GINIMO * essential oils

Tea Tree Oil has been referred to as “the wonder from Down Under.” It comes from the melaleuca tree, which is native to Australia and has long been used by the Aborigines. Legend has it the tree was first introduced to Europeans by Captain Cook, who made tea from the leaves while on a voyage to Australia. The oil is extracted from the tree’s leaves through a special distillation process. The trees do not need to be harvested in order for their oil to be extracted; in fact, some trees have provided oil for over 60 years. Tea tree’s beneficial properties make it a popular ingredient in shampoos, creams, skin cleansers and other external cosmetic applications. The compounds in tea tree oil benefit the skin and are non-irritating. The oil contains several important compounds, including terpines, cymones, pinines, terpinen-4-ol, sesquiterpenes and sesquiterpene alcohols. Tea tree oil is recommended for external use only in poultices and other skin-cleansing applications.

An essential oil is a concentrated liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile or ethereal oils, or simply as the "oil of" the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. An oil is "essential" in the sense that it carries a distinctive scent, or essence, of the plant. Essential oils do not as a group need to have any specific chemical properties in common, beyond conveying characteristic fragrances.

Various essential oils have been used medicinally at different periods in history. Medical application proposed by those who sell medicinal oils range from skin treatments to remedies for cancer, and are often based on historical use of these oils for these purposes.

Interest in essential oils has revived in recent decades with the popularity of aromatherapy, a branch of alternative medicine which claims that the specific aromas carried by essential oils have curative effects.

Oils are volatilized or diluted in a carrier oil and used in massage, diffused in the air by a nebulizer or by heating over a candle flame, or burned as incense, for example.

How to make your own essential oil

Homemade essential oils do help in relieving the various symptoms of mental and bodily disorders but the effect of the homemade essential oil depends on the quality of herbs used. Use organic herbs and a carrier oil such as olive oil extra virgin.

The different herbs to be use depends on the desired treatment, but the basically a good rule is to use 10 gram of herbs for every cup of carrier oil. There is many ways to make essential oil, but the easiest option is to mix the carrier oil and the herbs in a dark colored jar with a rubber seal and then place the jar in full sun for at least two weeks. The mixture obtained from the process must then be strained using a cheesecloth or other similar technique. The mixture derived from the straining process is your own home made essential oil, ready for use.

Label the jars with the exact date when you created the essential oil as the shelf life of homemade essential oils is about six months. After this time the product starts decomposing. It is also necessary to store the jars in a cool, dark, and dry spot for preserving the medicinal and aromatic properties of your homemade essential oils.

Do not ingest these oils even in small quantities because they are strictly meant for external use only.