Aromatherapy Oils

It was in the era before the advent of Christianity, about four thousand years before the birth of Jesus Christ that the history of aromatherapy started taking form. However aromatherapy did not get its actual name much later until the twentieth century. It was the decade of 1920’s when the French chemist Rene Maurice Gattefosse accidentally happened to discover that lavender oil contributes towards reliving pain and also aids in healing of slight burns. He discovered this incredible wonder in a laboratory while he was performing some experiments. In the literal meaning of the word, aromatherapy is the mixture of two Greek words, the first one ‘aroma’, which is taken in the interpretation of scent and the second one being ‘therapy’, which means treatment.

Ancient history is full of examples of the usage of aromatherapy oils by people of great civilizations such as the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Persians. In addition to that, even Chinese were familiar with aromatherapy as historical evidences have suggested that Chinese planted aromatic plants, which were most probably used for the purpose of making aromatherapy oils. Concluding from that, the history of aromatherapy essential oils has a very diverse and rich origin. In the form of different kinds of essential oils, aromatherapy made its presence felt and acknowledged in the field of healing and soothing medicines. Historically these aromatic plant oils were used for a number of purposes such as cosmetics, spiritual relaxation along with the purpose of embalming and mummifying their dead people. This took place in ancient Egypt and because of its wide usage and utilization of aromatherapy oils; the development of the perfume industry along with the popularity of aromatherapy was greater in Egypt than in any other country.

As for the manufacture of essential oils, they are produced with the help of special techniques of infusion, expression and distillation. Next they are excreted and squeezed out of some specific glands and pores of plants. It was assumed and later on proven that the lower the distillation temperature and pressure would be, the better the quality of the essential oils would be. It is almost always that the essential oils are colorless and also have no specific smell. Basically an essential oil is the volatile part of leaves, roots, cortex, seeds and fruits of different kinds of flowers and plants. In the field of aromatherapy, experts consider these essential oils as the mighty soul of plants, mainly in relation to the source of their extraction, which are major parts of agrarian plants (plants planted for agricultural purposes), as well as herbs and sometimes also scented flowers. The science of aromatherapy views these essential oils as its major contributor, which works most effectively in consolidating the image of aromatherapy. In short, aromatherapy and essential oils have a relationship of complements, with one being incomplete without the other.

One of the most commonly used kinds of aromatherapy is the group of aromatherapy carrier oils, which are generally used for industrial purposes, most commonly in aromatherapy oil burners. An aromatherapy oil burner is operated with the help of an aromatherapy oil kit, which also comes in handy for maintenance purposes. Then there are organic aromatherapy oils. There is a general misconception about the organic aromatherapy oils, which revolves around the ingredients used for organic aromatherapy oils. However the demand for organic aromatherapy oils has increased to a great extent, which is good news for the manufacturers of organic aromatherapy oils. The major criterion for determining the demand and quality of an aromatherapy oil is the extent of its purity and the ingredients that have gone into its making.