Benefits of Studying Online at Aromahead Institute

• Set your own schedule & learn at your own pace
• Study from the comfort of … anywhere!
• Develop new career opportunities
• Read materials online or print them out for later
• Watch the videos as many times as you like
• Access to the course materials are yours even after you complete the program.

This is a 3 minute video of how the online Aromatherapy Certification Program works.

What Do You Want to Be?

Aromahead Institute graduates launch successful careers from the foundation of an Aromatherapy education. For many, an Aromatherapy education is the natural way to begin a new and satisfying career. It’s possible to “be your own boss” and create a fulfilling livelihood on your own terms.

Aromatherapy is no longer a “fringe” practice. People are becoming more aware of the health benefits of essential oils and the tried and true research behind the practice of Aromatherapy.

Successful Graduates

Aromahead Institute graduates are busy! They create essential oil retail businesses, web retail stores, therapeutic product lines, and consultation services. They work in spas, teach classes, start their own schools, write for journals, magazines and online businesses, teach at massage school, work in hospice programs, massage clinics, alternative health clinics and more.  Need inspiration as you begin a new career or educational path?  Read about our graduates and their work as Aromatherapists: Graduate Directory

This summer during the Component Blending class I made a hydrosol blend that has become my new favorite.

Recipe

2 oz Laurel leaf Hydrosol (Bay laurel – Laurus nobilis)
10 drops Balsam Fir – Abies balsamea
10 drops Pinon Pine – Pinus edulis
10 drops Hemlock - Tsuga canadensis

Talk about refreshing! The aromas of the forest blended with the slightly camphoraceous, sweet, and spicy undertones of the laurel hydrosol are extraordinary. Each time I spray it I am impressed with the richness and depth of the scent.

Historically, Bay laurel was the symbol of wisdom, both acquired and intuitive. The  botanical name Laurus nobilis is thought to derive from the Celtic word “laur” meaning green and “nobilis” meaning noble.

From a chemical component perspective

I like to use Balsam fir as an anti rheumatic, to prevent and/or relieve rheumatic pain and inflammation. It generally has about 35% Beta pinene, which was found to be a potent scavenger of hydroxyl radicals. This is a possible explanation for its current use in topical products for the relief of muscular and rheumatic pain.

Pinon Pine has an amazing aroma, adding a coniferous, balsamic, woody, and fresh aroma to the blend. We also add a potential antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic effect from the alpha pinene content.

Hemlock has an unusually high percentage of bornyl acetate for a conifer. This suggests a sedative and calming effect, perfect to calm tightness in the lungs and chest.

Share your blends

Do you have any hydrosol/essential oil blends you love? Let’s share some recipes in the comment section below.

I am excited to announce that I have published my first eBook!!  Essential Living: Aromatherapy Recipes for Health and Home.

The 113-page Aromatherapy Recipes eBook offers everything a beginner needs to get started with simple aromatherapy for your health and home. The eBook includes over 60 easy recipes to help you create natural, safe and environmentally-friendly products for beauty, skin care, your health, travel, emotional wellness and for cleaning and caring for every room in your home.

The recipes are printer friendly, so if you prefer paper to the computer, you can create your own recipe book!

Testimonials from the last few days

• Kc Rossi- WOW! This is *Fantastic*. What an easy, handy and user friendly way to access the art and science of aromatherapy.
• Rebeca Ledersnaider- Great ways to start using essential oils!!!
• Pat Chirumbolo- Just what I need! Thanks Andrea.
• Karen Williams- Beautifully illustrated and a great read for both the beginner and those who have been involved in aromatherapy for awhile. A much needed book!

Over the past few years I have written several blog posts on blending. As with all blogs, posts from the past can get tucked away in the archives, never to be seen again! In light of this, I want to highlight a few posts that have blending ideas you might find helpful.

If you’re excited about the aromatic aspect of blending, check out this post on Solid Natural Perfumes. Aromahead Institute also offers an incredibly fun class called Aromatic Blending, where you learn to make your own cream, bar soap, foam soap, salt scrubs, body butters and more!

How about Body Butters? Check out Get Luscious This Spring for a great body butter recipe with Beeswax, Cocoa butter, Red palm and Marula oils!

Of course we have to mention lip balms! This blog post gives you my most popular Vanilla, Coconut, Cocoa and Lime Lip Balm Recipe. Absolutely yummy and so nourishing and protective for your lips, especially when you’re in the hot sun.

Part one of this post gave excerpts from four of the Aromatherapy blogs I recommend. Part two of this post offers four more blogs excerpts for your reading pleasure.

