Ginger essential oil has a powerful scent. A drop or two of ginger essential oil will add an interesting tone to mixtures, especially those containing other spicy oils. Inhaling a few drops of ginger essential oil in hot water may help to ease spasmodic coughing. In massage, the warming properties of ginger essential oil can be particularly useful for people who always feel cold. Ginger essential oil has a warm, fresh, fiery and woody-spicy aroma.
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.
Clove bud essential oil (Eugenia Caryophyllus Bud Oil) or oil of the clove as it is often referred to is highly antiseptic and piercing. Clove bud essential oil is both uplifting and stimulating. It soothes and relaxes the digestive system when used to massage the abdomen. It is a natural analgaesic and antiseptic used primarily in dentistry for its main ingredient eugenol. It has a spicy and slightly fruity aroma. The various basils have such different scents because the herb has a number of different essential oils which come together in different proportions for various breeds.
Anise star (or star anise as it is otherwise known) has stimulating and energising properties having a particularly refreshing and stimulating action on the digestive and respiratory system when used in massage. It also has emotionally uplifting properties. Anise star essential oil has a strong, sweet, and powerful scent, which smells just like black licorice. Star anise contains anethole, the same ingredient which gives the unrelated anise its flavour.
Cumin essential oil (Cuminum Cyminum (Cumin) Seed Oil) has stimulating, anti-oxidant and antiseptic properties and is a tonic. Cumin essential oil is also useful as a warming oil (helping to relieve muscular and joint pains) and as an aid for the stresses and strains of everyday life. Cumin essential oil is clear to pale yellow with a characteristic spicy, penetrating scent.
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.
Carrot essential oil is warming and reviving. It is good for problem skin, including overheated and irritated skin and also the best essential oil known for caring for mature skinmature skin. Carrot seed essential oil does not have an especially pleasant scent and is therefore best blended with other more acceptable oils such as Frankincense or Neroli. It is believed to stimulate the red blood cells, adding tone and elasticity to the skin. It is also known for its regenerative powers after severe burns.
