Cistus, Labdanum

A perennial shrub up to 3 metres high which grows wild in warm sheltered places on some mountainous Mediterranean islands and in the Middle East. The leaves are lance-shaped with white furry undersides, and the flowers are yellow with purple splashes at the center. The parts used for extraction are leaves and twigs.

Cistus produces 5 products:

1. Crude gum of Labdanum: Dried leaves and twigs are boilde in water. The gum is skimmed off the surface of the water and dried. This is used as a herbal substitute for ambergris.
2. Resinoid of Labdanum: The crude gum is mixed with alcohol and filtered.
3. Oil of Labdanum: Essential oil by steam-distilling the crude gum. This oil is used by aromatherapists. It is also a highly valued raw material for perfumers.
4. Concrète & Absolute of Labdanum: The dried leaves and twigs are extracted with the help of a solvent. This is widely used in cosmetics, perfumes and soaps as a warm balsamic scent with excellent fixative properties.
5. Oil of Labdnum: Essential oil by steam-distilling dried and fresh leaves and twigs. This is of little use for either perfumery or aromatherapy.

The oil has been used since the middle ages for infected wounds, skin ulcers, skin and soft tissue disturbances. The gum was used for catarrh and diarrhoea.

The scent is warm, deep, musky, soothing and dry. Yang.

In aromatherapy its used for:

• Lymph drainage: When added to a massage oil for a full body massage. Or locally as warm compresses on swollen lymph nodes in the neck.
• Menstrual pain: In combination with Marjoram (origanum majorana) as a massage oil or warm compresses over the abdomen.
• Skin: Mature, wrinkled skin, rough, scarred and hard skin. Use for healing of wounds and scars; with Lavender (lavandula augustifolia), Imortelle (helichrysum italicum) or Frankincense (boswellia carterii). It might be helpful for eczema, inflamed skin and psoriasis. Remember to use lower doses on sensitive/inflamed skin.
• Respiratory: As an inhalant for coughs and bronchitis.
• Emotionally: After shock or trauma when the emotional system is cold or empty. Also to sooth and heal past or buried memories. It fills the individual with warmth and strength.

Do not use during pregnancy.

I have studied and formulated skin-care for almost 20 years; first for my own pleasure and then professionally.  I have always wanted to keep my products as natural and pure as possible which is quite easily done, but the “shelf-life” of the product is very short and it has to be kept in the fridge. Natural skin care is like fresh food – you need to use it within a certain time, depending on what you have put in there; Herbs, for example, naturally makes the product more sensitive to mold….you get the picture.

To make a creme or a lotion an emulsifier is needed to mix the fatty substances (oil) and water. The only purely natural emulsifiers are eggs and cream (compare it to cooking) which go off quickly…wouldn’t want that in your cream… All emulsifiers used are chemically changed to be able to combine oil and water. The ones I use are the same that are used by the food-industry for making ice-cream and bread. I figure, if you can eat it, you can put it on your skin.

Almost everything is natural; poo is natural, as is mineral oil (derived from the petroleum industry). That doesn’t mean it’s good for us. So the labeling of purely natural is misleading on 2 points: Natural does not necessarily mean good. If it is emulsified (oil + water) it is not natural, even if the original product for the emulsifier comes from a natural source.

BIO or organic is also interesting to find on products. I picked up a hand-creme (oil+water)  the other day which says: 95% of the plant ingredients come from organic farming (and how many % of the total product is plant material?) 17% of the total ingredients come from organic farming (so maybe that means that there is 17% of plant material in the product?) 100% of the total ingredients come from a natural origin (can be absolutely true – remember what I said about natural…?)

A hydrosol (also called hydrolate) is the condensate water produced during steam-distillation of plant material for aromatherapeutic purposes.

Hydrosol means “water solution” and comes from the Latin hydro (“water”) and sol (“solution”). Hydrolate means hydro (“water”) and late from the French lait, meaning milk.  Supposedly this name stems from the fact that often the hydrosols are slightly milky when they first come out of the stills.

Sometimes the word Floral Water is used which I find misleading; hydrosols come from all aromatic plants, not only flowers. Very often a floral water is water scented with essential oil or synthetic fragrance in which case it is something entirely different. Therefor I prefer to stick with the word hydrosol.