If you enjoy these excerpts, be sure to head over to the blogs to leave comments and interact with the authors.  Tell them Andrea sent you!

5. NAHA
Using Flower Essences with Essential Oils: Double the Flower Power!
posted by Kelly Holland Azzaro, RA, CCAP, CBFP, LMT

I am often asked by clients and students what the difference is between flower essences and essential oils (which some also call ‘essences’). The difference between the two ‘essences’ is also what makes them a perfect match, especially when creating a blend for emotional balance and support.
The basic difference is that essential oils are derived from the actual plant material, i.e., flowers, leaves, seeds, roots and bark by distillation or with citrus oils by cold expression method. These methods are used to create the essential oil found in colored bottles used in different aromatherapy applications. Flower Essences, on the other hand, are prepared by infusing the energy of the actual plant material into pure spring water preserved with brandy or an organic vegetable glycerin via the action of sun or moon light. The flower essences can be taken internally, either under the tongue or in water. They can also be applied topically or mixed with a lotion, as in the Bach ‘Rescue’ cream. Another difference between flower essences and essential oils is that flower essences do not posses the actual scent of the plant.

6. Robert Tisserand
A dash of TNT with that, madam?
posted by Robert Tisserand

One of the reasons given for supporting the Colorado bill was that the targeted ingredients are more stringently restricted in Europe than in the USA. It’s true that the FDA has prohibited only 9 substances as cosmetic ingredients, compared to 1,233 currently prohibited in Europe. Well, clearly “no contest” in the legal stringency stakes. But, the great majority of the 1,233 are petroleum derivatives, and many are pharmaceutical drugs, industrial solvents, or poisons such as curare, strychnine and arsenic – you can read the full list here. Very few of them would ever be considered as cosmetic ingredients, unless your idea of a totally yummy facial cleanser includes aircraft fuel with a soupcon of antibiotics and a touch of TNT. Should the same substances be prohibited in cosmetics in the USA? It’s a good question, but remember that most potential cosmetic ingredients are already regulated in the USA too. Not prohibited, but controlled to specific maximum levels.
Read More

7. The Fragrant Muse
posted by Liz Fulcher

These beautiful women of Aromahead
are stepping out in the world
and embracing their purpose as rockin’ Aromatherapists!

8. White Lotus Aromatics Blog
posted by Christopher McMahon

Myrrh (Commiphora myrrha) essential oil/Ethiopia
Then, the train is literally racing down hill—with the trucks bumping heels like the wheels of a wagon on a sluggish team; and a new tang comes to the ozone—the tang of resin, of healing balsam, of cinnamon smells, of incense and frankincense and myrrh, of spiced sunbeams and imprisoned fragrance—the fragrance of thousands upon thousands of years of dew and light, of pollen dust and ripe fruit cones; the attar, not of Persian roses, but of the everlasting pines.
Through Our Unknown Southwest, by Agnes C. Laut

In my last post about Aromatherapy blogs, I linked to eight blogs I read regularly. I thought you might enjoy reading some excerpts from each of those blogs. I am posting the first four excerpts in part one of this post. The next four will be in part two, later this week. I made this a two-part post so if you actually read the whole post from each of these excerpts, you will still have time to do something today!

1. Ananda Apothecary
posted by Tarah Michelle Cech, ND

Melaleuca Essential Oil Helps Out
At the Laboratoire de Botanique in France (2006) researchers were able to identify that Melaleuca alternifolia was able to regulate the amount of inflammatory-causing secretions found in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). In so doing, natural anti-inflammatory agents, known as cytokines, were still able to be created and thus boosting the body’s ability to protect and restore itself. This in itself is quite a finding, especially for individuals suffering from conditions associated with chronic inflammation.

2. Aromatalk
Aromatherapy Article Archive

How to Make an Infused Oil
The easiest way to make an infused oil is by the use of a crock pot with a very low heat setting. Since the infused oil must be gently heated, it is essential that your crock pot does not overheat the oil. Do not use a crock pot that only has one heat setting as that crock pot most likely will overheat the oils. Add 2 ounces of your chosen carrier oil and 1/2 – 2/3 ounce of dried herbs (if you use fresh herbs, double the amount of herbs used) to your spotlessly-clean crock pot and stir well. Turn your crock pot to the lowest heat setting. Allow to heat on the lowest setting for two hours, stirring every 10-15 minutes (setting a timer to remind you to stir is important). After two hours, carefully strain the oil by using unbleached muslin (usually available at fabric stores). You should strain the oil at least twice. If any herbs remain in the infused oil, the oil can go rancid.

