Most women have their own beauty routine whether that’s quite basic or more involved. And nowadays, these women are more aware of the products they’re using and often make the choice to use more natural products. The obvious choice then is to use aromatherapy as a way to enhance their beauty routines.
Aromatherapy is the practice of using fragrant herbs and plants to nurture the body, mind, and spirit. It isn’t a new science with the Bible and Ancient Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, and the Bible all make reference to different forms of Aromatherapy. Some of these forms include baths, face masks, oils, massages, incense and herbal teas for both drinking and soaking. The distinction between body, mind, and spirit wasn’t as clear as it is now. Today, beauty for some women consists of the latest cosmetic products and focuses purely on the surface and their physical appearance, while for other women the priority is on their internal beauty, starting with a healthy body. This healthy body is achieved by drinking plenty of water, consuming pure whole foods, and regular exercise. And of course there’s the women who include spirituality in their beauty routines. They include meditation and prayer to handle the emotional and physical stresses of life so that they attain and preserve their beauty.
Aromatherapy plays an effective part in all three of these areas of beauty. If your beauty routine is focused on the products in a bottle, many herbal remedies and formulas are used to enhance these makeup products. From lipsticks to foundations and creams, included are the rich fragrances of aromatic herbs. These not only have beautifying components, but their tranquil scents relax the mind. If your priority is to focus on cleansing your body from the inside out and you believe that optimum health is an important part of your beauty practices, aromatherapy infusions provide a fabulous way to cleanse your body, release any toxins, and provide the harmony and balance your body requires. For meditation and prayer, aromatherapy is used to purify your surrounding environment bringing about a state of internal peacefulness and balance to release day-to day stresses and the negative thoughts that plague many peoples minds.
Often the best approach is to use all a blend of all the above areas to get the most from your aromatherapy practices and achieve the beauty you desire. By using herbal combinations on your skin you will not only benefit from the beautifying effects on your skin you also treat any surface skin blemishes and infections from within. There are many herbs such as Chamomile, Aloe Vera, Sage, Black Walnut, Rosemary, and Tea Tree that beautify your skin by maintaining your skins suppleness keeping it in optimum health. You can add herbal infusions to your baths and herbs can also be infused into massage oils to beautify your whole body. Herbal massages are an amazing way to ease sore muscles, to fight depression, and to stimulate your lymph system to improve circulation. By building into your regular beauty routine all of these aromatherapy techniques, your external appearance will improve, in addition to your mind and emotions.
Now, you’ve got some ideas of using aromatherapy in your beauty routine, take just a couple of minutes and decide specifically which one you’re now going to incorporate into your daily routine.
By: Sally Evans
Posts Tagged ‘Ancient Greeks’
Enhance Your Beauty Practices Naturally With Aromatherapy
April 28th, 2010Suffering for Beauty’s Sake
February 6th, 2010
How far would you go to stay beautiful? The answer depends on where you live and society’s definition of beauty. Before women “tortured” themselves with plastic surgery, Botox, and other painful cosmetic procedures, they had to endure more barbaric beauty rituals to look good.
“Adhering to the modern American standard of beauty is no small task. It demands time, money, and effort. We, as a culture, subject ourselves to invasive surgical procedures and food deprivation in the name of aesthetics. But bizarre beauty rituals are certainly not new phenomena. Since the beginning of civilization, people have altered their bodies in strange and
uncomfortable ways to fit cultural perceptions of beauty. These standards are constantly evolving and regressing based on the culture that sets them,” said Cecilia Estriech in VersusMag.Org.
Cosmetics were first used by the Egyptians in 4,000 B.C. although history shows that the ancient Greeks and Romans were also concerned about their appearance. A pale appearance was prized in those days and mercury, lead, and chalk were worn to achieve this effect.
This trend continued until the Middle Ages among European women where paleness was associated with wealth. Having a tan in those days meant you were a laborer who worked in the fields so the rich used make-up to emphasize their paleness and affluence. Sixth-century women achieved this effect by bleeding themselves using leeches or by cupping (drawing blood by heating air in a glass cup). However, those who used cosmetics were no better since this caused deformities, blindness, and even death.
“From the 1400s onwards whitening the face was one of the most common cosmetic practices. This was still popular in the 1800s. A mixture composed of carbonate, hydroxide, and lead oxide was commonly used. This could lead to muscle paralysis or death when used repeatedly,” according to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.
“During the Italian Renaissance, women wore lead paint on their faces. The damage inflicted by the lead was unintentional – but arsenic face powder wasn’t. Aqua Toffana, named for creator Signora Toffana, was a face powder designed for women from rich families. The container directed women to visit the signora for proper usage instructions. During the visit, women would be instructed never to ingest the makeup, but to apply it to their cheeks when their husbands were around. Six hundred dead husbands (and many wealthy widows) later, Toffana was executed,” added Autumn Madrano in “A Colorful History.”
In New Zealand, men of the Maori tribe would make themselves handsome by decorating their faces, thighs, and buttocks with intricate tribal patterns. The tattoos were carved into the skin with a chisel and the wounds were filled with ink. This painful procedure caused extreme swelling.
Today, women continue to pursue unrealistic beauty standards, sometimes mangling and maiming themselves in the name of vanity. They continue to equate perfect looks with a perfect life. But this is an illusion at best that only leads to unhappiness, confusion, and insecurity.
Being beautiful inside and out need not be expensive nor do you have to torture yourself in the process. All it takes is to believe in yourself, accept your limitations, and live life to the fullest. And if you need help with wrinkles, try the Rejuvinol AM/PM Botox Alternative Age-Defying System. It’s the only system that combines the nourishing effects of the Rejuvinol morning moisturizer and the muscle-relaxing Rejuvox night cream. Check out http://www.rejuvinol.com for details.
By: Sharon A Bell
