Palmarosa essential oil is refreshing and soothing. It can be beneficial for problem and oily skin and is also good for mature skin. It has a rosy, fresh and grassy like aroma.
Cypress essential oil is a wonderful essential oil for overheated skin and maintaining a healthy circulation. The astringent and toning properties of Cypress essential oil support areas under constant pressure such as the legs. It is refreshing and a natural deodorant. It is useful for visible veins and cellulite and in optimising a healthy immune system. Cypress essential oil is an excellent womens oil, especially during menstruation and the menopause. It has a sweet, warm and woody aroma.
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.
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).
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.
Ajwain seeds have a small amount of oil in them known as ajwain oil. The oil contains thymol, a phenol that gives the fruit its thyme-like smell. Thymol is commonly used to treat digestive problems. It also has antifungal and antibacterial properties.
Cedarwood (cedrus atlantica) essential oil is uplifting and reviving. Cedarwood atlas essential oil has a warm, sweet and camphoraceous aroma with a woody-balsamic undertone. It is useful for everyday stresses and strains. It is also known to be an aphrodisiac.
