AWAKENING YOUR ZEN SENSES
WITH THE SCENTS OF AROMATHERAPY
By Stacey Kumagai
There are so many aromas which can take you places. Whether you’re waking up smelling coffee in the morning or a breeze of Jasmine flowers in bloom in the afternoon or the sweet smell of dinner cooking at night
– aromas are part of our ZEN sense. And it makes sense to allow ourselves to be calmed, energized, comforted or uplifted by the scents of aromatherapy. It’s one of the easiest things we can do for our spirit, our well-being and even our mood.
Aromatherapy comes in many forms. It can come in the form of diffusers and room fresheners. It can come from potpourri. But today’s most popular way of inviting aromatherapy into our homes is through soap and candles.
Cleanliness is next to Godliness. And this means both hygiene and beauty. Soap has been around since 2800 B.C. in Ancient Babylon. Egyptians first made soap with alkaline salts, animal and vegetable oils. From your hands to your body...If it weren’t for soap, you wouldn’t have ZEN. Soap can help you stay clean, healthy and stay safe.
Soap-making has both a hot and cold process. Hot soap-making requires the temperature to reach up to 100 degrees. Cold soap-making is a process where the soap is brought to a temperature just to make the fat liquid, about 76 degrees. Both processes are still used today by various soap-makers and manufacturers and vary based on the kinds of soap that are made.
Centuries ago, one bar of soap was used for the face, hands and body. But with time, soaps have found their need to diversify. Soaps made for the face are gentler, more moisturizing and come specialized for hypo-allergenic, non-comedogenic, make-up removing and complexion balancers based on skin type. Hand soaps have more detergent properties and body soaps cover the spectrum of purposes from deodorizing, exfoliating and moisturizing. There are all kinds of soaps: French Milled (which is a heartier soap, lasts a long time and
usually perfumed, not necessarily with natural essential oils), scouring soaps which are for laborers who use their hands – and are more industrial strength which are usually unscented; anti-bacterial, which are often scented with artificial scents. And then there are the natural handmade aromatherapy glycerin soaps. These are the soaps which are therapeutic with essential oils and are most known in the aromatherapy world.
Natural soaps for the hands and body are more popular today because of returning to the basic idea that cleanliness is a natural thing and using healthful ingredients can help boost mood and spirit. They do not
contain synthetics, parabens, petroleums or silicone. They are good for your skin and contain natural, healthful and beneficial ingredients. Botanicals, herbs and essential aromatherapy oils are part of the natural soap process, as are other additives like oatmeal, aloe, honey, clays, plants and milk. These ingredients have different benefits for the user ranging from aromatherapy, to skin softening and exfoliation to skin soothing. The process for developing the most pure of all essential oils requires a 200 testing point process. In testing, there are numerous things to check from the strength of scent, how it affects your sense of smell and the actual healing properties of the oil. Most mass-marketed commercially sold essential oils are only measured
for their smell and not all of the other properties.
Scent is detected by the olafactory nerve (cranial nerve) – in the frontal lobe area. These affect different people, different ways and they are not boing to be exactly the same for every person. Lavender makes most people relaxed or sleepy. Beneficial oils for the lungs and respiratory system are eucyalyptus, rosemary, mint, and grasses like lemon grass. While uplifting scents can be anything from rose, orange, apple and ylang ylang or arousing scents like must and patchouli oils. Not everyone is always taken to the same place with aromatherapy with all scents – but essential oils do have beneficial aromas for everyone to affect mood and spirit.
The basic components of making soap include fat, water and acid. And the aromatherapy addition to soap- making is after a three step process involving the solid oil, liquid oil and the sodium hydroxide and water processes. Coconut, palm and shea butter are the soap’s base. These solids are melted down as the first phase of cold process soap making, turning it into an oil. Contrary to old-fashioned soap-making techniques where it originally had to be boiled, today it is not necessary if you are using natural, top-of-the-line ingredients and a moderate temperature is involved. Next come the liquid oils, olive and hemp and the third round of sodium hydroxide and water graduate into a saponification process. This is a chemical reaction – when an
esther is heated with an alkali (alkaline hydrolysis of a fat or oil to make soap). Essential ingredients to beautify your skin are added and aromatherapy oils are compounded in the glycerin addition process once poured into a mold. This process ensures that the aromatherapy oils are ripe and potently effective in doing what they do best – releasing their aroma throughout the bar.
Before there was electricity, there was the light of a candle. Candles have been a source of light and heat, but have also been utilized for time keeping, religious, sacred ceremonies/festivities and celebratory events. Today, candles are not only a source of practical lighting use for every day natural disaster emergencies and electrical outages, but also are used to provide comfort, meditation, holiday spirit and romantic atmospheres around the globe. Aromatherapy candles can give any home a very ZEN feeling. Candles using the aromatherapy oils can provide a stress-free environment all round your home. Lavender, Rosewood and German Chamomile are heavy duty essential oils to help with stress. Rosemary, eucalyptus and peppermint are more stimulating oils. They can also help with stress and alleviate anxiety.
