Province Apothecary, says that essential oils can be
absorbed into your body in a few different ways. The
first way is inhalation, entering your system through
your mucous membrane and affecting your nervous sys-
tem from there. Most aromatherapists also recommend
putting essential oils in your bath because they can
enter your system that way (and it doesn’t sound like an
entirely unpleasant experience). They can also be
applied topically, penetrating the skin to enter the blood-
stream, similar to a birth control patch (Clark recom-
mends putting them at the back of your hairline).
Once they’re in your body, the oils do all the work.
“Essential oils affect your parasympathetic nervous
system [your unconscious nervous system], so you don’t
have to do anything,” says Clark. “Once they get in your
bloodstream, they will affect you, just like how drinking
camomile tea has tangible effects.”
There’s a cocktail of oils for everything from head-
aches and bug bites to stress and anxiety. But why opt for
oi ls over, say, ibuprofen? It ’s a whole body approa ch. “ T he
properties of the oil are targeted, but they also have
other benefits,” says Clark. “For instance, if I burned
myself, I could use lavender oil to calm the burn, repair
the skin, disinfect the area and stimulate cellular
regrowth, so it’s working on a topical level. But on an
internal level, I’ve also absorbed the lavender, which is
calming, comforting, analgesic and antispasmodic. I
might tense up because of the burn, but the properties of
lavender will help me release tension in my body, calm
my nervous system and relax.” This body-mind connec-
tion wouldn’t exist if she had just applied a conventional
first-aid ointment, but it would get the job done topically.
“Every essential oil is a multi-tasker,” says Clark.
Dr. Qureshi agrees. “For some people, using oils for
relief can be a bit of a ritual,” she says. “Simply taking the
time to stop and inhale the scent can make people moreA FEW YEARS AGO, IF YOU CASUALLY LISTED
lavender essential oil as your preferred sleep aid, you
probably would have received skeptical stares reserved
for talk of crystals and chakras. But it’s 2017 and essen-
tial oils are becoming more popular across Canada.
However, the million-dollar question remains: Do
essential oils work?
“I’ve always been interested in essential oils and the
traditional healing power of plants in different cul-
tures,” says Dr. Roohi Qureshi, a Toronto-based doctor
and founder of the natural skincare brand Leaves of
Trees. “A lot of our pharmacological treatments today
actually have their origins in different plants.” She cites
the likes of aspirin (originally derived from willow bark)
and digitalis (which comes from the foxglove plant), to
name a few. “It makes sense that essential oils would
have healing properties,” says Dr. Qureshi.
Even the original 1886 recipe for Coca-Cola included
essential oils like orange, lemon, nutmeg, cinnamon,
coriander and neroli. They’ve been steadily popping up
in beauty and skincare products, too. They’re no longer
strangers to the mainstream, but why the sudden leap
from crunchy health-food store aisle to swanky mall
real estate?
One of the reasons why essential oils may soon be
ubiquitous in your medicine cabinet and on your skin-
care shelf is because of our sparkly new sense of envi-
ronmental awareness. “People are seeing the difference
between chemicals – with their effects on the environ-
ment and the body – and natural remedies,” says Isabelle
Pacchioni, co-founder of the French essential oil and
natural product line Puressentiel. “We’re at a point
where we need to change our way of thinking.”
Little plants can have a big effect on your health, but
how? Ma ke no mista ke, essentia l oils a re entirely differ-
ent from the vegetable oil in your pantry. This oil – the
volatile oil that’s found within that offers extra benefits
and strength – is but one component of the plant that has
been extracted with steam distillation. The process goes
like this: Freshly picked plants are placed over boiling
water so that the steam pulls the oils out. The rising
steam is contained in a vessel and moved along a tube,
where it’s quickly cooled so that it condenses back into
water. The water and essential oil don’t mix, making it
easy to retrieve the oil. This leaves us with a highly con-
centrated oil to use for aromatherapy, the therapeutic
use of plant-derived, aromatic essential oils to promote
physical and mental wellness.
Next, the essential oil needs to get from the vial to the
body, but it’s not as simple as drinking it (which, by the
way, you should never do). Julie Clark, a certified aroma-
therapist and founder of the Toronto skincare company
best health DECEMBER | JANUARY 2018 39