Sometimes it can be really challenging for me to relax just because it is so hard for me to distract my mind and make it so that I stop focusing on a range of other things. Just so that I am able to really get the right kinds of items that can help me with relaxation, I have spent time online looking at different kinds of products that are available there for this.

Most recently, I have managed to find some great essential oils that are the perfect items to use in aromatherapy to make it so that I am able to relax a whole lot better. I really enjoy being able to spend just a bit of time working with these different aromatherapy oils each day and using them to make it so that I am able to stay calm and comfortable at all times.

With just the right kinds of items that I can use all around my home, I know that I will be able to keep myself much more relaxed. I love to diffuse these different kinds of oils to make it so that I can stay comfortable all the time. I really love the way these oils help me to get a lot more relaxed.

Shingles is a viral infection characterized by a painful rash. The rash can appear anywhere on the body but usually it is a single stripe of blisters along the right or left side of the torso. It mostly appears in people over the age of 50 but anyone can get shingles if they had chicken pox as a child or a person of any age can contract the disease if they come into contact with someone who has open sores from shingles.

You have a higher risk of developing shingles if you:

1. are over 50
2. have a weakened immune system
3. are taking cancer treatments
4. take certain medications

If you think you may have shingles, see your physician right away to prevent further complications. There is no cure for shingles but you doctor will prescribe anti-viral medications to help your symptoms and prevent complications from arising. Many people find relief with essential oils. Several essential oils have been found to help soothe painful rashes and possibly help speed up the healing process.

The seven essential oils recommended for shingles below can be used topically in the bath or in a carrier oil as a massage; or they can be diffused into the air with a diffuser. Try any of these oils alone or in a blend of 2 or 3 that you like. Use 6 to 8 drops in your bath or 2 – 4 drops in a carrier oil such as sweet almond oil or jojoba oil.

1. tea tree
2. lavender
3. chamomile
4. lemongrass
5. bergamot
6. geranium
7.  black seed oil

I have talked about massage techniques for use at home with your own massage and essential oils. I’ve even had the need to use the aromassage techniques on myself occasionally. Last night my husband began having pains in his back around his right shoulder blade. He had been trimming the hedges that go all the way around our back yard. Around bed time, he was in pain and could hardly take a deep breath.

I poured about one teaspoon of jojoba oil into the palm of my hand and added eight drops of rosemary essential oil (the bottle must already be open and ready to use.)  I used effleurage massage on his back. That is a big word that simply means you use firm or gentle soothing strokes to enable the essential oils to penetrate the body and bring about relaxation and calm to sore and aching muscles. When I stopped after only about ten minutes, he said it felt 100%  better.

As I recently began to spend just a bit of time working on making sure that I would be able to have some excellent items that I could use to take care of my skin, I was really delighted to be able to find some different kinds of creams that would be perfect for nourishing my skin. It was so easy for me to be able to find different types of creams that were the perfect items for me to use.

I decided to look for some natural creams as these were bound to be the better ones for me to use on my skin on a regular basis. My skin can be sensitive, so choosing items that don’t have any additives was something that was very important to me. I spent some time looking at some natural body creams so that I would be able to find the ones that were the very best for me to use.

Now that I have been able to work with these different creams a whole lot more, I have been really enjoying them. It is wonderful to be able to use such high quality creams on my body to care for my skin. It seems that my skin looks and feels a lot nicer when I have used these items.

A reader left a message after reading the Pretty Feet blog today. He said that he had toenail fungus for about 10 years and some very bad foot odor too. He read a previous blog about tea tree oil and smelly feet and he started to use the spray mentioned in the article for his shoes. He said there was great improvement in the shoe smell but his toenails were still thick because of the fungus.

He read that tea tree oil is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal so he started putting one neat drop of it on each nail every morning. He said that after about a week of daily use, he could see that his nails were less thick and there was less fungal growth. Toenails grow slowly so there is still some fungus there but he is beginning to see healthy nails growing in with no fungus. If he keeps that up, he will have pretty feet too, or should I say handsome feet?

