Of late, the popularity of aroma therapy in particular has helped highlight the uses of essential oil in the global stage. Even Nepalis are slowly becoming interested in them, says Sandeep Baral, Managing Director of Everest Aroma Pvt. Ltd.
"In the next five years, I predict there will be a significant spike in the popularity of essential oils. It truly is only a matter of time because they have so many benefits from breathing and relaxation to elevating your mood, improving cognitive function to even relieving pain. No wonder, many in the west have recognized essential oils as a must have. Here, with the likes of aroma therapy, I believe we are slowly catching up," says Baral.
Everest Aroma Pvt. Ltd is one of the handful essential oil manufactures in our country. Though there are more than two dozen traders dealing with this natural product, manufactures are apparently still few and far between.
In fact Baral shares that it was only a little more than a decade ago that he learnt about aromatic plants. As he remembers, these plants were bought in and planted to stop certain animals and insects from ruining the crops. The farmers had discovered that the smell of aromatic plants helped keep the poachers at bay. Then to make the most of the situation, certain NGOs began encouraging and teaching villagers to develop essential oils. Baral happened to be one of them. He even went to India to study aromatic and medicinal plants to learn more about them.
Today the likes of Everest Aroma Pvt. Ltd make a decent earning from exporting their products. Since its popularity is yet to catch up in Nepal, their biggest clients come from Europe and they have been reaping many benefits from the products.
So The Week brings you everything you need to know about essential oils.
Essential oils are wholly natural and cannot be patented.
This means that you'll never see an essential oil in a pharmaceutical drug. As such, you can expect that the vast majority of mainstream healthcare practitioners will never recommend essential oils as therapeutic alternatives to drugs. This is one of the main reasons why our scientific knowledge of essential oils is limited. What we know about them are things that have been passed down through thousands of years of personal use and experimentation.
Enormous amounts of plants are needed to produce essential oil.
In fact, on the extreme end, it takes 4000 pounds of Bulgarian roses to produce one pound of essential oil. So, can you imagine how concentrated essential oils must be, in light of how many plants are used to produce even a little of it.
Essential oils will last for at least 5 years (if not 10), so one bottle could literally last you a decade.
Hopefully that thought will help mitigate the cost involved in purchasing some essential oils because they are so concentrated and since only a tiny amount is needed in anything you do, they'll last you a very, very long time. The only exception to this rule is citrus oils, which will see a reduction in potency after a year or two.
Most essential oils should never be used undiluted on the skin.
Instead, they should be combined with "real" oils (called carrier oils), waxes, butters, alcohols, or other diluting measures. Because they're so concentrated, if you don't dilute, you may end up with an unfortunate reaction (and unhappy skin). Nevertheless, there are a few exceptions to the rule.
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