3. Aromatics International Blog
posted by Karen Williams, Certified Aromatherapist

While oil and water do not easily mix, this is a sure bet.  Or is it?  Read on.  A few tricks and we have a beautiful cream/lotion with simple, natural ingredients. There are 3 basic steps involved.  The exact measurements aren’t important, but the steps are.  The ingredients and steps are as follows:

1)  Organic Oil mixture:  (I used oils that I had on hand and wanted to try)  Use oils that are organic & Unrefined.

Baobab Seed oil (Organic) - 1/4 cup
This oil is  luscious and has a wonderful aroma.  Baobab oil is highly penetrating, deeply nourishing and softens dry skin. It is known to restore and re-moisturize the epidermis.  Baobab Seed oil is a cell re-generator and gives the skin tone and elasticity.  It’s also very stable with a 4-5 yr shelf life.  Perfect choice for my face cream.

Natal Mahogany Oil (Organic) - 1/4 Cup
Very nourishing, softens and smooths the skin.  I love this new oil!

Rose-hip Seed oil (Organic) – 1/4 Cup
Helps to rejuvenate the skin and is great to soften wrinkles and scars.

Beeswax (Organic) – 1/2  Ounce
The more beeswax you add the thicker your product will be. It also has a lovely aroma for blending!  I used 1/2 ounce as I live in a dry climate.  If I lived in a more humid climate, I would use more.

Coconut oil (Organic) – 1/3 Cup
Moisturizing and serves as a protective layer to retain moisture in your skin.  Coconut oil doesn’t clog pores and is very healing.  It smells amazing.  Make sure it is Virgin and unrefined for the wonderful benefits.
Read More

4. Attune Aroma
posted by Dale Grados, Certified Aromatherapist

Hydrosols
I’ve been playing around with hydrosols lately.  The main reason is because I want to offer healing aromatic blends to my cat Sophie and to all of my clients that have cats.  Essential oils are highly concentrated and way too potent for your furry friend.  The liver of a cat is simply not the same as ours and they lack the ability to properly metabolize the various compounds in essential oils…especially those containing phenol.  The end result can be gradual toxicity.  I advise cat owners to stay far away from any holistic products such as shampoos or medications that contain essential oils yet claim to be safe to use with cats.  I’ve seen many products out there that have this claim, with the most alarming being a catnip spray containing catnip essential oil.  Just because it’s catnip essential oil does not make it any less harmful.  If anything it may be more harmful since your cat probably won’t be able to get enough of it.  I experimented with catnip hydrosol and Sophie went crazy!  I especially love it because it is all of the fun of catnip without the mess.

We recently received this story via email from one of our South African distillers and would love to share it with you:

We have a very poor community in Bela Bela who have quite a lot of land available to them because of the size of their tribal boundaries. ( Bela Bela is about 4 hours drive from Johannesburg where our offices are)

About one year ago, the community, represented by Mr Lelaka, decided to allocate some of the land to growing essential oil crops. Mr Lelaka contacted us last year to ask for funding and education on farming essential oils.

They received a small donation from a private bank investment which allowed them to build a small nursery, clear natural land and put basic irrigation on the land from a river which flows through their land. We were able to fund Organic geranium plants to help them get started.

We also have joined with them to try to find more funding to expand. We have met with them on numerous occasions (at our offices and on their land) to give advice and educate them on how the grow geraniums successfully. We prepared a 21 page presentation for them to allow them to use the presentation as a marketing tool to try get funding.

They are wanting to expand to alternate crops and to clear more land.

Last week, out of the blue, I got a call from a lady named Desiree who was in a panic. Her story is that she had been growing wild lemongrass in her little farm in Bela Bela for a while and cultivating it.  The lemongrass plants were healthy and covered almost three quarters of a hectare.  Desiree had recently sold her farm and had just heard that the new owner was going to pull out all her lemongrass to plant strawberries – that same week!

This upset Desiree because she felt that all her effort and time had gone into growing each lemongrass plant and now they were going to be thrown out for compost. Desiree contacted me at the last minute in desperation to try to find out if we can do something with the lemongrass plants (even distill them to at least get some oil from her hard work).

So I contacted Mr Laleka who has been waiting for funding since October last year and asked him if he had a way to move the plants. Unfortunately, a large truck would be needed to collect all the plants and there was no one who could help out immediately. I spoke to Mr Lelaka to explain that if he could collect the lemongrass, it could be used as a natural insect repellent for the geranium crop. We discussed planting the lemongrass among the geranium or around it and also the yield which lemongrass has for the amount of oil it can produce (a very high yield). Mr Lelaka found a friend in the area who had a small pick-up and a trailer. They immediately drove to the lemongrass farm (while the strawberry tractors were waiting to plough the ground) and pulled out as many plants as possible and packed the pickup and trailer as full as possible.