A Hydrosol has a life-span of 1-3 years, depending on the original plant and storage. Hydrosols need to be stored in cool and dark places – the fridge is perfect. They should be distilled from organically grown plants and bottled without preservatives. The label should clearly state the name of the plant from which it was distilled, including the latin name, when it was distilled and if it is organic. A Hydrosol is primarily acidic, with a pH of 3.6-6.0,  making it ideal for skin & personal care. It is mild enough to be used safely by most anybody -  aged, sick and weak individuals as well as babies and children. Use it as a tonic for your skin, taste-enhancer in cooking and baking, to wash wounds, sooth burns and inflammations…The possibilities are endless.

Tips:

• Tonifying water for skin: Wipe your skin with hydrosol on cotton balls after cleansing: dry, mature skin: Hydrosol of lavender or rose. Oily  blemished skin: Hydrosol of orange water, witch hazel, Rosemary. Use Hydrosol in a spray for a guick freshen-up during the day (brilliant when traveling). Just spray a fine mist onto skin and let dry. You can even do this when wearing make-up.
• Sun-burn: Spray the area with Hydrosol of Lavender (soothing) or Mint (cooling). Apply Aloe Vera Gel. Works also for itchy skin and hot flashes.
• Disinfectant for air and hands while traveling; spray in the air, on your hands, on tissue.
• Drinks; add 5 ml of hydrosol to 200 ml of water for a refreshing drink. A dash of Rose hydrosol in some champagne – very luxurious – or white wine as an aperitif.
• Use as a scent to spray on linen, hair, clothes, curtains…
• Add to bath. (Even for babies and small children; lavender, rose)
• Use when baking cakes, cookies and pastries. (Do not mistake Hydrosol for the “floral waters” you can buy in asian markets. These “waters” are usually synthetically enhanced water.) Always check the label.

If you want to know more about hydrosols and their uses, this is an excellent read: “Hydrosols, the next aromatherapy” by Suzanne Catty.

(taken from a FDA document that you can look closer at here.)

Simplified, this means that until this time there were no regulations regarding the declaring of ingredients in skin-care. You could put anything you liked in there, and nobody would ever know. Because of, or maybe thanks to, increasing allergic reactions, the demand for clarity about ingredients in skin-care pushed the need of this law. To simplify the communication and understanding of ingredients, INCI (International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient) was decided upon: This means that all ingredients by plant extracts are named by their Latin botanical names (according to Linneae) and for other ingredients the chemical names are used. These names are recognized world-wide. Regulations also stipulate that on the label the ingredients should be listed in falling order with the largest ingredient first. To give you an idea of the amounts: A cream consists of about 50-60% water, a lotion of 70-90% water. The ingredients way down on the list are in the proportions of 0,x% or even 0,0x%. So if you buy, for example, a product that is labeled with something special; lavender or Aloe Vera or something, check the list. Chances are that you find this ingredient among the last on the list, and then you know the amounts are around 0.x%. There is no law stipulating WHAT you can say, only that you list it. Following are the INCI-lists of 2 well-known, popular body-lotions. I have highlighted the pure natural ingredients.

This is the INCI-list of a popular body lotion: Aqua, Ethylhexyl Cocoate, Cyclopentasiloxane, Paraffinum liquidum, Glycerin, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Vitis Vinifera Seed Extract, Linoleic Acid, Magnesium Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Cera Microcristallina, Disodium Phosphate, Propylene Glycol, Parfum, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Sorbic Acid, Benzoic acid, BHT, Pentaerythrityl Tetradi-t-butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Benzyl Alcohol, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Citronellol, Coumarin, Geraniol, Hexyl Cinnamat, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Limonene, Linalol.

Several of these chemicals are known toxins.

