When my mother was dying of cancer, I had a real experience of seeing how essential oils work. Whether I believed in the medicinal values of the oils, there is no doubt that my mother used them as pain relief as she entered her death phase. It was remarkable and took me on a short journey on the discovery of scent. While that phase of my life is past, (i thought I found my passion in making scent; instead it was a way, I believe, to come to terms with my mother’s death) my love of essential oils and their very timely use in almost every aspect of green living, is still very real. So enjoy this great post from Kayla and use EO’s to scent your life!

Kayla Fioravanti, RA, chief formulator and co-founder of Essential Wholesale, Essential Labs and von Natur receives regular requests to create aromatherapy blends with scents like passion fruit, banana, coconut, kiwi and strawberry.  By definition, aromatherapy is the treatment with the scented liquid that comes naturally from essential oils, which are the highly concentrated extracts from plants, trees, seeds, shrubs, flowers, fruit peels and leaves.  Aromatherapy benefits cannot be achieved with fragrance chemicals.

The only fruits that produce essential oils are citrus fruits, and the oil comes from the peel of the fruit.  All other fruit scents, such as those listed above and others, are made with fragrance chemicals and have no aromatherapy value at all.  After years of teaching spas, stores and product developers the difference, Kayla has become the self appointed Aromatherapy Cop.

Essential oils enter the human body through skin absorption and inhalation.  The average person takes about five seconds to breathe, two seconds to inhale and three to exhale. During an average year, we breathe 6,307,200 times and with every breath, we smell.  With every breath, some scent molecules inescapably travel to the lungs.  Some molecules are absorbed by the mucous lining of the respiratory pathway.  Some molecules reach the alveoli and are transferred into the blood stream.  Therefore, essential oils not only effect the emotions, but they have physiological effects as well.

Aromatherapy can be such a daunting subject. The therapeutic value gets lost in the thick textbooks.  Kayla Fioravanti explains that there are 10 keystone essential oils of aromatherapy that should be the mainstay of any spa treatment room. Understanding the basics of these oils will bring your aromatherapy training into perspective.