Natural Body Guru

Sebaceous glands are microscopic glands in the skin that secrete an oily or waxy matter, called sebum, which lubricates the skin and hair of mammals. Sebaceous glands in humans are found mainly on the face and scalp but  you will also find them in other areas of the body as well,  except for the palms of our hands and the soles of our feet.

When sebum gets blocked in a duct that has no surface opening, a hard white lump (milia) appears. Milia, commonly called whiteheads, are usually found on dry skin but they can also appear after some type of damage has been done to the skin. If you have had whiteheads for some time, they will need to be removed by a beautician or a dermatologist. However, you can break up recently formed milia by massage.

Use the following essential oils:

• Bergamot- 5 drops
• Thyme - 5 drops
• Almond oil or jojoba oil  – 1 tablespoon

Use a very small amount of the above essential oil mixture to massage the whiteheads twice a day, in the morning and at night. This will help the milia to be reabsorbed by the body.

Juniper essential oil has a fresh scent that always helps clear my mind. I add a few drops of juniper and frankincense to self igniting charcoal tablets about 5  minutes before lighting the charcoal and it makes a very refreshing incense. Juniper, sometimes called juniper berry, is associated with overall good health because of its properties of antiseptic, astringent, diuretic, cleansing, detoxifying, tonic, antispasmodic, and anti-rheumatic. It has also been used for edema, skin care, emotional imbalance, diabetes, and arthritis.

One of the most interesting properties of juniper is its ability to help relieve cellulitis by detoxifying the body and throwing off excess toxins. It also helps to open and cleanse the skin which helps it to function better at eliminating toxins. Other uses for juniper include skin care and hair oil products. It is great when combined with rosemary and jasmine.

You can also use juniper to help you shed a few pounds by adding it to your bath water, swish the water well before getting in and out of the tub because you don’t want to have juniper neat on your skin. After the bath, use a massage oil of 4 drops juniper, 2 drops grapefruit and 2 drops cypress blended in 2 tablespoons sweet almond oil. This massage oil can be used before bed or in the morning because it can put you to sleep or wake you up since these oils can be relaxants or stimulants depending on your activities when you use them.

Rosemary essential oil is a great one to use during your morning shower because it is a mental and physical stimulant and also during a relaxing bath after a long strenuous day because it is an excellent treatment for all muscular conditions. Rosemary has antiseptic properties and is often used to treat muscular sprains, rheumatism, arthritis, depression, fatigue, memory loss, migraine headaches, coughs, flu, and diabetes. It is also used in beauty treatments, hair care products, and acne preparations.

If you are one of those unfortunate people who has a case of continuous muscle fatigue or myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), you may be helped by using this muscle fatigue formula: 5 drops of thyme essential oil, 10 drops rosemary, 5 drops cypress, 10 drops eucalyptus/peppermint essential oil, diluted in 2 tablespoons of grapeseed oil. You can use any other carrier oil but grapeseed oil is very light to the touch.

It is important that ME sufferers get enough sleep but many times, because of their aching muscles, they have insomnia so they are extremely tired and yet they can’t sleep. The essential oils to use for insomnia are valerian, marjoram, chamomile, clary-sage, sandalwood, and lemon. Massage any of these oils into your body before having an oil bath. Use any of the above mentioned oils in a blend of a total of 30 drops to 2 tablespoons of carrier oil. Massage this over your whole body while you run a warm bath. Then put 4 drops of any essential oil from the list into the bath and swish it around before getting in. Rest in the water or read a book until the water starts to cool and then go to bed. Do this nightly to help with your insomnia.

I am not a fan of convenience store air fresheners. They smell like cheap perfume and hang heavily in the air. Instead, I like to freshen up the smell of my home with natural fragrance oils dispersed with oil burners.

Using my favorite scents, I’ve added a bit of this and a little of that to come up with a signature scent for my home. It smells clean, light, and subtly tantalizing. All I do is add the mixture to a few oil burners I have strategically placed around my home. I light the candle underneath the oil burners and let the fragrances get to work.

Kitchen smells run the gamut from the wonderful aroma of freshly baked cookies to the stinky smell of burnt popcorn. Kitchens have a trash area where garbage is tossed, a spot for wet coats and muddy boots, and a corner for dog bedding and the cat’s litter box. Essential oils are a natural alternative to commercial air sprays because they cleanse the air for you instead of masking odors; they are harmless to food, humans, and the ozone; and many of them are antibiotic and antifungal so they may even help keep you from getting sick.

• To cleanse kitchen surfaces add 4-6 drops of any one of the following essential oils to one pint of water: eucalyptus, lavender, lemon, lime, grapefruit, pine, or lemongrass. For a kitchen synergistic blend combine the following essential oils: 10 drops lavender, 15 drops lemon, and 5 drops eucalyptus. This mixture is disinfectant, antibacterial, and leaves a lovely fragrance when used on kitchen surfaces. You can add 8 drops of this formula to 2 1/2 cups of water in a plant spray bottle to spray the air or surfaces.
• To kill germs on dishtowels soak them in a bowl of boiling water and 1 drop of eucalyptus, thyme, tea tree, or lavender. Let the towels soak  until the water is cool then wash as usual. This will keep your towels germ and bacteria free.
• To lighten the chore of dishwashing and uplift your spirits at the same time, add 5 drops lime, 3 drops bergamot, 2 drops lavender, and 1 drop orange essential oil to your dishwashing liquid. The natural aroma of these essential oils will make a boring task take on a much lighter note. If you use a dishwasher, simply add 2 drops of lemon  essential oil to the detergent you use in your machine and stir it before closing the door.

