A few years ago the buzz word was Aromatherapy. Aromatherapy this and that, it seems as long as you put that word in you would be giving people something natural, caring and holistic. BUT...
like most things there are always two sides (sometimes more) to every story. Nowdays as a responsible aromatherapist I must ask myself should I be concentrating on getting the best out of oils that I know are easy to produce and do not have a harmful effect on the natural world.
I'm mainly talking about the tree oils - sandlewood and rosewood. Where do they come from? Surely there can't be enough trees to produce such quantities of oil needed by aromatherapists never mind the perfume industry. Simple answer No there isn't. Trees need to be felled to produce oils, think of the effect this has on their and our environment. Several articles in the aromatherapy times and other responsible journals have highlighted these issues and I want to agree wholeheartedly.
So, please stick to the flower oils (ok maybe your budget doesn't stretch to Rose or Jasmin) but geranium, lavender, the citrus oils and oils from rhizomes (ginger) are all fine, they don't take 50 years to grow and a few minutes to chop down.
We are all responsible so act it.
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