EstherNaturally.com

Esther Naturally is a family-owned business that began in 2006. We are committed to offering the highest quality natural products that give you:

• Nutritious skin care through natural vegetable oils or seed oils as our bases.
• Potent therapeutic results through pure essential oils.
• Restoration of your skin to health and beauty with locally grown herbs.
• Strong anti-aging serums and crèmes fortified with antioxidants and vitamin E and C.
• Maximum protection and revitalizing for your skin with ingredients such as:

Beeswax         Pomegranate juice

Shea butter    Vitamins E, C

Aloe vera        Cocoa butter

Rose hips      Jojoba oil

Did you know that breathing essential oils has an effect on your mind? Essential oils alone can make you feel better about yourself? They are able to improve your frame of mind, lessen stress, and stimulate you to become more active. They can also help you relax or fall asleep more easily. The result is that you are a happier person.

Essential oils such as peppermint or eucalyptus strengthen brain waves, sharpen your mind and speed up your reactions. This is comparable to what takes place when you drink coffee, but without caffeine’s negative effect on your adrenal glands. An essential oil like chamomile has the reverse result. It slows down brain wave patterns and relaxes you like taking a sedative drug, but without side effects.

Pleasing fragrances put people into better moods and cause them to be more eager to cooperate and compromise. For instance, aromas channeled into hospital rooms lessen the anxiousness of patients, staff, and friends and families.

The smell of a skincare product is oftentimes as important as any other factor when you are choosing which product to use. It definitely adds to your pleasure as you use it. Observe your first reaction the next time you shop for a skin lotion or hair rinse. The first or second thing you probably will do is open up the lid to find out how it smells.

This is how breathing essential oils works:

Each time you inhale something aromatic – say your best-loved sweet-smelling flower or perfume – thousands of microscopic scent molecules enter your nose. Way up in your nose, odor receptors capture these molecules. These receptors are able to tell the difference between every one of the different scents.

After the odor receptors collect info concerning an aroma, they transmit a report to your brain. This report avoids the central nervous system and the parts of the brain that control reasoning. Instead, the nose sends its fragrance data to a part of your brain called the limbic system.

One of the numerous tasks carried out by the limbic system is to give notice to your body’s warning system of possible danger. The limbic system also directly transmits information to the hypothalamus and pituitary glands. By way of these glands, your sense of smell affects all your different hormones and your immune system. They also regulate your appetite, digestion, sexual arousal, memory, body temperature and heartbeat.

The information for this post is taken from:

• Kathi Keville. Aromatherapy for Dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc, 1999

The size of a molecule of essential oil is incredibly tiny. These small molecules are able to pass through your skin without much difficulty. Your skin will not absorb every drop of oil, however. A small quantity of essential oil evaporates just from the warmth of your skin, and a little stays on the surface of your skin.

 This assimilation does not take place all at one time. Essential oils are formed from lots of different compounds, and some go through your skin quicker than others. The most absorbable components can appear in your blood 20 minutes after you massage them on your skin.

 Try this out. Cut a clove of garlic in half and rub the cut surface freely on the sole of your foot. Put socks on and wait. It will require your blood system about 20 minutes to transport the essential oil of garlic all through your body. You’ll know because you’ll be able to taste it. Not simply can you taste garlic, but its potent antiseptic activity is operating all over your body.

 Essential oils tend to go right where you need them. Assume that you have a sore muscle and would like to make use of an essential oil like chamomile to relieve the pain. Rub a massage oil that includes chamomile essential oil on the sore area, and you’ll dispatch the absorbable portions of the oil to your aching muscle that lies underneath the skin.

 Not only does the troubled region obtain nearly the entire healing dose when you put aromatherapy products on your skin, but a smaller amount of essential oil goes into your blood stream. Not as much essential oil in your blood means less oil has to be processed by your liver.

