Hot Towels and Essential Oils?

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Lyddy

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I love the idea of adding a few drops of essential oils to my hot towels, but do you need a qualification in aromatherapy to use essential oils in this way?
 
I love the idea of adding a few drops of essential oils to my hot towels, but do you need a qualification in aromatherapy to use essential oils in this way?

Yes lyddy you do as some essential oils can irritate the skin, also each oil has it own way of working on the body's emotional state. They can be very potent too.
 
Yes lyddy you do as some essential oils can irritate the skin, also each oil has it own way of working on the body's emotional state. They can be very potent too.

I thought this might be the case.

Does anyone know any other way to fragrance hot towels without using essential oils?
 
I thought I saw in a post a whole back someone saying they put a special tablet from ellisons in the towel cabby to fragrance them but I could be wrong :).
 
I thought I saw in a post a whole back someone saying they put a special tablet from ellisons in the towel cabby to fragrance them but I could be wrong :).

I thought I did too! But I can't find them on the Ellisons website... Think I need to take another look!
 
I use the eve Taylor hydrolat and just spritz the damp towels before with this before placing these in the cabi and it's really nice. You could also use herbal teas to infuse the towels with before heating them ; lemon , chamomile , peppermint etc...
 
I use the eve Taylor hydrolat and just spritz the damp towels before with this before placing these in the cabi and it's really nice. You could also use herbal teas to infuse the towels with before heating them ; lemon , chamomile , peppermint etc...

Thanks Jack, herbal tea is such a clever idea :D

I don't use Eve Taylor but have been meaning to try it after hearing so many good things about it!
 
The thread with the tabs in is called 'Facials & Other Nice Bits' & was started by Matthew Taylor if you want to have a search :)
 
It seems Ellisons have now discontinued the said items above! Booooo!

Certainly consider using Hydrolat with the towels. Pour a small amount into the water, soak the towels, wring out and place in cabinet for them to infuse with the amazing aromatic scent.

We do have 5 Hydrolat's available at Eve Taylor, however not being biased you may also find other suppliers that have a selection too.
 
I don't know if this is any help, Ive never trained in aromatherapy but when i did my elemis training we used lime, lavender and rosewood on our heated mitts. The only contraindication was that if someone was pregnant we would just stick to the rosewood. All the clients would go crazy for the lime oil and it was a really nice touch.
 
I don't know if this is any help, Ive never trained in aromatherapy but when i did my elemis training we used lime, lavender and rosewood on our heated mitts. The only contraindication was that if someone was pregnant we would just stick to the rosewood. All the clients would go crazy for the lime oil and it was a really nice touch.

You would never use lime on the skin as it will irritate it and it's photo toxic to the skin. And with pregnant women the only oil that can be used is mandarin and only after the first trimester.

You can do an intro to aromatherapy if you find a collage the teaches it, most of the company's the use aroma oils in the products don't know what the dangers are. If I can help you in any way PM me.
 
A lot of companies now do premixed aromatherapy oils and a lot of therapists now train in massage using premixed aromatherapy oils. The advantage of these is they smell divine (mostly) and are safe to use, almost without exception as the ratios of the oils are very low.

I would urge caution with any sensitive client and you would obviously do a full consultation, but I have been very happy with the Eve Taylor oils my daughter has used for aromatherapy massage!
 
Elimis, decelor, dermalogica and many other facial brands teach you how to use essential oils in either the water when cleansing or or on mitts. I love to use either lavender or rose ( depending on skin type) in my water after cleansing. Then lemon when removing the mask. Due to the temperature of the oil the clients are mainly inhaling them through vaporisation rather than having them directly applied to the skin. Equally as the drops are added to the heated mitts before they go in the steamer most of the oils are evaporated in to the atmosphere. If I remember correctly (it was a while since I practiced Elimis in the spa) but wasn't the lime heated towel used to cleanse the face.
Essential Oils should never be directly to the skin, they should always be blended with a carrier oil for example only a 1% blend should be used in the face that's 1drop of essential oil to 5mls of carrier oil. This should only be performed by a fully qualified aromatherapist but I wanted to give an example of how potent the oils are !
 
?..when i did my elemis training we used lime, lavender and rosewood on our heated mitts.

Slightly off-topic, but personally I wouldn't choose to use rosewood as it is becoming endangered through (often illegal) over-harvesting, which is why, like sandalwood, many environmentally-aware companies are removing it from their formulations.

I know some companies say they are replanting the trees, but this is a mere platitude when you consider the number of decades it takes for the tree to grow to the required level of maturation for it to be harvested for essential oil production, versus the rate at which the trees are being felled.
 
Slightly off-topic, but personally I wouldn't choose to use rosewood as it is becoming endangered through (often illegal) over-harvesting, which is why, like sandalwood, many environmentally-aware companies are removing it from their formulations.

I know some companies say they are replanting the trees, but this is a mere platitude when you consider the number of decades it takes for the tree to grow to the required level of maturation for it to be harvested for essential oil production, versus the rate at which the trees are being felled.

I stopped using sandalwood even though I love it also due to the price . Plus I can't imagine Elimis they would have been using good quality rosewood.
 
I stopped using sandalwood even though I love it also due to the price.

Decleor stopped using sandalwood a while ago due to sustainability, which was a sad day as I loved the aroma of Spa Relax, but I have to say I have now fallen in love with their new formula with Veitver, Ylang Ylang and Vanilla, shows how fickle love can be!
 
Decleor stopped using sandalwood a while ago due to sustainability, which was a sad day as I loved the aroma of Spa Relax, but I have to say I have now fallen in love with their new formula with Veitver, Ylang Ylang and Vanilla, shows how fickle love can be!

That blend sounds lovely ylang ylang is a favourite and I live the benefits of vetiver it's just over powers sometimes
I think we need to start a what's your favourite essential oil/ blend thread ! Lol
 
Thanks everyone, I'm feeling very inspired!

Lime mitts sounds devine, there's an Elemis salon near me that does a ginger and lime salt scrub ::drools:: which I'm going to treat myself to one day.

That's a shame about rosewood!

Squidgernetball yes I thought you could get blended oils that weren't as potent as pure essential oils, but couldn't correctly remember.
 
The lime & ginger scrub is amazing one of my fave treats! They've just bought out a frangipani scrub which is quite similar in texture an smells gorgeous! 😍

Ryk you're right we only ever use the oils on heated mitts straight from the hot cabbie, using one drop on each mitt. We use lime on the mitts for the foot cleanse and removal of exfoliator, Lavender for the hot compress before massage and rosewood for removal of the mask. I've always been taught by Elemis that the rosewood was perfectly fine to use on pregnant woman as it's only such a small amount and not put directly on the skin.

Clients are always pleasantly surprised when they get that lovely smell mixed with the heat from the mitts, which makes me think not that many therapists do this?
 

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