Aromatherapy - Aromatherapy is the practice of controlled use of essential oils to maintain and promote physical, psychological, and spiritual well being. As a holistic medicine, Aromatherapy is both a preventative approach as well as an active treatment during acute and chronic stages of illness.

Essential Oils - Essential oils are highly concentrated plant extracts distilled from a variety of plant material including leaves, flowers, needles, fruit peels, grasses, wood and roots. These oils, with the exception of Lavender and Tea Tree, should always be diluted in carrier oil before applying directly to the skin.

CAUTION: Essential Oils (in pure form) you should avoid in the bath include, but are not limited to basil, oregano, thyme, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, black pepper, and bay (Pimenta and Laurus). Also avoid any oils that can cause sensitivity to your skin. Consult your physician if you have high blood pressure, are pregnant or have other medical concerns.

The difference between Fragrance Oils and Essential Oils:
Essential Oils are natural concentrated essences derived from plants, bark, roots, seeds, stems, flowers, leaves, fruits, etc. and are usually steamed distilled. Fragrance Oils normally are made up of a number of synthetic imitations of essential oils creating a fragrance that will smell like a flower, herb, plant or other fragrance.

Dried Herbs - Many dried herbs posses the same scent and healing properties of their essential oil counterparts. Herbs are popular additions to bath salts and bath teas and look great in a finished product, One draw back is that it can be messy in the tub. A good option is to include an organza bag with your salts to use as a tea bag - the salts melt, the herbs seep in the hot bath water and once the bag dries it is easy to empty out the herbs and re-use the bag.

Carrier Oils - moisturizing vegetable oils are commonly used as a “carrier” for essential oils. Most essential oils are too strong to apply directly to the skin and should be diluted 12-30 drops to 1oz of carrier oil. Carrier oils are also combined with sea salts to create exfoliant salt scrubs.

Colorants - FD&C dyes dispersed in liquid or glycerin are popular for adding color to bath salts. Herbs can also be used to create beautiful natural colors for your salts. Powdered Mica’s can create beautiful pearlescent salts.

An essential oil is any concentrated, hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. They are also known as volatile or ethereal oils, or simply as the "oil of" the plant material from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. The term essential indicates that the oil carries distinctive scent of the plant, not that it is an especially important or fundamental substance. Essential oils do not, as groups need to have any specific chemical properties in common, beyond conveying characteristic fragrances. They are not to be confused with essential fatty acids. Essential oils are generally extracted by distillation. Other processes include expression, or solvent extraction. They are used in perfumes and cosmetics, for flavoring food and drink, and for scenting incense and household cleaning products. Various essential oils have been used medicinally at different periods in history. Medical applications proposed by those who sell medicinal oils vary from skin treatments to remedies for cancer, and are often based on historical use of these oils for these purposes. Such claims are now subject to regulation in most countries, and have grown correspondingly more vague, to stay within these regulations. 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 carrier oil and used in massage, or burned as incense, for example.

Today, most common essential oils, such as lavender, peppermint, and eucalyptus, are distilled. Raw plant material, consisting of the flowers, leaves, wood, bark, roots, seeds, or peel, is put into an alembic[1] (distillation apparatus) over water, As the water is heated the steam passes through the plant material, vaporizing the volatile compounds. The vapors flow through a coil where they condense back to liquid, which is then collected in the receiving vessel. Most oils are distilled in a single process. One exception is Ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata), which takes 22 hours to complete through a fractional distillation.The water recondensed from the distillation process is referred to as a hydrosol, hydrolat, herbal distillate or plant water essence, which may be sold as another fragrant product. Popular hydrosols are rose water, lavender water, lemon balm, clary sage and orange blossom water. The use of herbal distillates in cosmetics is increasing. Some plant hydrosols have unpleasant smells and are therefore not sold. Prior to the discovery of distillation, essential oils (EO) were extracted by pressing.

Almond oil - "Oleum Amygdalae," the fixed oil, is prepared from either variety of almonds and is a glyceryl oleate, with a slight odor and a nutty taste. It is almost insoluble in alcohol but readily soluble in chloroform or ether. It may be used as a substitute for olive oil. The sweet almond oil is obtained from the dried kernel of the plant. This oil has been traditionally used by massage therapists to lubricate the skin during a massage session, being considered by many to be an effective emollient.

Grape seed oil Vitis vinifera
Grape seed oil (also called grapeseed oil or grape oil) is a vegetable oil pressed from the seeds of various varieties of Vitis vinifera grapes, an abundant by-product of winemaking. Grape seed oil is used for: salad dressings, marinades, deep frying, flavored oils, baking, massage oil, sunburn repair lotion, hair products, body hygiene creams, lip balm and hand creams. Most grapeseed oil is produced in Italy, with other producing nations including France, Spain, and Argentina. Although known to Europeans for centuries, grape seed oil was not produced or used on a large scale until the 20th century, largely due to the fact that grape seeds contain a lower percentage of oil as compared to other oil-producing seeds, nuts, or beans.
Vitamins in grape seed oil Vitamin E (0.8 to 1.2 g/kg), Vitamin C and Beta-Carotene.
There is unconfirmed information that grape seed oil also contains Vitamin D

Jojoba oil
Description: Jojoba (pronounced ho-ho-ba) oil is a vegetable oil obtained from the crushed bean of the jojoba shrub (Simmondsia chinenis). The jojoba shrub is native to the Sonoran Desert of northwestern Mexico and neighboring regions in Arizona and southern California. It grows in dense stands throughout that region. The woody evergreen shrub may reach 15 ft (4.5 m) in height. Jojoba has flat gray-green leathery leaves and deep root systems that make it well adapted to desert heat and drought. It has a life span of 100-200 years, depending on environmental conditions. Jojoba grows best in areas with 10-18 in (25-45 cm) of annual rainfall where temperatures seldom fall below 25°F (-4°C) for more than a few hours at night. It can grow on many types of soils, including porous rocks, in slightly acid to alkaline soils, and on mountain slopes or in valleys..


Sunflower Oil
Sunflower Oil is the non-volatile oil expressed from sunflower (Helianthus annuus) seeds. Sunflower oil is commonly used in food as a frying oil, and in cosmetic formulations as an emollient. Sunflower oil contains predominantly linoleic acid in triglyceride form. The British Pharmacopoeia lists the following profile:

• Palmitic acid : 4.0 per cent to 9.0 per cent,
• Stearic acid : 1.0 per cent to 7.0 per cent,
• Oleic acid : 14.0 per cent to 40.0 per cent,
• Linoleic acid : 48.0 per cent to 74.0 per cent.

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