Jasmine Oil

Jasmine Oil Very expensive and difficult to produce, jasmine oil is known for it's anti-inflammatory properties, it's deep rich scent, and it's ability to help calm and restore the skin. It is often called the "king of essential oils" and has been trusted for centuries for it's soothing effect on skin irritations along with it's ability to help calm and restore the skin.

Lemon Peel Oil

Lemon Peel Introduced to Europe by the returning Crusaders in the Middle Ages, lemon peel oil helps bring balance to the fluids in the cells of the skin. It helps stabilize the pH of the skin by counteracting the acidity on it's surface. Lemon oil also helps calm redness and irritation and freshen dull, dry skin.

Orange Peel Oil

Orange peel A gentle aromatic oil extracted from the peel of bitter oranges, orange peel oil helps sooth, soften and clarify the skin. It helps protect the skin against free radical damage because, just like lemon peel oil, it is a concentrated form of vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant. It adds an enchanting, floral note and was used in ancient Greece and Rome.

Grapefruit Peel Oil

Grapefruit peel Very high in vitamin C, grapefruit helps protect against free radical damage and has a cleansing effect on the skin. It is also used in anti-cellulite treatments and in massage oils. As with all citrus oils, grapefruit peel oil helps to brighten dull, tired skin.


Rose Flower Oil

Rose is the world's most precious essential oil and is celebrated in legend. According to Greek myth, the red rose sprang from the blood of Adonis and the name rosa means "red" in Greek. It helps sooth sensitive skin.

Sweet Almond Oil

Sweet Almond OilAlmond trees are believed to have originated in the Mediterranean area around Greece. Sweet almond oil is obtained from dried kernels of the almond tree. This oil is an excellent emollient and helps the skin to balance it's loss and absorption of moisture. It is a light, non-greasy, penetrating oil, rich in essential fatty acids and vitamins A, B1, B2, B6 and E.

Peppermint Oil

Peppermint oilWidely cultivated for it's fragrant oil, peppermint has been used for centuries, it dates back to ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. (It's name is derived from "Mintha", a Greek nymph.) Because of it's wonderful aroma, the ancient Greeks rubbed peppermint leaves on dining tables to welcome guests. Peppermint refreshes the senses and helps invigorate and replenish tired, stressed skin.

Sesame Seed Oil

Sesame seed oilThe use of the healthful properties of sesame seed oil can be traced back almost 5,000 years. It is a natural skin moisturizer and antioxidant, rich in lecithin, Vitamin B complex and Vitamin E, and is easily absorbed into the skin.

Chamomile Flower Oil

Chamomile flower oilThe name chamomile is derived from the Greek "chamos" (ground) and "melos" (apple.) Chamomile has been mentioned in medical writings for centuries and was celebrated for it's cleansing, anti-inflammatory properties. In Greek tradition, chamomile is called the "plant physician" because it heals ailing plants in it's vicinity. It contains azulene, which helps to reduce puffiness and cleanse impurities from the pores, as well to help soften the skin. The British Herbal Compendium lists chamomile for use with irritated skin.

Edelweiss Extract

Edelweiss extractEdelweiss is a small, perennial flower found high in Mountain settings where the air is very clean. Thus it is exposed to high UV radiation and extremes of temperature during the growing season. Because of this, edelweiss developed protective metabolites and a high concentration of flavonoids to make it an excellent antioxidant and free-radical scavenger with the ability to help neutralize the oxides involved in aging of the skin.

Avocado Oil

Avocado oilNatural avocado oil is easily absorbed by the skin. It's nourishing emollient properties make it ideal to help relieve dry, dehydrated skin. It is also high in sterolins (plant steroids), which help reduce age spots and moisturize the upper layers of the skin. It is rich in Vitamins A, B1, B2, D, E, essential fatty acids and lecithin. A 1991 study at the Department of Food Engineering and Biotechnology (Technion-Israel Institute of Technology) found that skin treatment with avocado oil significantly increases water soluble collagen.

Olive Fruit Oil

Olive fruit oilPeople in the Mediterranean region have considered olive oil sacred for thousands of years. In Greek mythology, the goddess Athena is said to have conveyed this wonderful plant to the people. Rich in Vitamins A, D, E and K, plus antioxidants like flavonoids and polyphenols, olive oil is an effective component in neutralizing the free radicals that damage healthy skin and contribute to aging. Olive oil also helps the skin regulate it's natural moisturizing systems. Because of it's unique ability to mix with water, it penetrates deeper into the skin, helping it to hold moisture without clogging the pores.

Lavender Oil

Lavender oilLavender oil is one of the most widely used essential oils and is native to the Mediterranean region. It was used to help wounds in ancient Greece and Rome and still is today. In addition to it's calming, relaxing fragrance, the lavender flower has natural antiseptic and astringent properties when applied to the skin that were recognized centuries ago. (In fact Greek and Roman soldiers often carried lavender oil in first-aid kits.) Because it is high in esters, lavender oil can help sooth irritated skin and protect it from further damage


What is phytotherapy?

Phytotherapy is the use of plants, either in whole food form or in the form of standardized extracts and supplements, for healing purposes. Its roots trace all the way back to the beginnings of time and still stand strong in much of the world today.

It’s not surprising that the study of plants for medicinal purposes led to what we now know as pharmaceuticals. Most of the drugs conventional practitioners prescribe today have roots in the plant world. The difference is that pharmaceutical companies change the chemical structure of the compound not only to specialize and magnify its actions, but also to patent the medication and sell it as their unique product. Since plants found in nature can be used and sold by everyone, phytotherapy is more accessible to the general world. It is also, in most cases, much gentler on our bodies than pharmaceutical medications.

What I like about phytotherapy is that it’s used to prevent health concerns as well as treat them — which to my mind is much more in line with a functional approach to healing. Sadly, conventional medicine has moved into the dangerous habit of treating symptoms as they arise instead of looking at an individual’s whole health picture. Phytotherapy uses cell signaling to affect our bodies early on in the processes of disease and imbalance, which is ultimately far less disruptive to the system. For this reason the results often last longer. What’s particularly fascinating is the way phytotherapy works in conjunction with the endocrine system.