Botanical Name: Eucalyptus globulus

Method of Farming: Conventional

Country of Origin: Spain

Extraction: Steam distillation of the fresh or partially dried leaves and mature branches.

Characteristics: Colorless to pale yellow with a strong, fresh, camphorous odor and woody undertone.

Oil properties: Eucalyptus has a clear, sharp, fresh and very distinctive smell. It is pale yellow in color and watery in viscosity.

Origin of eucalyptus oil: The Australian Blue-gum can sometimes reaches a height of 100 meters (300 feet), making it one of the highest trees in the world. There are over 500 species of Eucalyptus trees and they have blue-green long, narrow, tough leaves, creamy white flowers and smooth pale bark.

The ‘eu’ and ‘kalypto’ means ‘well’ and ‘covered’ in Greek, referring to the cup-like membrane that covers the flower bud and is thrown off as the flower expands. The Australian Aborigines calls the Eucalyptus ‘kino’. One of their uses for it was to cover serious wounds with the leaves.

Eucalyptus was introduced to Europe in 1788, and the first oil exported to England was called ‘Sydney peppermint’. It was extracted from Eucalyptus peperita which is a more industrial type of oil.

The Eucalyptus uses a lot of water while growing, thus it drains land where usually malaria was found, making it a healthier climate for living.

Extraction: Eucalyptus oil is extracted from the fresh or partially dried leaves and young twigs.

Chemical composition: The main chemical components of Eucalyptus are: Camphene, Citronellal, Fenchene, Phellandrene and Cineole.

Precautions: Eucalyptus oil should be used with care and people with high blood pressure and epilepsy should avoid it. Excessive use of the oil may cause headaches.

Therapeutic properties: The therapeutic properties of Eucalyptus oil include: analgesic, anti-rheumatic, anti-neuralgic, anti-spasmodic, antiseptic, balsamic, decongestant, deodorant, diuretic, expectorant, insecticide, rubefacient and stimulant.

Uses: Eucalyptus has a cooling and deodorizing effect on the body, helping with fevers, migraine and malaria. For the respiratory tract, it helps with coughs, asthma, throat infections, sinusitis and catarrhal conditions. It soothes inflammation and eases mucus, clearing the head from the stuffiness of colds and hay fever.

Eucalyptus oil is useful as warming oil when used for muscular aches and pains, rheumatoid arthritis, sprains and poor circulation. In skin care it can be used for burns, blisters, herpes, cuts, wounds, skin infections and insect bites.

Eucalyptus oil can boost the immune system, and is helpful especially in cases of chicken pox, colds, flu and measles.

Summary: Eucalyptus oil is very helpful when used for headaches, fevers, on the respiratory tract, muscular aches and pains and in skin care. It has a soothing and calming effect on the whole body and helps with the immune system. The oil is also effective against bacteria - especially staphylococci.

Burners and vaporizers: In vapor therapy Eucalyptus oil be used for: frequent sneezing, hay fever, flu, respiratory problems and as insect repellant.

Blended massage or in the bath: Eucalyptus oil can be used in blended massage oil, or diluted in the bath to assist with: arthritis, asthma, bronchitis, mucous congestion, colds, headaches, rheumatism, sinusitis, catarrh, fatigue and muscular aches and pains. Used neat or dab on with a bud: Eucalyptus oil can be used neat on the skin for insect bites or wounds, but care should be taken when doing so.

Gargle: Diluted Eucalyptus can be used as a gargle for a sore throat

One of the things teens and adults need to feel and smell good when going out is perfume. There are various brands in the market bought local and foreign that are worth buying but those who don’t have enough dough can try experimenting and making up a concoction at home.

The first thing the individual should do is get the important ingredients to make this work. This is normally made up water, essential oils and pure grain alcohol better known as vodka.

There are various types of perfumes in the market. There is the perfume or body splash, cologne, the Eau De Cologne and the Eau de Toilette that are made from plant and animal oils.

Homemade perfumes essentially come from plant oils. These are not that expensive and can be purchased from various stores. When all the materials are ready, it is time to go to work.

An important thing that the person has to know that there are 3 types of notes when it comes to making perfumes. There are the base, middle and top notes. These vary depending on how long the scent will last on the skin.

Base notes could last up to 8 hours or more on the body. Perfume companies normally use cedar wood, cinnamon patchouli, sandalwood and vanilla in making a product. Some examples of middle notes are bottle nut meg, geranium, neroli and ylang-ylang. The essential oils to create top notes are bergamot and lavender.

The different notes will never work without another type of note known as the bridge note. This will help blend the various scents together making the whole thing work. Some examples of bridge notes are litsea cubeba, lavender and lemongrass.

Is it possible to use all the three notes to make a perfume? The answer is yes. The individual can drop a few amounts of each into the test tube so these will mix together. The person should smell it to check on it and if everything is going well, this is the time that two ounces of vodka are also placed inside.

Smelling the product is not the best way to check if it is working. A small amount must be applied to the skin to make sure it does not have any adverse reaction.

The drops placed from the essential oils and the vodka won’t even reach halfway point of the test tube. If the smell is still good, this should be stored in a cool place for 48 hours before this is mixed with water and then letting it come out through a coffee filter.

The finished perfume is then placed in a small plastic bottle with a sprayer on top. Some prefer to use a dark colored container so that the contents will last longer before it is time once again to produce a new batch.

