What You Need to Know About Essential Oils

What You Need to Know About Essential Oils

A common ingredient in natural products, essential oils are used commonly through inhalation or by topical application of diluted oil. Because these oils are so readily available to the public, many people incorrectly assume that no particular knowledge or training is needed to use them. Unfortunately, there are many who make this mistake. Some have read a little about aromatherapy, or a friend or supplier has told them a particular oil is good for this or that. But essential oils can cause problems if used incorrectly. How much do you really know about these powerful botanicals?

Some have read a little about aromatherapy, or a friend or supplier has told them a particular oil is good for this or that. But essential oils can cause problems if used incorrectly. How much do you really know about these powerful botanicals?

What Are Essential Oils?

Essential oils are highly concentrated liquids extracted from plant material-bark, berries, flowers, leaves, roots, seeds, or twigs-that are produced in several different ways.

The most common is steam distillation, in which pressurized steam is passed through plant material, causing oils to evaporate out. The resulting mixture of oil and steam is condensed back into a liquid, and the oil is skimmed off.

Plants that are too fragile for steam distillation, such as jasmine, orange blossom, and rose, can have their oils extracted using solvents. Oils created by this process are called absolutes and are generally used in perfumes or diffusers because the solvent residue makes most of them unsuitable for topical use.

A third method is carbon dioxide extraction. While these oils are technically absolutes, the pressurized carbon dioxide used as a solvent leaves no harmful residue and also creates a thicker oil with a more rounded aroma.

Finally, cold-pressed essential oils are those that have been extracted from fruit rind by grinding and pressing it.

Most essential oils do not have an indefinite shelf life: citrus oils will lose their efficacy after about six months, while most floral oils will last a year or maybe two. A few-cedarwood, patchouli, sandalwood, and vetiver-become better with age. You can refrigerate oils that you do not use often. It is also a good idea to store them away from sunlight, in small bottles with less air space.

Know What You're Getting

The method of production is just one factor affecting the quality and price of these botanical extracts. Others include the rarity of the plant, how and where it was grown, how many plants are needed to produce the oil, and the quality standards of the manufacturer.

Genuine rose oil, for example, is extremely expensive. This is simply because it takes 200 pounds of roses (approximately 60,000 flowers) to make 1 ounce of rose oil. That equals 30 roses for a single drop! If you are paying less than $80 for a 5-milliliter bottle of rose oil, it is either synthetic or it has been diluted with a carrier oil such as jojoba. Purchasing diluted oil is perfectly acceptable as long as you know what you are getting. Reputable suppliers will be up front about whether their products are sold already diluted. Less reputable suppliers may be selling an adulterated blend (for example, a small amount of rose oil mixed with cheaper rose geranium oil) and claiming it is 100 percent rose oil.

It's also important to know that different varieties of the same plant can have different uses. For example, high-altitude French lavender is most often used in skin care products, while Bulgarian or English lavender is used in bath products, diffusers, or as a sleep aid. The variety called spike lavender is higher in camphor, which brings respiratory benefits. Lavandin is a hybrid of English lavender and spike lavender, and "40/42" is a blend of several varieties that is stretched with synthetic lavender oil and used by many soapmakers.

Even the same plant can produce widely different oils. Many years ago, I purchased a brand of ginger oil which I found very disappointing. It didn't really smell like ginger. It wasn't until a few years later, when I had learned more about essential oils, that I realized I had purchased an oil made from dried ginger root instead of fresh. What a difference!

I strongly recommend purchasing essential oils only from reputable distributors that specialize in aromatherapy supplies. Unfortunately, there are companies out there that rely more on outlandish claims than on the quality of their products and others that sell synthetic fragrance under the guise of essential oil. Here are a few red flags to watch for when choosing a product.

Grading Guile

Although essential oils do have therapeutic value, there are no regulatory standards for their production and no official grades of oil are assigned or recognized by any organization. Manufacturers and distributors who claim their oils are "therapeutic grade" are using this as a marketing term only, and it is meaningless as an indicator of the oil's quality.