This is the INCI-list of a natural body-lotion: Water/Aqua, Rose (Rosa Canina) Hip Extract, Rose (Rosa Gallica) Petal Extract, Sweet Almond (Prunus Dulcis) Oil, Alcohol, Glycerin, Quince (Pyrus Cydonia) Seed Extract, Shea (Butyrospermum Parkii) Butter, Carrot (Daucus Carota) Extract, Jojoba (Buxus Chinensis) Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, Beeswax/Cera Flava, Rose (Rosa Gallica) Wax, Rose (Rosa Damascena) Essential Oil, Fragrance/Parfum (Essential Oil), Citronellol*, Geraniol*, Limonene*, Linalool*, Citral*, Coumarin*, Eugenol*, Benzyl Benzoate*, Propolis Wax/Propolis Cera, Lecithin, Xanthan Gum

I leave it up to you to make your decision about what kind of stuff you want to put on your skin. Remember though that if molecules are small enough, they go straight through your skin and into your bloodstream from where they can access every cell of your body.

If you want more information on different chemicals or skin-care ingredients, you can check out this website: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

Rosewood (aniba rosaeodora) is a tree that grows in the Amazonian rain-forest, Brazil being the main producer of essential oil. It is a large, evergreen tree reaching up to 30 m in height and 2 meters in diameter. All parts of the tree are fragrant although only the heartwood is traditionally harvested and distilled. To give an acceptable amount of essential oil the tree needs to be 40 years old and have a diameter of about 30-40cm, but because of indiscriminate felling even trees with a diameter of 15cm will be cut as it is getting progressively harder to find fully grown trees. Because of its high content of linalool, the essential oil has been widely used in perfumes and soaps. Now linalool is produced synthetically for perfumes and the use of rosewood has diminished; In the 1960s, exports of rosewood oil from Brazil alone were around 500 tonnes per year. Today, the world market for rosewood oil is about 100 tonnes per year. Rosewood essential oil is often substituted by the cheaper Chinese Ho oil (cinnamomum camphora l. linaloolifera leaf oil)

Over the years the heavy harvesting of rosewood have diminished the number of wild-growing trees to a point where they are rapidly becoming a threatened species. Development of sustainable planting is underway, but a lot of wild trees are still felled for the sake of essential oil. Recent research aims to develop new essential oil production derived from rosewood leaves and stems.

Pricing of Rosewood essential oil: 10 ml  €6,40 or 8,65 US dollars.

Sandalwood (santalum album) grows in forests of southern India, the best known being Mysore. The tree reaches a height of 20 meters. It is a hemiparasitic plant as the roots attach themselves to nearby plant roots, obtaining nourishment and causing the host plant to die. Essential oil is produced in the heart-wood and the roots. The tree is mature at 60-80 years when it is harvested and the heartwood is distilled. The trees start producing heartwood at 30-50 yrs. As with rosewood, the trees are being over-harvested and today they are felled already when they are 30 years. Sandalwood has been used as an incense ingredient for the last 4000 years and is an important plant in Asia, used in all manners for its spiritual powers. Today the forests are too young to produce any essential oil, and since the late 1990′s there is only a mere 5% of forest left.

In late 1980 – early 1990 India exported 100 tonnes of sandalwood-oil/year. In 1996 the Indian government regulated export of sandalwood-oil, bringing the yearly amount down to 5 tonnes. This created a huge raise in the price of sandalwood essential oil; on the Indian market the price went from Rs20 000/ton in 1980 to Rs200 000/ton in 1990. Much work is being done in India to create a sustainable replanting of sandalwood-trees, but since it takes such a long time before the trees produce essential oil, this is less popular. Due to the extremely high prices, large amounts of trees are still illegally cut down and smuggled out of the country. In 1993 sandalwood-oil cost 185-200 US dollars/kg, during the last 5 years, the price has increased to 1000-1500 US dollars/kg.

A new player on the scene is Western Australia where sustainable plantations of sandalwood has been going on for some time. They have become the biggest exporters of sandalwood and are now even exporting to India, who is a huge user both of oil and wood. The sandalwood-oil from Australia is half the price of the Indian.

Price of Sandalwood essential oil: 5 ml: €27 (37 US dollars) or 10 ml: €42 (58 US dollars)

So you see, the value is not in the pricing or the oil, the value is in nature; in taking care and always returning something for that what we take and protecting our environment.

Here”s a handy list of synthetic ingredients to avoid in baby”s products:

* Alcohol: This harsh additive can make body tissues more vulnerable to carcinogens. Special note: Check your mouthwash to make sure it doesn”t contain alcohol; if it does, throw it out and purchase a brand that doesn”t. This is one of the number one ways that toddlers are poisoned in the household.

