Lemongrass is a good skin essential oil too, for stretchmarks & scars, acne & oily skin, open pores and cellulite (due to it’s antiseptic, astringent, bactericidal properties).  It’s very deodorising – so great at clearing nasty stale smells!  It will also aid digestion and aids in the flow of breast milk.

It’s quite strong in it’s aroma and can over take a blend so use it sparingly.  Lemongrass blends beautifully with Orange, Patchouli, Neroli, Bergamot, Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Frankincense (these are my favourites).

Lemongrass can be a skin irritant so use in low doses – it better in body blends rather than using in the bath.

It’s a wonderful anti-depressant too!  Very cheery & uplifting – yummm!

It can stimulate the appetite, acts as a tonic to the stomach and liver, promotes digestive secretions.  It can protect against infections and illnesses.

Grapefruit also has a balancing effect on the emotions, it’s uplifting and reviving – it helps to brighten up dark depressive moods and may even help with manic depression.

It blends beautifully with Lemon, Bergamot, Orange, Ylang Ylang, Patchouli, Frankincense, Juniper, Sandalwood & Neroli.

Be careful when using Grapefruit when on the contraceptive pill, anti-depressants & blood thinning medication.  It is also mildly phototoxic.

Main properties include: antidepressant, antiseptic, diuretic, depurative, disinfectant, stimulant, astringent, anti-toxic

He was keen for a lovely relaxing massage, he listened to me how essential oils worked and also willing to try a couple of body blends to take home and use regularly.  I made him ‘His Little Bottle of Calm’ blend and SleepEase – gave him my usual line of “they won’t work if you don’t use them”.  He smiled and promised me he would.

That was 3 weeks ago – Mr 19 returned for another massage and is a much happier young man.  I was thrilled to hear these words “I sleep so deeply I’m dribbling on the pillow, I’m not so stressed….. I just feel more free” – it was my turn to smile, winked at him and said “who’d a thought little drops of essential oils could achieve this huh”

He bought two more bottles of his blends

There are some wonderful essential oils which are most beneficial to tight over worked muscles, such as Plai, Basil*, Rosemary*, Black Pepper, Ginger, Peppermint*, Lavender, Eucalyptus & Clary Sage*.  The essential oils with an * can’t be used during pregnancy.  Using essential oils during massage for upper back and shoulder tension is like ‘icing on the cake’ – so helpful!

Now not everyone can have a massage regularly enough to help release these tight overworked muscles (in my practice, when (symptoms) trigger points are acute, I recommend once a week for 4 weeks, then fortnightly for 4 weeks, then once every month as maintenance) so what can you do at home to help relieve what can become an extremely painful problem.  Got a tennis ball?  got a wall?  well that’s all you need!

Take a look at this quick You Tube clip – the practitioner demonstrates how you can use a tennis ball at home to relieve upper back tension, in between your massage treatments – I tried it this morning – marvelous! Don’t rely on this completely however, take a look at the image below, these are the trigger points in the back, shoulders, neck & glutes alone so make sure you still get regular massage!

This image is illustrating some of the many trigger points that exist in the back of the upper torso and neck alone! And in our mostly-sedentary lifestyles, trigger points are exacerbated by the sitting and hunched positions many of us employ for long stretches is illustrating some of the many trigger points that exist in the back of the upper torso and neck alone! And in our mostly-sedentary lifestyles, trigger points are exacerbated by the sitting and hunched positions many of us employ for long stretches.

Let me know if you try it and what you think!

“Fascinated by the botanical names of essential oils and notice ones with similar names as part of their botanical name such as officinalis, nobilis, vulgaris, carteri. Do you know of a book (I could borrow from a library!) that explains what the botanical names mean or how they are derived. Nothing too heavy or intense -or perhaps you could simplify this knowledge (if that’s possible!) and do a blog post. Thanks ♥”

Part of the answer is easy, part of it is very complicated, I’ll explain the easy part and leave some links to delve into the more complicated part!

In our profession it’s important to know the botanical names of the essential oils we use (& stock) due to the fact that sometimes there will be more than variety of essential oil in the same plant family (the origins seem to be named after specific people who have crossed species of plants to form a new variety, from what I can find).

- for example: Lavender, there are over 30 species of Lavender – and it’s important you know which lavender you are working with as the chemical composition is different – Lavendula Angustifolia or Lavendula Officinalis (Lavender True) main chemical components are esters and alcohols (which break down to may include linalyl acetate, geranyl acetate, lavandulyl acetate, citral, octanon to but a few) where as Lavender Spikes main chemical components are Ketones, Alcohols, Oxides & Monoterpenes (which break down to may include similar compositions to Angustifolia but has less chemical compostions of one component and more of another ie: camphor). Therefore the healing properties can be similar BUT quite different!  For example, you wouldn’t use Lavender Spike directly on the skin for a burn as the camphor content is too high, but Lavendula Angustifolia is perfect!