Synthetic Substitution

Although we use aromatherapy to mean the therapeutic use of essential oils, the word is not formally defined or regulated by the US government. As a result, it is legal to sell products labeled "aromatherapy" that do not contain essential oils, but only synthetic fragrance.

Synthetic fragrance may be described on a label as "aroma oil," "aromatic oil," "fragrance oil," or "perfume oil." These are all blended synthetic aromas that are diluted with mineral oil, propylene glycol, or vegetable oil and may also contain phthalates and other potentially toxic ingredients. Synthetics are much cheaper than essential oils, and their scent is much stronger. When you walk past a candle store and can smell the candles from outside, that is synthetic fragrance. There are a number of plants that cannot be used to produce essential oils: some examples are gardenia, lilac, and lily of the valley. So-called essential oils marketed under these names are always synthetic.

Nutrient Nonsense

Some distributors make the claim that their essential oils deliver nutrients to the body. This is one thing these oils simply cannot do. Robert Tisserand, one of the most respected aromatherapists and author of The Art of Aromatherapy (Healing Arts Press, 1978), the first English-language book on the topic, says, "What nutrients? Essential oils do not contain nutrients. They contain no vitamins, minerals, proteins, amino acids, carbohydrates, or any other type of nutrient." Claims that these oils can cure disease-even cancer-are also unsubstantiated by science, and you should be wary of any distributors willing to make such claims about their products.

If you intend to use essential oils, it is vitally important to think of them like any other healing tool: get proper training in their use, thoroughly research contraindications and interactions.. Like anything else that can be applied to the body, essential oils can potentially cause harm. Remember, "natural" does not automatically mean a product is gentle or safe. And they should never ever be taken internally unless you are under the care of a certified medical aromatherapist and that is not a license issued in the United States.

There are oils that must not be used on a person with high blood pressure and oils that interact with certain medications. Cypress and rosemary can be dangerous if a woman is pregnant or nursing. And some essential oils, such as wintergreen, can even be lethal if ingested.

One of the most common and dangerous misconceptions is that essential oils can be used neat (undiluted and applied directly to the skin) in skin care. I cannot emphasize enough that this is strongly discouraged by leading aromatherapists and all reputable manufacturers and distributors. No essential oil should ever be applied neat in skin care-not tea tree, not lavender, not any other kind of essential oil.

When these oils are applied neat, some people will have an immediate or delayed reaction, which can range from burning, irritation, or swelling to very major and serious health consequences. Other people will be unaffected-at first. Since the oil seems safe, they continue to use it. Over time, this causes the skin to become sensitized to that essential oil and the plant it comes from, with a longer-term, cumulative effect. When that happens, not only will the client be unable to use that oil again, they may not be able to use other products or foods that are related to it.

Correct use of essential oils for topical application always requires dilution, usually at a strength of 6-15 drops of essential oil per ounce of whatever product it is being added to.

homemade massage oil for weight loss

Read More

The History of Lindy Hop

The History of Lindy Hop

In the nineteen twenties there was the Charleston dance craze, whilst before that ballroom dancing was the thing. Ballroom dancing is, like Lindy Hop, partner dancing. In other words couples dance together, in physical contact. Also in the nineteen twenties there was a degree of racial segregation in the USA, which meant that ballrooms like the Savoy in Harlem were mostly frequented by black dancers, ballrooms like the Roseland mostly frequented by whites. Although the Savoy was the first ballroom not to be officially segregated, so white dancers could, and did, go there in small numbers. The big bands of the era sometimes had black and white musicians, less so in the early days when most were one or the other.

In the Savoy ballroom in Harlem, as early as nineteen twenty six, (the Savoy opened its doors for the first time in March nineteen twenty six), black musicians were experimenting and leading the way, swing music was emerging. The Charleston dance craze was declining. Later, the new musical style would be copied by Benny Goodman. Some historians credit the start of the swing age to a later tour by Benny Goodman, nineteen thirty five in fact, which is actually somewhat after the fact!

