Aromatherapy Gift Baskets
Aromatherapy is an alternative medicine application that involves the use of volatile liquid plant material. The extracted essence or essential oils and other strong scented compounds from plants are used as mood and health enhancers and pain relievers. The chemical compositions of the essential oils usually recommended in aromatherapy differ from the herbal products also widely sold all over the world. The difference is due to the exclusive distillation process, which retains or extracts only the lighter phyto-molecules present in the base material. Aromatherapy essential oils are potent with sesquiterpenes, esters, monoterpenes, hydrocarbons and organic sulfides.
Preparing a Gift Basket
You can prepare a great aromatherapy gift basket for someone you love and enjoy indulging in - your mother, wife, husband, son, daughter, grandparent or even yourself. Yes, why not! When buying Christmas or Easter gifts for the family, put yourself on the budget, too, and indulge. You need to know what goes into effective aromatherapy, to put together a great gift basket. It is essential to know that it is a generic term applied commonly to traditions that use essential oils, either alone or in combination, with alternative medical practices. The therapy is also associated with spiritual beliefs. Not all medical treatment involving the use of such scents are included in the term 'aromatherapy'.
Your aromatherapy gift basket should include one or many fragrant oils, like eucalyptus or grapefruit oil. These oils are also referred to as solvent extractions. There are 'absolutes' that are essence oils extracted from flowers and delicate plant tissues. Absolutes also include the essences of fragrant butters and enfleurage pommades. There are 'phytoncides' or voltile organic compounds that kill microbes. Among the variety of phytoncides available, 'allium' are not desirable due to their disagreeable odors. Then, you could include hydrosols, the aqueous by products. They also have culinary uses and are great skin care options. The common hydrosols are rose, chamomile and lemon.
The gift basket could also include infusions or aqueous extracts of plants and carrier oils that are used to dilute essential oils for use on sensitive skin. You could make your gift basket special by including basil for sharpening concentration, getting rid of depression and migraines. However, if you are gifting the basket to someone pregnant, then you should leave out the basil oil because of the emmenagogue chemotypes present in it. Bergamot is a great oil to include and is very popular too. It makes an excellent insect repellent and the recipient of the gift basket will definitely bless you. The sharp and spicy aroma of black pepper should be included ina basket for your grandparents. It stimulates blood circulation and eases muscular aches and pains.
You can also consider geranium oil, which is an astringent, antiseptic and a diuretic. If you are gifting the absket to your spouse, you could get a little bold and include extract of jasmine, rose, sandalwood or ylang-ylang, which are used as aphrodisiacs. In the case of the gift basket going out to someone with children, include lavender oil. It is a good antiseptic and soothes cuts and burns, while calming the person. Lavender extract also eases headaches and migraines. Considering lemon oil is also wise. It serves as an anti-stress agent. Tea tree oil and thyme oil can be considered as part of the gift basket too. Tea tree oil is used externally as an antifungal, antiviral, antimicrobial, antiparasitic and antiseptic.
If you are planning to gift the goodies to a friend who has a history of sinus, then including yarrow oil is a good idea. It helps to relieve cold and reduces the resultant joint inflammation. Your aromatherapy gift basket should also include cotton swabs and cotton balls. The essential oils accompanied with a brief hand-written description on the uses of each speak volumes for the intent. Depending on your budget, you could indulge in one, two or an assortment of the essential oils easily available. There are a number of online resources that even market baskets that can be customized by you.
