Aromatherapy is very popular for both beauty and medicine, but many brands are packed in plastic, and sometimes use unsustainable oils (rosewood trees are critically endangered).
Even essential oils can harm aquatic life, so never pour neat down drain. Dilute with water or oil, and wrap and bin leftovers.
Also using essential oils when pregnant/nursing or for allergies/medical conditions. Never use near babies and pets (cats can’t break them down in their livers). Air rooms before allowing them back in, and don’t use if pets sleep on your bed.
Keeping Safe with Essential Oils
- Avoid going out in the sun, after using photo-toxic oils.
- Do not use essential oils internally.
- Keep essential oils away from flames and ignitions. It’s safer to use reed diffusers over candles (if used, keep away from flammables like curtains, and use a proper candle snuffer to put out, don’t blow it out with your breath).
- Never leave unattended (and follow wick trimming instructions). Soy wax candles are soot-free.
- Always dilute with carrier oil, using instructions. Don’t use oil in baths, as it creates slipping hazards.
Avoid essential oil fresheners in cars
These are not safe for allergies, babies or pets. Replace toxic ‘tree air fresheners’ with unscented charcoal bags to absorb odours (can remove cigarette smoke). Scent-free probiotic sprays are safer.
Tisserand Aromatherapy: Organic Essential Oils
Tisserand is one of the world’s leading aromatherapy companies, founded by Robert Tisserand, who still teaches aromatherapy in his new home of California.
Aromatherapy was ‘founded’ when a French perfumier burned his arm, and plunged it into a vat of lavender oil, and found it healed. Today it’s used for beauty and medicinal use.
Avoid essential oils for pregnancy/nursing and affected medical conditions. Also keep them away from babies and pets (air rooms before allowing them back in after diffusing, and don’t use if pets sleep on your bed).
Never burn citronella near pets, even outside. Also don’t use essential oils to ‘deter’ insects, they can harm (read humane ways to deter spiders and slug/snails).
Never pour neat essential oils down drains or toilets, as they could harm aquatic life. Only use in recommended dilutions, also for your safety. For more information, read the excellent book Just the Essentials.
100% Organic and Ethically Sourced
Tisserand commits to organic standards from soil to bottle. Their organic essential oils are certified by the Soil Association, which checks everything from farming methods to final packaging.
You know you’re getting pure, organic oils with no harsh chemicals, fillers, or additives. This makes them safe for your skin, your home, and the planet.
Wide Range of Base & Pure Essential Oils
This site sells many products, so we have chosen to focus on its organic essential oils, which are grown without fertilisers, herbicides or pesticides, using farming methods that are good for the planet, and free from genetic modification or irradiation.
Use a few drops of your favourite essential oil to blend with Tisserand’s organic jojoba oil, a liquid wax that will soften and condition the skin, and is highly compatible with the skin’s natural oils.
You can apply this oil without essential oils to moisturise, or use in an aromatherapy blend, to benefit all skin types, especially dry and damaged skin:
- Skin oil – 2 to 5 drops per 10ml of jojoba
- Massage – 5 drops per 10ml of jojoba
- Bath – 4 to 6 drops per 20ml of jojoba oil (or just add pure oils to a warm bath, to reduce change of slipping in an oily bath – use a bath mat!)
Relaxing Organic Essential Oils
- Lavender – good for relaxation
- Ylang Ylang (floral soothing oil)
- Patchouli (earthy grounding oil)
Warming Organic Essential Oils
- Ginger (warming, good for achy muscles)
- Black Pepper & Juniper Berry (good for arthritis)
Refreshing Organic Essential Oils
- Peppermint (a classic)
- Rosemary – brain-booster and good for hair (not for epilepsy)
- Bergamot, Grapefruit, Lemon & Orange – mood-boosting. Avoid going out into direct sun for at least 18 hours after using these oils, as they are photo-toxic (could cause blisters or burns). Check medication, before using grapefruit oil.
- Tea Tree & Eucalyptus (decongestants). Always choose organic for ethical harvesting methods – some brands use chainsaws to chop down trees, home to koala bears.
Tisserand Aromatherapy Spa Diffuser
If you wish to scent a room, you can use Tisserand’s Aromatherapy Spa Diffuser (again, never use this around babies or pets, and air rooms before allowing them back in).
Diffusers are safer than candles. You switch it on, and it vibrates water molecules at a specific frequency, to produce steam with tiny bubbles, with the essential oils heated in the reservoir, to produce rising steam. It runs for 4 to 5 hours, then automatically shuts down, when it runs out of water.
- Only place on a stable surface, nor bend, twist or pull the cord (this could cause damage, resulting a fire hazard).
- Do not use in a smoky, damp or study place, nor near strong vibrations (like music).
- Only use with tap water (and don’t add more than 8 drops of essential oil).
Eco-Friendly Packaging
What is Aromatherapy?
It’s been around thousands of years, and was rediscovered in France, when a perfumier burned his arm and shoved it into the nearest vat (of lavender oil). It healed, and thus the movement began.
Oils are usually steam-distilled. Prices vary (it takes a huge amount of rose petals to create one drop of oil, hence why it’s so expensive). Some anti-drug campaigners want farmers who grow the base for cocaine to grow organic roses instead, as alternative income.
Look for organic labels, to prove authenticity. You can usually gauge if a company is ethical, as its whole ethos will be around protecting nature.
The Nature of Things offers sustainable oils from an old Dublin chocolate factory. The diffusers switch off automatically when dry (so safer than candles) and have timers with sleek sustainable shells.
These oils are sourced from quality producers with a history of sustainable practice.
Organic Jojoba Oil in a Metal Tin
This organic jojoba oil is a real all-rounder, sold by a natural Welsh beauty company, in a metal tin that’s easy to recycle. Jojoba (from a shrub) is the nearest in composition to human sebum (skin oil) so ideal to use for beauty routines.
It has happily replaced the use of whale oil in most skin care products.
Use neat (without essential oils) for pregnancy/nursing and affected medical conditions.
A great natural skin moisturiser, it’s rich in vitamin E and easily absorbed. And also contains natural plant wax, to mimic your skin’s own collagen.
Just add a few drops to your skin. This oil i also good to prevent razor burn, after shaving. Or use as an alternative to body lotion.
Jojoba oil is also good for your hair, to help prevent split ends. Just rub in and leave for a few minutes, then shampoo as normal.
A Great Book on Aromatherapy
Just the Essentials is a wonderful guide by the founder of a natural beauty company (she also wrote a great book on natural skincare using kitchen ingredients). Adina Grigore was a real sceptic and changed her mind after studying aromatherapy.
This fresh fun guide is a good read, with safety guidelines and DIY recipes.