The rule of thumb for perfumes is that the longer it is stored, the stronger is the smell. So, it is the choice of the individual whether to make the concoction last for an hour or longer.

The process of producing the right scent takes a lot of patience. Sometimes, putting more one type of note can change everything and the individual will have to start over. The same thing also happens with companies trying to produce new products for the consumer so the person shouldn’t worry since everyone is in the same boat.

You walk into the place you usually buy your perfume from. You pick out the perfume that you like and take it off the shelf. At this point, before you pay the money for that bottle of perfume, you should realize that you yourself could make that perfume, or even a better one. Yes, you read right, with just a little bit of imagination, knowledge and willingness to try something new, you could create your dream perfume for yourself, family, friends or even for selling purposes.

What most people don’t realize is that by making perfume yourself, not only do you save up a lot of money, but you also create something that may almost be considered a work of art, all by yourself or with friends, family. This experience will surely give you a lot of confidence and also prove to be fun, especially if you don’t do it by yourself.

Another great thing about yourself is that you get to personalize that perfume to the maximum. I’m sure it’s happened to you at least once to choose a product over another because, although the first one had something you liked, either it was missing something or it was too strong or there was something you’d have like to be different. Well, the good news is that, with making perfume yourself, you can get the perfume of your dreams. It just takes a little time and the will to get there.

The best part is that there are plenty of resources on the internet on perfume making that will help you, whether you’re somebody that doesn’t have anything to do with chemistry / perfumes or you’ve already got perfume making experience.

What you should do first is figure out what type of perfume you’d like to make and what would you like it to smell like. Then, get a list of the most common ingredients and start experimenting. If you already have your recipe for that perfume, you shouldn’t encounter any problems, but if you don’t know exactly what to use and how, you should keep in mind a couple of rules:

1. the ingredients you use for your perfume are extremely important; they need to be of good quality, fresh and without any other impurities; they also need to be handled with care and special instruments, because you don’t need industrial quantities to realize if you like a perfume or not; this way, you’re not using up precious resources, thus minimizing the production costs;
2. surf the internet for ingredient characteristics even if you’ve bought them already and you can recognize some of them yourself; you may find out interesting combinations, recipes on the internet you may not be aware of
3. get as much out of the internet on base notes, middle notes, top notes and bridges, as they are the key elements of your perfume;
4.  if you plan on experimenting a lot, write down your results so as not to be forced to do them again;

To conclude, don’t forget where you read these guidelines from when your name is as well known as Hugo Boss’, Christian Dior’s and so on.

Sandalwood oil is extracted from Santalum album from the Santalaceae family and also known as East Indian sandalwood, santal, saunders and sandalwood Mysore.

Oil properties: The oil has a woody, exotic smell, subtle and lingering. The color of the oil is pale yellow to pale gold.

Origin of sandalwood oil: Sandalwood is an evergreen, parasitic tree that burrows its roots into other trees and it can grow up to 9 meters (30 feet) high and has a brown-gray trunk, many smooth slender branches, leathery leaves and small pink-purple flowers.

It can take thirty to sixty years for a tree to reach full maturity, when it is cut and distilled. The yellowish wood is sold in thin scrapings.

It is commonly agreed that the best essential oils are from Mysore in India.

The documented use of Sandalwood goes back 4000 years and caravans from India to Egypt, Greece and Rome were a familiar sight. Many temples were built from Sandalwood and the Egyptians used it in embalming.

Sandalwood was much in demand as incense; it had a calming effect during meditation.

Once Sandalwood was used for making furniture and caskets, but as it is nearly extinct, it is only used for the distillation of oil.

Extraction: Sandalwood oil is extracted from the chipped heartwood and roots by steam distillation and yields 4-6.5%.

Chemical composition: The main chemical components are: Santalol, Furfurol and Santalene.

Precautions: Generally Sandalwood oil is non-toxic, non-irritant and nonsensitizing.

Therapeutic properties: The therapeutic properties of Sandalwood oil are: antiseptic, diuretic, aphrodisiac, astringent, carminative, emollient, expectorant, sedative and tonic.

Uses: This relaxing oil could be useful for tension, depression, nervous exhaustion, chronic illness and anxiety.
Sandalwood oil could be useful for chest infections, sore throats and dry coughs that accompany bronchitis and lung infections.

It could alleviate cystitis and bladder infections, also helpful with sexual problems such as frigidity and impotence. Sandalwood oil relieves itching and inflammation of the skin, is good for scarring, dry eczema, ageing and dehydrated skin.

Summary:
Sandalwood oil can be helpful for the nervous system, for chest infections, for sexual problems and for skin care.

Burners and vaporizers:
In vapor therapy Sandalwood oil can be used for: aphrodisiac, bronchitis, coughs, insomnia, irritability, nervous tension, stress, tension, for relaxing and as an insect repellant.

Blended oil or in the bath: As a blended massage oil or diluted in the bath, Sandalwood oil can assist with: bladder infections, bronchitis, coughs, cystitis, eczema, insomnia, scar tissue, irritability, nervous tension, stress, tension, as an aphrodisiac and for relaxing.

Gargle: Sandalwood oil can be effective when diluted and used as a gargle for a sore or dry throat.

Lotions or creams: When used in a lotion or cream Sandalwood oil can assist with: chapped, dry or inflamed skin.