ABOUT Aromatherapy

What is Aromatherapy and how does it work?

Aromatherapy is the holistic art and science of using extracted therapeutic essences from plants to harmonize our whole person- the physical, psychological, and spiritual.

What does holistic mean?

Our mind, body, and spirit are connected. Essential oils work to assist the physical body and bring harmony to the emotional, mental, and spiritual body at the same time. For instance, someone may be using essential oils to ease back pain and inflammation, and because that aforementioned holistic nature, those same oils will simultaneously ease the emotional stress and frustration tied to that back pain.

Essential Oils

What are these “therapeutic essences”?

Are they magic molecules that appear when wizards wave their wands in the woods?! No… though this is a book I now want to read.

Essential oils are the essences of plants.

In their natural form, these essences are produced by certain plants to help ward off insects, protect themselves from disease, and communicate with other plants.

Not all plants produce these intelligent essences, but lucky for us, there are many that do. To produce pure essential oil, the compounds are extracted from plants primarily through steam distillation, cold pressing, or solvent extraction.

Quality, unadulterated, pure essential oils can help with a variety of daily needs. Research has shown us that their therapeutic benefits are infinite ranging from reducing pain, stress relief, hormone balancing, skin healing, and immune support.

It’s important to use 100% pure essential oils to receive their benefits.

Topsy Blends Essential Oils

As you might have guessed, Topsy Blends uses only high-quality oils with 100% pure volatile aromatic compounds extracted from plants without any additives or synthetic fillers.

I also source essential oils from farms that practice sustainable agriculture to produce oils that have either been derived from organically grown plants or wildcrafted in their native regions to produce the highest quality natural, therapeutic oil.

The Difference Between
Fragrance Oils & Essential Oils

Hint: There is a vast difference between fragrance oils and essential oils.

Essential oils are highly concentrated pure and therapeutic aromatic compounds; straight from Mother Nature.

Fragrance oils can be a combination of synthetic, man-made molecules and naturally-derived ingredients. They can contain harmful chemicals. Fragrance oils are often much less expensive than essential oils to produce and can offer a wider variety of scents.

In summary, fragrance oils are synthetic, artificial scents, whereas pure essential oils are 100% natural and therapeutic.

How to tell the difference between fragrance oils and essential oils.

You can often tell the difference between the two based on a few key factors:

Check the ingredient list. *Even if the product is labeled as “natural.” If a product lists “fragrance” in its ingredients list as opposed to listing the name of essential oil, it contains fragrance oils.

If a product is priced significantly lower than what you’d expect, it might contain fragrance oils.

Essential oils should be bottled in dark-colored glass bottles to protect from the sun to maintain purity. Fragrance oils can be bottled in clear plastic or glass.

Are there any benefits to fragrance oils?

Since our sense of smell impacts the limbic system, the part of our brain that processes emotions, memories, and stress; one could argue that fragrance oils can trigger positive (or negative) responses based on memories and past emotions. I would agree with this! However, that’s where their ‘therapeutic’ benefit would end.

Essential oils on the other hand, can be used for countless therapeutic health and wellness benefits —energy boosts, calming a panic attack, helping us focus our attention, clearing our sinuses — and on and on!

As you can see, aromatherapy offers much more than something that just “smells good.” Though at Topsy Blends, we’re all about the good smells AND the therapeutic benefits. If you are looking to reap the therapeutic benefits of nature, be sure to use products made with pure essential oils.