Essential oils lose their therapeutic properties after about two years but do not toss them out! Put two drops at a time down kitchen drains to create a nice scent when hot water runs down. Also use them in the water you use to wash windows and trashcans both inside and out. Essential oils make kitchen work safer and much more pleasant.

Many rooms in a home or apartment open onto the hallway and the smells from each room mingle to form a unique aroma that is distinct to that home. Most hallways have no windows so smells linger and fill the area with stale air creating a kind of scent smog. Hallways need a fresh pleasant fragrance rather than the spicy herb scented aroma of the kitchen or the heavily scented oils that might be used in other rooms.

A good suggestion for a hallway fragrance is the citrus oils of grapefruit, lemon, lime or bergamot essential oil. Any of these oils can be blended with lavender to give an uplifting aspect or geranium to impart a calming effect. Use the geranium when company is coming because it will make them feel good as soon as they enter your home. If someone has a cold or flu, add 2 to 3 drops of rosemary to the citrus base using a total of 8 drops of essential oil in 2 1/2 cups of water in a plant-spray bottle. Spray the carpet and stairs in your hallway to help freshen up the entire area.

Hallways get a lot of traffic and are likely  to gather dust and scuff marks. Washing down the paintwork and baseboards is much more pleasant when you use the uplifting aroma of citrus essential oils, especially when you know that they are also antiseptic, disinfectant and can play other useful roles.

I gave you information and history about patchouli yesterday but today I’ll be more practical so you can use that bottle of patchouli you just bought. Patchouli has many therapeutic uses like: acne, antiperspirant, anxiety, athlete’s foot and other fungal infections, dermatitis, dandruff, constipation, insect bites and insect repellent, impotence, eczema, frigidity, sexual anxiety, oily skin and hair, loose skin, stress related disorders, weight loss, water retention, and wounds.

As a deodorant or antiperspirant, you can put 2 or 3 drops on a cotton ball and dab it on your underarms. Do the same thing on any other fungal infection you might have, like athlete’s foot. Use 8 to 10 drops in your bath water to alleviate anxiety, to relieve constipation, or to ease water retention. Put 2 to 3 drops of patchouli in a diffuser to repel insects, to alleviate stress related emotional disorders and also to reduce the appetite when dieting.

If you have dandruff, add 2 to 3 drops of patchouli to an unscented conditioner and apply it to your scalp, leave it on for 3 to 5 minutes and then rinse. For oily hair, add 2-3 drops to a nickel size amount of unscented shampoo.  For insect bites, put 2 to 3 drops on a cotton ball and dab the affected area. To tighten loose skin after losing weight, add 2 to 3 drops of patchouli to 1 ounce of liquid shea oil or sweet almond oil and massage your body regularly. You can also add 8 to 10 drops of this oil blend to your bath water. Use 2 to 3 drops of patchouli on a wet cotton ball to cleanse wounds or to dab on oily skin.

Once we get older, many of us have problems with bad circulation in the hands and feet. To treat poor circulation, add 30 drops of geranium essential oil to two tablespoons of sweet almond or liquid shea butter carrier oil. Rub this combination on yourself from the hand to the elbow to aid circulation in your hands and from the foot to the knee to treat your feet and lower extremities.

Geranium is one of the best revitalizing oils there is so you can rub the above mixture all over your body. When you put it on your face you will improve the texture of your skin and make it firmer and smoother. Besides making you look younger, geranium is a very effective antidepressant so it will also cheer you up and make you feel great. Geranium smells very nice too!

The first impression of your home is the aroma that greets guests as they enter. This first sniff says a lot about your household, whether there are pets and smokers, the kind of food cooked there, etc. Real estate agents are becoming more aware of the importance of aromatherapy and have started advising their clients to create a homey atmosphere when trying to sell their house by baking cookies or bread and putting on a fresh pot of coffee when expecting home viewers.

If you are not a baker, you might want to know that a few drops of clary-sage or lemon essential oil will put your new home buyers or any guests at ease. They might comment, “Your home has such a lovely relaxed atmosphere, we don’t know why.” You can rest assured it is because of the scent of clary-sage or lemon essential oil that you have in your diffuser!

Essential oils are used by many cultures throughout the world for their healing properties. Some uses for the oils include increasing over-all well being and physical, emotional and mental health. Many essential oils can also stimulate the sex drive and work as powerful aphrodisiacs. So those looking to spice up their love lives this Valentine’s Day should consider filling their oil diffusers with one of the following essential oils:

~Ylang Ylang oil energizes the body and intensifies sexual desire.

~Rose oil aids in hormone balance. This oil works best for women, but is also said to boost sexuality in men.

~Jasmine oil is said to have a counter-effect on frigidity, impotence and premature ejaculation. It also boosts energy levels.

~Sandalwood oil is said to aid in the treatment of impotence and help to relieve the anxiety that leads to frigidity. It also produces something similar to androsterone, a male hormone secreted in the armpits as a sexual signal.