has a beneficial effect on the skin, helps for infections and insect bites, water retention and can help with stress related problems and addictions. It is also great for fighting depression and anxiety. It has great diuretic properties and also helps break down cellulite, while stimulating the regeneration of skin cells, speeding up healing and preventing ugly scars forming when wounds heal.

Oil Properties
Patchouli oil has a rich musky-sweet, strong spicy and herbaceous smell. It is light yellow to dark brown in color and is a thick oil.

Origin of Patchouli Oil
It is a perennial, bushy plant that grows up to 1meter (3 feet) high, with a sturdy, hairy stem and large, fragrant, furry leaves, about four inches long and five inches across. It has whitish flowers tinged with purple.

The plant is native to Malaysia and India, where it is known as 'puchaput'. The word is derived from Hindustan word 'patch' meaning 'green' and 'ilai' meaning 'leaf.'

It was placed between Indian cashmere shawls en route to Victorian England, to protect the merchandise from moths, and without this signature smell of dried patchouli leaves the shawls could not be sold in England.

In the East, it is used in potpourris and sachets and place between linen, to keep bedbugs away, and it is the smell of patchouli oil, mixed with that of camphor, that gives Indian ink its characteristic smell. Patchouli oil is extracted from the young leaves which are dried and fermented prior to steam distillation and yields 2 - 3 %. This oil improves with age to have a fuller, more well rounded odor.

Precautions
It is non-toxic, non-irritant and non-sensitizing, but the smell of patchouli oil may be a little persistent for some people and large doses may cause loss of appetite in some individuals.

Cardamom oil is most beneficial to the digestive system, but can also help with the treatment of coughs, and a general feeling of not feeling that well. It works as a laxative and soothes colic, wind, dyspepsia and nausea - even nausea in pregnancy. It warms the stomach and helps with heartburn. When feeling weak and mentally fatigued, cardamom oil can help with its refreshing and uplifting effect.

Origin of cardamom oil
A perennial, reed-like herb, Cardamom grows wild and is cultivated in India and Ceylon.

It grows up to 4 meters (13 feet) high and has long, green silky blades, small yellowy flowers with a violet tip and a large fleshy rhizome, similar to ginger. Oblong gray fruits follow the flowers, each containing many seeds.

Cardamom was well known in ancient times and the Egyptians used it in perfumes and incense and chewed it to whiten their teeth, while the Romans used it for their stomachs when they over-indulged.

The Arabs ground it to use their coffee and It is an important ingredient in Asian cooking. Valerius Cordus first distilled the essential oil in 1544 after the Portuguese discovered the East.

Uses
Cardamom oil is particularly helpful for the digestive system. It works as a laxative and soothes colic, wind, dyspepsia and nausea - even nausea in pregnancy. It warms the stomach and helps with heartburn.

When feeling weak and mentally fatigued, cardamom oil can help with its refreshing and uplifting effect.

Cardamom oils' expectorant properties help clear coughs. It is a well-known remedy for impotence and low sexual response.

This unpretentious essential oil is used in aromatherapy to create the feeling of happiness and warmth, while calming nervous digestive problems. It deals very well with colds and flu, eliminates toxins and stimulates the lymphatic system, while supporting collagen formation in the skin.

Oil Properties
Sweet orange oil has a sweet, fresh and tangy smell, is yellow to orange in color and watery in viscosity. The shelf life is approximately 6 months.

Origin of Sweet orange oil
This evergreen tree has dark green leaves and white flowers and bright orange round fruit with roughish skin. The trees are native to China, but are now cultivated extensively in America.

Orange oil is used in many Curacao type liqueurs and for the flavoring of food, drink and confectionery and when added to furniture polish, helps to protect against damage from insects.

Orange oil is extracted from the orange peel by cold-pressing and yields 0.3 -0.5 %.

Precautions
It is a safe non-toxic, non-irritant and non-sensitizing oil, yet care must be taken with it since it can have a phototoxic effect. It should therefore preferably not be applied before going out into sunlight for prolonged periods.

It is a sunny and radiant oil, bringing happiness and warmth to the mind and helps people to relax and helps children to sleep at night. Orange oil can be used effectively on the immune system, as well as for colds and flu and to eliminate toxins from the body.

It is a good diuretic and is most useful in balancing water retention and obesity. Its lymphatic stimulant action further helps to balance water processes, detoxification, aiding the immune system and general well-being.

For the digestive system, orange oil can help with constipation, dyspepsia and as a general tonic. It is also useful in cases of nervous tension and stress.