 Essential oils must be diluted before they may safely be applied to your skin. This is commonly done by mixing a small amount of essential oil with a large quantity of a vegetable oil. Every aromatherapy product that contains vegetable oil – and that includes skin lotion, facial cream, salve, and massage oil – slows down the assimilation of essential oil by your skin. This means that a little less essential oil is absorbed into your body. What is going on is that large molecules in vegetable oils such as sweet almond oil or olive oil are too large to go through your skin, so they remain on surface of your skin and hold onto some of the essential oil while they’re at it. This is good for your skin since it provides the essential oils a chance to do their work directly to your skin.

The information for this post is taken from:

• Kathi Keville. Aromatherapy for Dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc, 1999

Everybody realizes that a healthy diet is good for you. However, do you know that specific foods also cause your skin to be more attractive?

 Therefore, we suggest you include the following foods in your diet as often as possible:

 Blueberries

 Blueberries are full of anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are the pigments that give blueberries their dark blue color. They are also strong antioxidants. Antioxidants help to protect your skin from the damaging effects of the sun.

 But unlike sunscreens and moisturizers, antioxidants protect your skin from the inside out by guarding your cells from damage. Because antioxidants protect cells and encourage cell growth they also help fight fine lines and wrinkles.

 If possible, eat ½ cup to 1 cup of blueberries every day. For a change, you can replace blueberries with blackberries, red or purple grapes, or raspberries. They also are an excellent source of anthocyanins.

 Chocolate

For good-looking skin, be sure to eat chocolate frequently. Researchers say that a dark chocolate candy bar possesses just as many antioxidants as an equal quantity of spinach, prunes, raisins, kale, and brussel sprouts, combined.

Cacao is the plant that is responsible for dark chocolate’s great flavor. Dark chocolate contains a large quantity of the flavonoid resveratrol that is the same heart-healthy antioxidant we find in red wine. Current studies indicate that cacao’s flavonoids shield your skin from UV damage. In addition, they open your blood vessels. This boosts blood flow and carries nutrients to the surface and deeper layers of your skin and increases skin hydration, thickness, and smoothness.

Most authorities urge eating only very dark chocolate, with at least 70 percent cacao. Cacao nibs or cocoa power are single-ingredient foods and thus the best sources of straight cacao. (Cacao nibs are cacao beans that have been fermented, roasted, stripped of their husks, and broken into bits.) The next time you bake banana bread, try replacing half the walnuts with cacao nibs for a tasty treat. Or combine nibs with cashews and dried fruit, such as cherries or cranberries, for a new twist on trail mix. Cocoa powder can be a great add-on to chili con carne, or try mixing the dry powder with sea salt for a rub on grilled meat.

Citrus

 Shield your skin from the negative effects of stress by consuming citrus and other vitamin C-rich foods, such as broccoli or strawberries.

 When you expose your skin to the sun, a chemical reaction takes place, producing free radicals that can injure cells and modify DNA. This shows up as age spots, wrinkles, and sagging skin. But vitamin C helps prevent this reaction from occurring.

 Vitamin C also promotes the creation of collagen, the structural foundation that keeps your skin soft and elastic, and diminishes wrinkles.

 Incorporate two to three servings of vitamin C-rich foods in your diet every day. When you take vitamin C internally, it will reach every layer and part of your skin.

 In addition to vitamin C, citrus fruits provide a unique nutrient called d-limonene. You find d-limonene in the peel of the fruit. Investigators have observed that people who eat citrus rind at least one time a week experience less occurrence of squamous cell skin cancer. Grate citrus peel and include it in salads or main dishes.

 The information for this post was taken from:

•  Laurel Vukovic, “Beautiful Inside And Out” Better Nutrition magazine, June, 2010
•  Emily Stone, “Health By Chocolate” Natural Solutions Magazine, April, 2010
•  Lindsay Wilson, “The Beauty Bar – Vitamin C” Natural Solutions Magazine, January, 2009