This article here explains Essential Oils Botanical Classification - which is interesting and helps deal with the more complicated explanation!

I’m afraid I don’t know of a book that I can recommend Karen – and if you start googling this subject it does get ‘heavy’.

I think words like ‘nobilis’ may represent the ‘nobility’ over a plant in regards to another?

Vulgaris – Latin, meaning: common, ordinary, usual.

Carteri I only know linked to Boswelia Cateri (Frankincense) apparently the name given in honor of Scottish botanist John Boswell (1719-1780).

With the research I’ve done on this subject, it seems it can be quite a contentious subject! One has to be so careful they know they are getting what they order / want for therapeutic treatments.  Have a read of this if you like………Botanical Names for Essential Oils.

For me, I have a lot of trust in my suppliers, have formed very good relationships with them and they know I will only use 100% therapeutic grade essential oils (represented by their correct botanical name) and how important that is to my business.  My suppliers are just marvelous because if they have any concerns, they tell me straight away and if we together have any doubts, I won’t purchase plus they then question their suppliers.

At the end of the day, the results speak for themselves!  I hope this has helped Karen!

Cedarwood is very useful for catarrh conditions, coughs, chronic bronchitis, chest infections – use in a body blend and/or steam inhalation (with Lavender, Eucalyptus & Tea Tree – Ravensara & Lemon can be used too).

Cedarwood has antiseptic, aphrodisiac, diuretic, emmenagogue, expectorant & sedating properties (to name a few).  It blends well with Orange, Bergamot, Cypress, Frankincense, Juniper, Lavender, Lemon, Lime Neroli, Sandalwood, Vetiver & Rose.

Cedarwood is a base essential oil and must be avoided during pregnancy.  It has a lovely aroma – it reminds me of Christmas (more so than pine essential oil actually!)

Sandalwood is wonderful for dry, inflamed, irritable skin (it’s one of the essential oils in my TINKture product) – it’s great for relieving itching so useful for eczema & dermatitis, also psoriasis.

Sandalwood also has sedating properties so is useful for insomnia – it is a very calming essential oil that reduces stress & tension.

It’s most useful for pregnant women who suffer from heartburn & can also relieve colic.

Sandalwood is a very safe essential oil and blends wonderfully with Lemon, Orange, Neroi, Bergamot, Frankincense, Geranium, Lavender, Vetiver (as well as the oils mentioned above).

It is one of the more expensive essential oils but wow, it smells sooooo good! Sandalwood is a base essential oil.

Shock = Peppermint – inhaling via drops on a tissue for 10-30 minutes

Burns = Lavender – Cool burnt area immediately with slow running cold water.  Make a cold compress out of sterile, fluff free material.  Fill a small bowl with cold water and add 6-8 drops of lavender (lavendula angustifolia).  Soak compress in water and cover burnt area. Apply cling film and a towel.  Reapply compress every 6 hours.  It is also safe to apply drops of lavender directly to the burn (especially helpful with smaller burns).  Reapply the drops as & when required in the first 24 hours to assist with pain relief and antibacterial protection.

Bites & Stings = Lavender – Caused by spiders, wasps, bees, sandflies & mosquitoes.  Apply directly to the area (1-2 drops)

Small cuts & wounds = Tea Tree, Lavender & Lemon – Tea Tree & Lavender, powerful antiseptics, Lemon for bleeding as is it a vasoconstrictor (stops bleeding).  Make a compress as above for burns and apply to the wound every 4-6 hours.

Sunburn = Lavender or German Chamomile – Apply a cold compress as in burns above

Bruises = Lavender, Lemon, Black Pepper, Vetiver – Apply a cold compress using Lavender & Lemon.  This will slow down the internal bleeding and relieve the pain.

Headaches – Lavender or Peppermint – Apply one drop of lavender neat on fingertips and apply to the temples.  Also massage around the back of the neck in a massage blend.  Inhaling Peppermint from a tissue is also very beneficial.

Simple yet very effective!

To be eligible to enter, please Like the Le’Esscience Facebook page : – draw will be made 1 September 2011 at 8pm (NZtime)

Thank you for your continued support!

So! You wanna win a TINKture Tee? LIKE the TINKture Facebook page then go………..

It’s easy!  Just tell me the essential oil we featured on the TINKture Facebook page earlier this week – enter here please by writing the answer below with your name, T shirt size (women’s S, M & L available, Men’s M & L available) and email address so we can contact you if you win and you are in the draw!  That simple!

Happy to send anywhere in the world, draw will be made tomorrow Sept 1, 8pm New Zealand time!

Oh! 2 T Shirts to give away, one ladies & one gents! Oh!  And if you would like to try TINKture too on a future tattoo, tell us & we’ll chuck one in too!