Benny Goodman had listened to the musicians in Harlem and his band were swing pioneers, as far as white folks were concerned. A great band they were too, but they were not the first innovators of the genre. By the thirties Benny Goodman was playing swing on his late night radio slot in New York and when he went on tour he struggled, well he struggled in New York and all stations west until he got to California where they were queued around the block. The reason being that his late night New York radio programme was being picked up at peak time all those miles west, different time zone of course, and the people loved it. Officially this is when the swing age was born. However, go back to nineteen twenty six in Harlem and you'd find black dancers there were experimenting with new moves to fit the new music, from Fletcher Henderson primarily and they'd adapted Charleston moves to fit their new style too.

The new dance didn't really have a name. It's been suggested that they called it the breakaway, because in ballroom male dancers kept the lady close, but in the new dance she was 'swung out'. Others say breakaway is rather the original name for a move which today is called a swing out and that the dance was simply called The Hop. So to 1927. There were dance marathons then, remember the movie 'They Shoot Horse's Don't They'. It was at a dance marathon, so the story goes that a newspaper journalist asked a black dancer by the name of Shorty George Snowden "hey, what's that new dance you're doing?" Presumably no one outside the Savoy had seen it much. Well George, who has a dance step named after him, the 'Shorty George' unsurprisingly, was a bit of a wit.

Furthermore, that week or maybe even that day a young man called Charles Lindbergh had made the first solo aeroplane flight across the Atlantic, non stop. America was in love with its new hero and a newspaper headline had read (reputedly, although I've been unable to find it) 'Lucky Lindy Hops The Atlantic'. "We call it the Lindy Hop" quipped George and so a new dance craze was born.

The dance had its apogee in the forties and went through the dark days of wartime, surviving into the fifties when smaller, less costly rock and roll bands put the big bands out of business. Well mostly, it was still possible to find some swing even in the ironically named swinging sixties, and jazz of course goes on through every storm and changing fashion.

lindy hop

Read More

Soccer Betting Essentials

Soccer Betting Essentials


It is certainly possible to make a decent amount of money from your soccer betting activities but to be able to do this you must get into the habit of treating it like a business. Sure, you may have heard of, or even experienced yourself, someone having a massive win by placing an accumulator on a number of teams to win. That is all well and good but the people who really make their soccer betting pay are those elite few who take the time to place their bets carefully and don't let their judgement be clouded by thoughts of that big pay day.

The pros have accounts with many bookmakers so that when they have decided on their selections for the day they can find the best prices that are available. Many people can't really see the point of this but I can assure you that those slightly better odds can really make a big difference over the course of a football season.

As well as the bookmakers there is now a new kid on the block in the form of the betting exchanges. You can quite often find that the prices at the betting exchange beat even the best prices available elsewhere at the sports books so they form an invaluable weapon in your quest to increase your soccer betting profits.

You also really need to keep accurate records of all of your betting activities. I don't mean only the winning bets. It is human nature not to want to think about the losses but you must record them all. You will be surprised at the conclusions you can then reach when you study your betting activities at the end of each season.

Lastly, by all means take some money out of your betting account to treat you and your family but make a note of it in your records. My advice would be to do so only when you have reached certain milestones with regard to your profits. For example promise yourself that you will take your family out for a nice meal when you have reached a thousand pounds in profits and again when you have reached two thousand. In this way you will not eat into the funds you require to maintain a profitable soccer betting system in the longer term.

By following this advice you will find that you are motivating yourself to keep up the good work and proving that you have what it takes to run your soccer betting venture as a real business.



สมัครแทงบอลเว็บไหนดี

Read More

Raise Cash by Selling Your Car

Raise Cash by Selling Your Car


There are times when you need to raise cash for a particular expense, such as remodelling your house, or adding to the kid's college fund, or even to buy that dream car you'd been lusting after in high school. If you have more than one car, or a spare car, here are a few tips for selling your car that can turn that asset sitting in your garage into cash.

