Orange Glamor: oils and their uses

No, I'm not going to recommend you to book an appointment with a masseur. I'm here to talk about easy to do, everyday massage. Massage need not necessarily be done with oils. You don't get beautiful skin by using more product. Whatever you use, whether a cream or shower gel, it's at least thrice as effective if you massage it.

And if we are talking about healing and relaxation, it can be easily done yourself in minutes, without spending dollars. Though I suppose people enjoy spa experiences more because of the luxury it offers, making you feel like a king or queen. But if you are truly after relaxation and rejuvenation, I reckon it's better done at home, not only cheaply.

Personally, I used to give myself a full body massage with mustard oil before bath. Half an hour before bath, I'd apply it on my whole body and keep rubbing it until bath time. I don't think it can be kept longer than that because mustard oil feels really sticky and if you keep it on for too long, it starts to itch. It makes skin shiny though and it actually treats itchiness of scalp (speaking from personal experience).

Now, I use pure almond oil and I don't have to even massage the whole body to be relaxed. Massaging my ears is enough. It gives me energy, brightens up the eyes and improves breathing. If you apply it on the neck and ears, then definitely you can feel the body relaxed, especially the face. If you have a headache, then too, massaging it relieves the ache. Like mustard oil, it too gets rid of an itchy scalp while also making hair soft and radiant.

Though be careful, mixed oils are completely different from pure oils. But I don't think you need to be a scientist to detect them. Mixed oils mostly state that they are mixed. All you have to do is reading the ingredients.

I wouldn't say mixed or fancy oils are all useless. They are pretty good too, they just serve a different purpose. They often smell great. Of course, pure oils smell amazing but certain hair oils have a fragrance similar to talc and perfume, something you can wear at a party. Also, some of them have different oils among them, one or more to give strength to the hair, others for shine. Some are also designed to take effect in a short time, so you don't have to keep them overnight.

While they may smell good and even make your hair pretty, I wouldn't recommend them for body massage or for problems like itchiness.

Image: Emma Watson

An article by Sanya Garland 😊

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Most of us have heard about essential oils but not everyone realizes their power. There aren't many things in the world which improve health as easily as essential oils do. Today, I'm going to give you a brief account of my experience with peppermint oil and tea tree oil.

One important thing to be said about essential oils is that you would reach a much better result if you follow the instructions. I have used undiluted tea tree oil a few times and even though it didn't harm my skin, it made me feel like my head is burning when I used on scalp. It worked a lot better when I used it mixed in olive oil. Both these oils are known to cure dandruff and scalp itchiness, so it's a good idea to use them together for a scalp massage. It's not only that tea tree oil didn't burn when used diluted, it also treated the scalp problems so much more. The massage also improved overall health and seemed like it removed a lot of infection from the body. Tea tree oil is famous for being anti-fungal and anti-bacterial.

Peppermint oil is cheaper than most essential oils, but that's no reason to think it's any less beneficial. In fact, few essential oils are edible and peppermint oil is one of them. I don't even take a drop, I just press the opened bottle on my palm and lick. It tastes minty, like menthol toffees. It instantly wakes me up and energizes me, making me feel more alive. It also instantly improves digestion. You would feel it's effect the following day as well. Peppermint oil can be added to dishes as well, as a garnishing ingredient or to herbal teas. It also seems to remove infection from the body like tea tree, though obviously if you ingest it, it would get rid of the infections in the stomach more than other parts. Don't be alarmed if it makes you go to the toilet a bit more than usual though. Natural things have this way of purifying our body. Another day, I added 5 drops of peppermint oil to 2 tablespoons of olive oil and massaged the concoction on some parts of the body. It improved overall health and solved the problem of peeing a bit more often than usual. One massage, that's all it took.

To be noted: I generally keep oils on for a long time, sometimes for even longer than 24 hours. While I've found that keeping oils for long on the body helps, keeping them for too long on the head can actually make the head itch!

Image: Jennifer Lawrence