Aromatherapy can be a very useful and fun healing alternative to western medicine for children, just as for adults. You can easily use essential oils for treating minor physical and emotional ailments: from preparing for a restful sleep to tummy aches. Children just love aromas and they respond very well to this alternative way of enhancing their daily life. Essential oils should not be used on children under 3 years old except under medical advice, however - but for children under this age, you can choose the hydrosols as they are much more gentle and safe for them.

When creating blends or using single oils for kids, just remember these basic rules:

• Use 1/3 to 1/2 the dose you’d use for an adult (according to their age, so 1/3 dose from 3 to 6 years old and 1/2 for older children).

• Use a base vegetable oil such as jojoba or sweet almond.

• Never use essential oils undiluted on the skin.

• Never take essential oils internally.

• Make a patch test to prevent any allergies issues.

• Do not spray essential oils or an aromatherapy blend directly on children.

• Prepare room diffusions at least one hour before bedtime

Essential oils and aromatherapy work wonders for minor ailments such as tummy aches, insomnia and nervousness, anxiety, over-activity, colds, bronchitis, air purification during winter as a prevention remedy and much more!

Your aromatherapy emergency kit should include:

• Lavender: calming, relieves anxiety and nervousness, for good night sleep, healing burns. 5 drops of lavender and 4 drops of tea tree work great as antibacterial recipe added in the washing machine.

• Tea tree: for burns and bruises, insect bites etc. In a 1oz bottle filled with pure and organic aloe vera, pour one drop of lavender and one drop of tea tree and shake well. This is fantastic for healing insect bites, burns, bruises. Keep it in the lower section of the fridge.

• Sweet Orange: the essential oil for happiness! the perfect remedy against a bad mood too. Pour 4 drops of sweet orange and 4 drops of lavender in 8oz of unscented organic body wash for a sweet aromatic calming bath time.

• Fennel: for any digestive disturbances, mixed with lavender and roman chamomile and massaged on the abdomen.

• Roman Chamomile: the oil for dispelling tantrums! One drop on a tissue should calm the child during a car drive, or after school drama, etc.

• Eucalyptus: an air purifier, it enhances breathing and clears the lungs during winter time. Use 3 drops of eucalyptus and 3 drops of lemon on a bowl filled with warm water and leave it on the heater during winter time or use 8 drops of eucalyptus and 8 drops of lemon and pour it into a 4oz spray bottle, fill it with grain alcohol and spray once into each corner of the bedroom in the morning and one hour before bedtime.

• Mandarin: every child’s favourite! It is great for cranky ones, or to overcome sadness and fear. 10 drops of mandarin and sweet orange in a bottle of warm water mixed with unscented organic cleaning detergent is just perfect to cleanse all children materials: school bags, furniture,

• Lemon: a strong antibacterial agent and air purifier.  Add one drop of lemon in a 4oz unscented organic hand washing soap to thoroughly cleanse hands after school or the playground.

And that’s all there is to it… just some quick and easy, all-natural solutions to everyday scrapes and upsets that will help turn those frowns around… fast!

Françoise Rapp

Having seen our posts about pH quoted on a site about the need for soap to be ‘drying’ in order to clean skin properly, we have since been mulling over the merits (or lack thereof) of using soap and water.

The author of TheSoapBlog.com makes a great case for using homemade skin care over chemical-laden manufactured products such as The Dove Beauty Bar. However, we differ on a couple of fundamental points when it comes to the importance of pH and so I have called upon our lovely bioesthetician Ishtar Magally to clarify her thinking…

The author says that the drying effect of soap is not a problem because, “within 20 minutes [of washing], [the acid mantle] is about 1/3 strength and within 2-3 hours, it is back up at full strength.”

However, Ishtar suggests that unfortunately this isn’t quite true. “The skin will be able to restore its stripped oils if, and only if, pH-balanced formulas were used to cleanse it. pH-disturbing formulas will simply strip almost all the natural oils of the skin making it impossible for our glands to restore the normal acid range.

As a result two things could happen here:

1. The skin is unable to replenish the stripped oils leading to dry, sensitive skin.
2. The sebaceous glands produce too much oil as a result of over-stripping, leading to overly oily, acne-prone skin.”

She adds: “The truth is that those of us who have been using pH-balanced formulas for a while know from personal experience what a great difference it makes to keep the skin working within the right pH range.”

This is why we advocate using an all-natural and organic mildly acidic cleanser and toner because soap and water are both too alkaline to promote the healthiest environment for your skin.

If you are still pH-confused (and we understand why you might be), you can read more here.

And don’t forget, if you are in the US you can fire your questions (in English or Spanish) directly to Ishtar on the live chat section of the site 11am-3pm EST Monday to Thursday. And if you are in Europe, you can speak to Francoise 11am-3pm GMT.