@Connie Durnin who during yesterdays First Aid Kit for the Home class told us she uses Plai to get relief from Hay Fever symptoms. The more regularly used EO is Ravensara, but I had completely forgotten that Plai also has Antihystamine properties as well.... yes, even a teacher can forget things sometimes! 😊 Connie had dowsed herself for an EO and Plai popped up for her and she says it does afford her relief from the usual runny nose etc. Further though, today I had a client who is trying for a baby. Before she left she asked me if there was an oil she could use for it. Obviously the Ravensara was out of the question as it shouldn't be used in pregnancy, but I didn't want to take any chances. Funnily enough she much prefered the scent pf the Plai to the Ravensara. So, thank you Connie, for the reminder yesterday!!! ❤️

Another Great video by Elizabeth Ashley Starns and Adam Barralet. Dill is one of my favourite essential oils. Just wanted to point out to potential users that currently there are 3 kinds of Dill essential oil on the market. 1. European Dill Seed (Anethum graveolens) 2. European Dill Weed (Anethum graveolens) 3. Indian Dill Seed (Anethum sowa) The chemistry between the three is different, and so too are their uses and safety. What Adam, Liz, and I (below) are generally talking about is European Dill Seed essential oil. I first heard about Dill essential oil from Deby Atterby's book, Aromatic Detox and Elimination. It was used in some of her culinary recipes, and I found that 1-2 drops added to a soup brought amazing flavour. As Liz pointed out, it's a great digestive tonic to ease bloating, stomach cramping, excess wind, and indigestion, thanks to its antispasmodic properties. It's also really good in skin care, interestingly enough, to promote firm, healthy skin by supporting the skin's structure and elastin by stimulating fibroblasts. It can act as an alleviator of asthma symptoms, also thanks to its antispasmodic nature. In Greek, Dill is known as anethon (ἄνηθον), pronounced ah-nee-thos, and is believed to have originated from a young, beautiful, youthful man named Anethus who was transformed into the small, yellow flowering plant which bore his name. Culturally, it was used not only for food but also for its scent, specifically as garlands in body oils. Greek Physicians and soldiers applied dill to their wounds to speed up healing, and as used by Hippocrates, Dioscordies and Pliny externally to treat burns and internally to 'stayeth the hickets,' which is an old way of saying to stop hiccups.

@Matthew Sulpizi wrote a piece on Dill, which you will find here: https://www.skool.com/maverick-aromatherapy-3200/dill-essential-oil We had an interesting conversation which culminated in this response from me with regards to absorption and elimination of EO's in and out of the body. I felt it was an important response for everyone to have a read, so here it is: Matthew: "From what I under depending on ythe essential oil in question and its unique chemistry, the bodys ability to absorb and metabolise essential oils will greatly differ anything from 15-30 minutes to be absorbed into the body and by the time its eliminated, this could take anything from 3 hours to a couple of days. We simply don't know exactly because there are too many variables and no one has really studied or published enough information about this for each of the essentials used in clinical practice." Me: You are right, we do not know exactly, and Tisserand is cited quite regularly having "thoroughly" investigated this. However, I was trained by Marguerite Maury's 'descendants'. As you know she was a biochemist, unlike Tisserand. My point being that she investigated the bioavailability and metabolic rate of elimination of EO's from the body. Granted she wouldn't have investigated every single EO, and there are far more available today. What was passed on to me in my training was this: the elimination rate can be calculated determined my the molecular size of the EO based on perfumery's top, middle and base notes. The rule of thumb for elimination is as follows: Top notes 2-3 days, Middle notes 3-5 days and Base notes up to a week and sometimes a little longer. Sandalwood EO was found in urine 7 days after a single application. Many decades ago, my teacher introduced us to a lady who taught us how to dowse for EO's. Early on I found that if a client would come back to me just a day or two after completing their course for what I call an "oil change", the dowser would pick out some of the same oils from the original blend.

Did you know that German Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) essential oil has various chemotypes? Often when I talk with my fellow Aromatherapy Students on German Chamomile, they are unaware that this essential oil has various chemotypes and as a result, each specific chemotype is more suited for one therapeutic action over another. The chemotypes are produced based on the geographical and environmental area in which the chamomile is grown. So what are these chemotypes? According to Robert Tisserand and Rodney Young in the 2nd Edition of Essential Oil Safety page 242 to 245, there are six chemotypes of Chamomile Blue. These are: 1. α-Bisabolol Oxide A (Egyptian, German, Dutch) 2. α-Bisabolol Oxide A / E-β-Farnesene (Egypt) 3. α-Bisabolol Oxide A / α-Bisabolol Oxide B (Brazil) 4. Farnesene / Chamazulene (Bulgarian) 5. α-Bisabolol / E-β-Farnesene (Finnish 6. α-Bisabolol Oxide A / Chamazulene (German) Even though Tisserand and Young have written about six chemotypes, there is another chemotype I have come across. I purchased a German Chamomile from the company Florihana According to Florihana, the batch that I purchased, FLE015H191224F/2, is steam distilled from the wild-harvested flowering tops grown in France. Looking at the batch-specific GC/MS that Florihana provides (see below), the percentage ranges for the six chemotypes listed above and in the book do not match what the Florihana GC/MS shows. Based on the GC/MS, I believe the batch of German Chamomile I have is an E-β-Farnesene (France) chemotype, as the GC/MS shows it has 42.478% of this constituent, the highest constituent identified. The amount of α-Bisabolol is 2.518%, its Farnesene is non-existent, and its Chamazulene is at 2.570%. When looking at Tisserand's 6 Chemotypes, specifically those with E-β-Farnesene, the percentage ranges for the chemical constituents and secondary constituents that make up the chemotype are nowhere near as close as shown in bold below: 1. α-Bisabolol Oxide A (38.7%) / E-β-Farnesene (25.7%) 2. Farnesene (27.7%)  / Chamazulene (17.6%) 3. α-Bisabolol (32.4 - 60.1%) / E-β-Farnesene (11.6 - 43.8%)

Latest batch of books have arrived in time for a full day presentation @Nicky Milligan ’s on the 19th April. If you are local to Gloucester @Ewa Skabek @Connie Durnin @Davina Salter why not come along? You’ll also get a separate handout to accompany the book with suggestions of alternative EO’s to 20 of the EO’s covered in the book. Cost is £45, but if you already have my book that cost is deducted to £20! Bring your own lunch!