When I was studying Aromatherapy many years ago, I began to wonder how I had ever been without these little life-savers wonders Lucy Corkhill. Sure, I enjoyed essential oils before then, adding them to oil burners and perhaps a drop or two in the bath.
But finding out more about their chemical make-up gave me a deeper respect and understanding of these amazing gifts from nature. I soon discovered just how many minor ailments can be easily treated using them.
And I soon learned that a little goes a long way.
Essential oils are still a commodity we need to use mindfully. As herbalist Susun Weed points out, these are hugely concentrated plant essences and it takes a lot of plant material and energy to create them, compared to, say, making a plant tincture or herbal infusion. Take, for instance, rose oil – it takes between 2000 and 4000kg of rose petals to make 1kg of pure essential oil. So when using essential oils, less is almost always more.