It turns out that the lemongrass will be sufficient to be planted on the perimeter of the geranium field and will act as an insect repellent for the geranium crops. The lemongrass will also yield oil which we can purchase from Mr Lelaka.

So all in all, it was a great success: Most of Desiree’s plants were saved and Mr Lelaka and the community received many lemongrass plants at no cost. We are now going to wait for the new crop to settle down in its new environment and then we will harvest and distill the lemongrass to see the quality of the oil and then we can plan how much should be propagated for future oil sales.

Balsam fir (Abies balsamea) is one of my closest essential oil companions.  My experience using the oil highlights its wonderful immune supportive, antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory properties.

The pronounced monoterpene content  of Balsam Fir essential oil suggests it can support movement in the body, opening up the lungs, sinuses, and vitalize the overall energy in the mind and body.

In the GC/MS report on Balsam Fir we usually find some Carene (δ-3) and Limonene (d) along with (α) and (β) pinenes.

Some of the research properties for each component:

Carene (δ-3) – anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and topical circulatory stimulant.

Limonene (d) – activates white blood cells, analgesic , antibacterial, anti inflammatory, antioxidant, immunostimulant, liver support/ protector and skin penetration enhancer.

Pinene (α) – antibacterial, antifungal (candida), anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and antiviral (HSV-1).

Pinene  (β) - anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antispasmodic.

To translate the research

Balsam fir is a strong antimicrobial, used for colds and flu’s. It helps dry mucus, is an excellent decongestant and calming for a spastic cough.  I also add it to anti-rheumatic/joint pain blends to prevent and/or relieve rheumatic swelling and pain. The oil has such a great anti-inflammatory action. Balsam fir is stimulating for the respiratory system, immune system, adrenal glands and circulatory system.

Recipe: Joint Inflammation

Balsam fir ((Abies balsamea)-10 drops
Orange (Citrus sinensis)-5 drops
Indian Cedarwood (Cedrus deodara)-10 drops
Add to 1 oz of carrier oil such as jojoba oil or trauma oil

Balsam fir is also used for its emotionally uplifting and stabilizing effect. I know that when I breath in the aroma of this oil, I can feel its balancing and energizing effect.

If you are interested in Pine, Spruce and Fir essential oils, I teach a 3-day class at Aromahead Institute called Component Blending. During the class we compare many different conifer oils by looking closely at their chemistry and blending with them (we also study 5 different Helichrysum species during the weekend). This class is March 11-13th, 2011. Come join us in Sarasota Florida for a great smelling workshop!

Balsam Fir:
Extraction Method: Steam Distilled
Chemical Family: Monoterpenes
Plant Part: Needles, Twigs
Botanical Family: Pinaceae
Aromas: Balsamic, Fresh, Piney, Resinous, Warm and Radiant, Woody

We made 8 videos for the Aromahead Online Body Butter and Lip Balm class. This video is a 3 minute collection of short clips from each video. Making these videos was like being on an Aromatherapy cooking show! We had these videos shot professionally, but you can easily make your own.

Making your own videos and uploading them to YouTube is really easy. First you need some kind of video equipment, I use a Flip because it is SO simple! Next you create a YouTube channel, make your video, plug your flip into your computer, upload it and you are ready to go!

Tip: If you don’t have an editor or a way to edit, keep each clip on your camera between about 90 seconds and 3 minutes.

I thought January would be a good time to mention Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) essential oil! The winter can be damp and Cardamom is know to reduce damp, congested conditions in the respiratory and digestive systems.

When suffering from cold or flu, try using Cardamom to reduce chest and head pain.

5 drops of Cardamom
5 drops of Opoponax (Commiphora guidotti)
Add to to a blank inhaler.

I have found that this simple inhaler blend can open up the breath, reduce congestion, and relieve a headache.

Cardamom can also help alleviate nausea. I like to add 2 drops of Cardamom to a small handful of jojoba oil and apply it to my low back and belly. It is warm and soothing.

Cardamom belongs to the same family as Ginger (Zingiberaceae) and they are both warming oils that assist digestion.

Cardamom
Extraction Method: Steam Distilled
Chemical Families: Esters, Oxides
Plant Part: The oil is extracted from the seeds
Botanical Family: Zingerberaceae
Aroma: Spicy, Sweet, Warm and Radiant