Black pepper essential oil has a warm, fresh and spicy aroma. Black pepper essential oil is warming, stimulating, revitalising and a general tonic in maintaining healthy circulation. Used in massage, black pepper essential oil is known to relax tired muscles and ease muscular stiffness after exercise. Black pepper is produced from the still-green unripe berries of the pepper plant. The berries are cooked briefly in hot water, both to clean them and to prepare them for drying. The heat ruptures cell walls in the pepper, speeding the work of browning enzymes during drying. The berries are dried in the sun or by machine for several days, during which the pepper around the seed shrinks and darkens into a thin, wrinkled black layer. Once dried, the spice is called black peppercorn.
Basil essential oil has been used for many years in herbal remedies and medicines. Basil essential oil has a warm, spicy-sweet aroma. The wonderfully reviving fragrance of basil essential oil gives the mind strength and clarity whilst helping to combat fatigue. It is liberating, clearing, strengthening and uplifting. Basil contains vitamin A and C, and calcium and iron. Recently, there has been much research into the health benefits conferred by the essential oils found in basil. Scientific studies have established that compounds in basil oil have potent antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-viral, and anti-microbial properties.
Bergamot essential oil has antibacterial, deodorising, refreshing, soothing, and uplifting properties which make it excellent for body skincare preparations, for ensuring healthy and vital skin. Bergamot essential oil has a fresh, citrus and slightly spicy aroma and is powerfully refreshing, uplifting and invigorating and helps maintain a balanced mood. Dr Nicholas Monardes who wrote a book about the plants of America in 1569, named the plant Bergamot because the scent of its leaves resembled the Italian Bergamot Orange, Citrus Bergamia from which an essential oil is made.
Bhringaraj, popularly known as ‘false daisy’ in English is a traditional wonder herb, that is hugely recommended for growing long, silky and strong hair. Clad by the vernacular names as karisalankani in Tamil, gunta galagaraaku in Telugu, kesuriya in Bengali, kannunni in Malayalam and bhangaro in Gujarati, this herb belongs to the sunflower family and is widely used all over the world for its immense benefits towards hair and overall health.
Bhringraj oil is a natural remedy used in Ayurveda (the traditional medicine of India) to balance the doshas. Often used to promote hair growth, luster, softness, and strength, bhringraj oil is believed to prevent premature graying and hair loss.
The extract of the plant of bhumi amla is useful to cure Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.It cure inflammation of the liver. Bhumi Amla is a powerful herb for asthma patients. This herb is used in cough and cold problems. Bhumi Amla gives relieve in burning sensation problems.
Black seed oil is pressed from the seeds of a flowering shrub, Nigella sativa. The plant is packed with thymoquinone, a compound which may have cancer-fighting powers. In rats, it shrank tumors and slowed their growth as well as protected tissue from radiation damage.
Bacopa is a plant that has been used in traditional Indian Ayurvedic medicine. Do not confuse bacopa with gotu kola – both plants are sometimes called Brahmi. Bacopa is commonly used for Alzheimer disease, memory and thinking skills (cognitive function), anxiety, and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but there is limited scientific research to support these uses.
Cajeput (Melaleuca leucadendron cajaputi) oil is a versatile antiseptic and clearing essential oil that can also be used effectively as an inhalant during the cold season. Cajeput essential oil has a fresh, camphoraceous-medicinal aroma with a fruity body note and is very similar to eucalyptus, but softer with a hint of herb. This oil has the odor of a mixture of turpentine and camphor. It consists mainly of cineol (see terpenes), from which cajuputene, having a hyacinth-like odor, can be obtained by distillation with phosphorus pentoxide.
Camphor essential oil has antiseptic properties. It is particularly useful for oily skin types or in blends for muscular aches and pains. There are anti-itch gel and cooling gels with camphor as the active ingredient. Camphor is an active ingredient (along with menthol) in vapor-steam products, such as Vicks VapoRub. It is also found in clarifying masks used for skin. Camphor is a waxy, white or transparent solid with a strong, aromatic odor. It is a terpenoid with the chemical formula C10H16O. It is found in wood of the camphor laurel (Cinnamomum camphora), a large evergreen tree found in Asia (particularly in Borneo and Taiwan, hence its alternate name).
Caralluma is a succulent plant (cactus) from India. In India, it grows wild and is often used as a border in gardens and as a roadside shrub. It is also found in the wild in Africa, Saudi Arabia, Canary Islands, Afghanistan, and Southern Europe. Traditionally, Indian tribes chewed chunks of Caralluma to keep from being hungry during a long hunt. It is also consumed in India as a vegetable with spices or made into chutney or pickles. Nowadays the extract derived from the plant is used to decrease appetite for weight loss. It is also used to quench thirst and to increase endurance. Although not fully characterized, caralluma fimbriata Extract is believed to work via active biomolecules called “pregnane glycosides” that may down-regulate both ghrelin synthesis in the stomach and neuropeptide-Y in the hypothalamus, thereby resulting in appetite suppression.
Cardamom oil has a spicy, fruity, warm and balsamic aroma. It is clear to pale yellow in color and slightly watery in viscosity. A perennial, reed-like herb, Cardamom grows wild and is cultivated in India and Ceylon. It grows up to 4 meters (13 feet) high and has long, green silky blades, small yellowy flowers with a violet tip and a large fleshy rhizome, similar to ginger. Oblong gray fruits follow the flowers, each containing many seeds. Cardamom was well known in ancient times and the Egyptians used it in perfumes and incense and chewed it to whiten their teeth, while the Romans used it for their stomachs when they over-indulged. The Arabs ground it to use their coffee and It is an important ingredient in Asian cooking.