Candles have been around since 3000 B.C. and the earliest candles in Egyptian times were made from nature out of beeswax. Somewhere around the early 1800s, Paraffin wax was introduced. Paraffin candles are toxic.
Candles can create a ZEN atmosphere. But knowing more about the kinds of candles you light can not only create ZEN, but peace of mind in regards to health and safety. First and foremost, fire hazard statistics are worth noting. Over 200 deaths per year occur as a result of candles because most people do not adhere to candle safety. It is important if you have children or pets, to keep candles out of reach so they don’t get knocked over and start a fire. It’s also very important to never leave a candle unattended and always only use non-flammable, non-combustable candle holders, never letting a candle burn all the way down to the bottom surface. Also be sure to never have a candle burning next to anything flammable like baskets, silk plants, doilies, lampshades, or explosive things like nail polish and glasses of wine/alcohol.
When you are done with a candle burning for the evening, it’s best to put out a candle using a candle snuffer. Simply blowing out a candle will produce a long and lingering smoke afterward (not to mention blown melted wax on your furniture), and may cause fire if the flame is to catch onto something. In terms of health, let’s clarify some information. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has banned
the production of lead-based wicks in candles in the United States, effective in 2003. And while most candle manufacturers in the United States have stopped making candles with hazardous lead wicks, there are still 3% of candles sold in the U.S. that contain lead and unsafe levels of lead in the wick or base (some of these are sold here, but not manufactured here – be careful where you purchase...places like swap meets and other places aren’t being mindful of this). Make sure that your candle is made in the U.S. Candles manufactured with paraffin which is a petroleum product (bi-product of oil refineries) have also recently become a main concern, not only because of the ‘green’ movement but because of the increasing number of allergies, asthma,
cardiovascular, central nervous and blood system disorders, sinus and bronchial issues that the medical community tying to the burning of paraffin wax candles. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has
identified the Tulene and Benzene the two main toxic chemicals in paraffin wax to be carcinogenic. If you have candle safety issues, please consult www.candle-safety.org
Other wicks that are made with synthetic fibers, wires and zinc have also contributed to the problem. Metal, when burned is also toxic and most wicks have metal bases to keep the wick steady when candles are made. Because of this, 100% Soy Candles and Beeswax Candles, with all-natural wicks like hemp, soy and cotton have become a conscious choice for candle purchases. Be sure that you read very carefully. There are a number of candles that claim to be soy and claim to be beeswax but only contain a small percentage of these ingredients and are ‘blended’ with the petroleum based paraffin to look like the real thing. But just what is a soy candle and what is a beeswax candle?
Soy wax comes from soy....the same soy plant that produces soy beans that make soy sauce, tofu, edamame, etc. Soy wax is made from the oil of the soybeans and when burned is non-toxic. The processing of soybeans involves extracting the soybean oil from the soybean flakes that are created after the beans themselves are cleaned, cracked, de-hulled and rolled. The result is a wax that is vegetable based. 100% Soy candles not only burn more slowly and cleanly but they are also very eco-friendly, renewable, sustainable and they are
carbon-renewable. Plus the husks that are left over after the soybean processing to make the candles are used as animal feed. Soy candles burn longer than toxic candles. You can actually dip your fingers in the melted wax of the soy candle and rub on your cuticles for a relaxing and healthful massage.
100% Beeswax candles are natural and renewable – they are also non-toxic, and non-allergenic, while have a high melting point. Beeswax not only is the original wax of choice from how candles first were created, but beeswax is pure because it comes from nature ...from the sustainable bee keeping industry. Beeswax candles not only burn cleanly and they actually clean the air by emitting purifying negative ions (think rainy days and being by the ocean). You can also dip your fingers in melted beeswax – it is moisturizing and is found today in
many beauty products.
When lighting a candle, trimming the wick between 1/8 and 1⁄2 ” will keep the candle burning longer. When you are burning a candle for the very first time – it’s very important for the ‘first burn’ to be 1 hour for every inch of diameter of the candle. So if your candle diameter is two inches, then burn it for two hours.
The first burn is the most important burn. After that, you can burn the candle for as long as you wish, making sure to cut the blackened part of the wick off so you have a perfect candle burning experience every single time. By allowing the candle to burn evenly will not only help keep the candle burning evenly and longer, but more safely.
Candles can light up a mood and enlighten your spirit. By lighting healthier candles, not only are you doing something great for your health, but you are also creating ZEN for yourself and the environment.
Aromatherapy can be calming, uplifting, inspiring, invigorating, relaxing and mood enhancing with every breath you take. Whether you lather up Zen with soap or enlighten your spirit with Zen scented candles ... when you take each breath in the most healthful way, breathing in pure, organic, natural plant based ingredients from the earth, it helps you be more at one with the earth. And to us, that’s a very ZEN thing to do.
Special thanks to
Jolie Chitwood Cox, Owner, Soaptopia www.soaptopia.com
Paula Naples, Owner Pure Sense By Paula www.puresensebypaula.com