Top Notes, Middle Notes and Base Notes: Essential Oils

Essential Oils: Top Notes, Middle Notes and Base Notes

If you're looking to enhance your skin and overall beauty, there is perhaps no better way to do it than by using essential oils. Of course, essential oils serve a lot more purposes than just beautifying because they are also used as alternative medicines. But no matter if you're using essential oils to make yourself look 10 years younger or cure a common cold, it's important to understand what oils are used for what purposes. This being said, let's take a took at the basics of essential oils, the different notes, and how to use the oils.

Essential oils are concentrated liquids that come from plants, and they have noticeable fragrances. The oils are extracted by either distillation (separating mixtures by boiling them) or the less common method of solvent extraction (separating from one liquid phase to another). Essential oils are usually classified by their notes, which is another word for scent characteristics. In order to enhance the qualities of essential oils, notes are often combined to create useful products.

Now that the boring scientific explanation of essential oils is out of the way, let's move on to discussing the different notes and their uses!

The name "top note" is somewhat misleading in essential oils because they don't last long, and they tend to be relatively inexpensive in stores. Of course, this isn't to say that top notes aren't important because they are used to combat depression, fatigue, and a lack of focus. When top notes are mixed with both middle and high notes, the top note is what people normally smell first because they act so fast. Of course, it is this fast-acting nature that causes top notes to disappear quickly.

Some of the common top notes that you'll find include eucalyptus, bergamot, cajuput, cinnamon, basil, petitgrain, corriander, lime, tangerine, tea tree, cedarwood, lemon, verbena, and rosemary.

Middle notes include the largest number of essential oils, and they offer the most benefits in regards to health and beauty. Many middle notes have the ability to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, cellulite and stretch marks, plus they are useful for healing skin problems like bruises, cuts, and burns. Middle notes have also been known to reduce pain associated with stiff joints and arthritis. In conjunction with other notes, the middle notes are very effective at linking properties between the mental and physical benefits. It's for this reason why middle notes are combined with both top and base notes.

As far as the fragrance for middle notes goes, they aren't always smelled immediately because it takes a while for them to act. Some of the common middle notes include juniper, chamomile, geranium, cardamom, lavender, ylang ylang, cypress, fennel, melissa, ginger, chamomile, cypress, hyssop, jasmine, rose, hyssop, juniper, peppermint, marjoram, black pepper, cardamom, fennel, geranium, ho leaf, lavender, marjoram, melissa, rosemary, spikenard, yarrow, myrtle, nutmeg, palma rosa and pine.

Base notes draw their name from the fact that they are usually extracted from tree and plant roots buried deep in the ground. Like top notes, base notes have a lot of properties for combating various feelings and emotions such as anxiety, anger, frustration, and nervousness. Some people even believe that base notes have the power to alleviate deep-seeded psychological problems when used long-term.

Out of all the notes, base notes take the longest to start acting; however, their fragrance and qualities also stay around the longest, and their scent is very strong and noticeable too. Some base notes are oak moss, frankincense, ginger, jasmine, myrrh, balsam peru, cedarwood, cinnamon, ylang ylang, clove, patchouli, rose, rosewood, sandalwood, vanilla, vetiver.

When it comes to buying essential oils from stores, there are a few things you want to keep in mind. Be careful when buying oils that are marked "perfume oil" or "fragrance oil" because they might not have all (or any) of the useful properties that you're looking for. In some cases, vendors only use chemicals to make their essential oils, so it pays to do a little research before you buy products.

Another term to watch out for when buying essential oils is "aromatherapy grade" because there is no agency that grades oils with this label. Now this isn't to say that you shouldn't ever buy a product with this term; just know that some companies are willing to attach phrases like this to products without any basis.

One other important thing you should do when buying essential oils is email the company asking questions that you want to know. Even if you don't have any specific questions, it's always good to email an online essentials oil store just to see how their customer service department is. The better the customer service is, the better the chance of them having good products!

There are several different ways to use essential oils beginning with inhalation. To inhale an essential oil, put a few drop on a tissue, and breath in; you'll find that the product starts acting almost immediately this way. You can also use essential oils by adding them to a humidifier or vaporizer. In some cases, this way works much better than inhaling the oils.

One more popular way to use essential oils is to combine them with massage oil, and rub the mixture into your skin. If you're going to do this, make sure you are very knowledgeable about essential oils so that you don't cause an allergic reaction or breakouts. The same goes for when you combine essential oils together in a bottle because you don't want to regret your decision to use these oils. Also, make sure that the bottle you combine the oils in is sterilized.

In any case, essential oils can be very beneficial to your over health and beauty, so consider giving them a try!

 

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