There are a number of essential oils that combat bacteria and viruses but not many oils are also effective anti-fungals. Tea tree oil helps to control fungal infections by reducing the rate at which the fungus reproduces. It is often used as an alternative medical remedy to treat fungal infections like athlete’s foot.

With plants being living organisms, it makes sense that tea tree oil can treat their fungal infections too. By just diluting 4 or 5 drops in a spray bottle of water you can treat plant fungus and mold. This treatment will also rid the plant of a variety of insects which makes tea tree oil an excellent ally for your garden.

It’s not all that uncommon for people to skip out on the moisturizing phase of skin care, but it’s an important stage to reduce the visible effects of aging. When people age, their skin becomes less hydrated which necessitates the use of anti-aging moisturizers to have healthier skin. In the winter, when skin is at its driest, it’s essential to moisturize on a daily basis. There are hundreds of different moisturizer products available, and choosing the right product can be a challenge.

You don’t want to spend an arm and a leg on your moisturizing products, nor do you want a product that doesn’t work well. Not all moisturizers are created equal, so it’s important to shop around, ask friends, and read customer reviews to find the best products. When you’re using a great moisturizer, you’ll notice an immediate difference in the look and feel of your skin.

Flowers remind us of the beauty in nature that is all around us. Did you ever notice the way a bouquet brightens up a room, and how its beauty and makes you feel happy to be there? Flowers can also remind us of the love and support in our lives. That’s probably why they’ve always been a popular gift between friends, families and lovers Giving someone flowers can mean anything from “I support you,” to “I love you so much!”

This is the same effect that floral essential oils can have in aromatherapy blends. To add a warm emotional aspect to your essential oil blends, add a floral essential oil. They can inspire security, balance, and happiness. Just like a bouquet of blossoms, they can be so heartwarming!

Maybe that’s why their aromas are often referred to as heart notes (another term for “middle notes”). Heart notes offer fullness and harmony to blends, softening any hard edges of the aroma that might be too sharp, too high, or too deep.

Here’s a diffuser blend that I’ve found is supportive and uplifting after a long day:

Floral Heaven

• 6 drops lavender
• 1 drop ylang ylang
• 2 drops jasmine

Try this diffuser blend when it’s time for a little self love. Floral essential oils remind us to treat ourselves well, that we are special and that we deserve special care!

They show up in many skin care recipes, which can make us feel very pampered. Rose is popular for facial products, and lavender is probably the most famous skin loving oil of all.

Even the way some flowers are harvested and prepared shows special care in action. Take jasmine, for example. Jasmine flowers are hand-picked at night, when they’re at their most fragrant. Rose is another example—it takes about 60,000 roses to make a 1 oz (30 ml) bottle of rose essential oil!

This spring, as new flowers pop out of the ground and trees bud, try surrounding yourself with the beauty of flowers and floral oils. They can be so comforting after winter, and support you as you take on fresh growth of your own.

Thanks to Andrea Butje of Aromahead.

A lot of people could use some great skin care products but they never get around to treating themselves. I was like that for a long time until I realized just how much I was missing out on. Having some good skin care supplies really makes my natural glow come alive. When I have beautiful skin, I feel like I have this natural radiance.

Discovering beauty products of the skin care kind has helped me to enhance my daily beauty routine. I never used skin care products much in the past and I was definitely depriving myself. Good skin care was missing from my daily routine for a long time and I often had dry and itchy skin because of it. Also, my skin looked aged when it really wasn’t.

Having healthy skin has been really nice with my skin care beauty products. I no longer look like I am much older than I really am because of dry skin and I can have skin that is really soft to the touch. I can wear tops that let my shoulders peek out or show off my pedicure in some cute sandals. It is so nice not feeling like I have to hide my skin.

HAPPY EASTER!