There are many tips for selling your car, but one you will always get is to clean your car inside and out. You will only have one chance to impress a prospective buyer and buyers that see a spotless car in front of them will always get the initial impression that the car was well-cared for. Getting a car clean takes just a few dollars worth of cleaning aids and three or four hours of your time. When you clean your car inside out, go through the nooks and crannies too as a meticulous buyer may check to see if the cleanup job was superficial. Or you can have your car professionally detailed, but only you can determine if the cost is appropriate to the value of the car you are selling.

Making your car presentable also means that you should check your car mechanically so that it runs as smoothly as possible. A good tip for selling your car is to change the oil before you put it up for sale. That way the oil will still look fresh without looking like it was replaced just because the car is being sold. Have a friend or mechanic ride with you to listen for squeaks or noises that you may not notice anymore due to familiarity but which will irritate a prospective buyer. Raise the car on a lift and check if things like muffler hangers are missing or if there are torn joint boots. Repairing these won't cost much but indicate a high level of care. However, if there is a need for a repair that will cost substantially, you will have to decide if you will sell the car as is or do the repair to get the best price. But bear in mind that lots of buyers will be turned off if a car needs some substantial repair.

Only when the car is spotlessly clean and mechanically sound should you take pictures or even videos of the car for posting to online sites and forums. Your pricing should reflect the mileage and overall condition of the car. It is best to gauge your car's price, not necessarily its worth as you think it should be, based on the price range of the same model of cars in your area. One tip for selling your car is determining whether you need to sell fast or can hold out for a better price.

And just because you have a sale that has been concluded doesn't mean that you can relax. Be on your guard for scams and if the buyer insists on paying by check, hold on to the car until the check clears. One important tip in selling your car is to register the change of ownership of the vehicle with the relevant transport authority as soon as possible. In case it becomes involved in an accident or other incident, you can show proof that is was not yours anymore when that car was involved.



Autoankauf

Read More

The New Gold Rush: Electronics Recycling

The New Gold Rush: Electronics Recycling

There are many in the world that have yet to discover the fact that many electronic devices contain precious metals that can be refined for cold, hard cash. This, by most definitions, is becoming the newest gold rush. In the US alone, thousands of pounds of gold are being refined from electronic scrap and this is bringing in some solid cash for those that have the time and put in the proper amount of effort.

First let's look at why gold is present in electronics. The short answer is conducting electricity. Gold is one of the best metals for conducting electricity and also it is so easy to work with that it can be pounded to micro thin layers meaning that less gold has to be used to achieve the high grade connection that this precious metal provides.

However, this does not mean that gold is always thin. In the older computers and electronics the gold is fairly heavy, making the older machines sought after by e-cycling companies around the world.

Now let's put to rest a few myths about gold in computers and electronics.

Myth 1: There is thousands of dollars worth of gold in every computer.

The Truth: While it would be nice if this were true it is simply a myth. There is less than one gram in a computer, even in the older models. It takes a lot of computers to equal a significant amount of gold.

Myth 2: It is better to sell the computers whole rather than tearing them apart.

The Truth: This is completely false. Most local salvage yards are offering just.40 per pound for whole computer towers. This is less than 10% of what one can expect from high grade circuit boards per pound.

Myth 3: It is OK to simply throw electronics into the landfill.

The Truth: Not only is it dangerous to throw electronics away due to the mercury content, it is illegal in many areas. Several US States have passed laws that provide stiff penalties for those that dump electronics.

With all that said, recycling electronics can be an environmentally friendly and very lucrative career move. Those with the drive to succeed and will to work can earn a very comfortable living through the world of e-cycling.

However, it is also important to note that only those qualified should attempt to actually refine the precious metals from circuit boards. It can be a dangerous and potentially deadly process.

Ankauf CPU Prozessor

Read More