* Alpha hydroxyl acid: This removes the skin”s protective barrier, which can result in long-term skin damage.

* Animal fat, or tallow: Lye and animal fats and lye are found in many bar soaps, which can be a breed bacteria.

* Collagen: This is an insoluble protein derived from animal skins. The protein is too large to actually penetrate the skin, therefore it forms a filmy layer that can suffocate the skin.

* Diethanolamine, or DEA: This is a crystalline alcohol that is often used as a solvent, emulsifier, emollient and detergent; it is a common ingredient in skin lotions. DEA can irritate the skin and mucous membranes. It also reacts in products that also contain nitrates to form potentially carcinogenic nitrosamines. You should also avoid triethanolamine, TEA, and monoethanolamine, or MEA.

* Elastin of high molecular weight: Like collagen, this is derived from animal sources and can suffocate the skin.

* Glycerin: Unless the air humidity is above 65 percent, glycerin draws moisture from the lower layers of the skin and retains it on the surface; this has the effect of drying skin from the inside out. But glycerin is completely harmless in toothpaste given the mouth”s natural moisture.

* Kaolin: This is a fine white clay that is actually used to produce porcelain. It suffocates and weakens the skin.

* Lanolin: This substance is extracted from wool; it is often contained in lotions.

* Lye: Lye is a highly concentrated solution of sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. It is often mixed with animal fats to produce bar soap, which can corrode and dry skin.

* Mineral oil: This is a petroleum derivative. It forms an oily film over skin to retain moisture, but traps toxins and wastes; this suffocates normal skin respiration.

* Petrolatum: Like mineral oil, this is also petroleum-based and likewise keeps oxygen out of the skin.

* Propylene glycol: This form of mineral oil is also found in automatic brake fluid, hydraulic fluid, and industrial antifreeze! Would you want to rub those on your baby? Propylene glycol is a strong skin irritant; it can also cause liver abnormalities and kidney damage.

* Sodium lauryl sulfate, or SLS: This is a harsh detergent used in garage floor cleaners, engine degreasers and auto cleaning products! SLS can prevent your baby”s eyes from properly developing. It”s also a common skin irritant. It”s also rapidly absorbed by the eyes, brain, heart, and liver; it can also slow healing and cause cataracts in adults.

* Sodium laureth sulfate, or SLES: This is an alcohol form of SLS; it is slightly less irritating but more drying. SLS and SLES can react with other ingredients to cause potentially carcinogenic formations of nitrates and dioxins. A large amount of nitrates can enter the blood stream during one shampooing.

* Talc: This soft gray-green mineral can be harmful if inhaled; it is recognized as a potential carcinogen.

(Source; www.thefreelibrary.com)

These masks later became the “prototype” for the well-known Venetian carnival-mask. (right)

Through the centuries jewelery has been designed to hold scents in different ways, usually in compartments such as lockers, spheres and other figures.

This beautiful bracelet is made to carry your favorite scent, be it an essential oil, a blend thereof or a perfume.  The scent is infused in material that is put in the locker. Designer Cathy Gins creates these fabulous jewels. You can read her profile and check out her jewelery on this site.

http://aromawear.com/discover.htm

Or this gorgeous necklace…

Or maybe a card-case…

A few years back I was involved in a scientific group in Sweden. It was called GustOlf and was created by a group of scientists and other people involved in the art and science of taste and smell.  I was invited as an aromatherapist. The scientists came from different universities and were all experts in their fields; biology, chemistry and physics. There was also a chef representing a restaurateur institute and an art-professor. A most interesting group. We had a few conferences where we would discuss taste & smell for a couple of days; from pheromones and insects through the make-up of an odorous molecule to the digestive system and emotional impact of scent. I was a frequent speaker at these occasions since I work with the emotional reaction to scent. What we all agreed on was this:

The sense of smell is completely subjective and different for each individual

The most ardent group of participants were from the automotive industry, all with the same question: “How do I make a car smell attractive?”

Smells are smells; some are nice and some not. The problem with “scenting away” an odor is that it usually gets even worse; perfumed deodorant on strong sweat?…well, you get the picture. So how do we avoid smells? (following is taken from Wikipedia)

Air fresheners are consumer products that mitigate unpleasant odors in indoor spaces. They can be in the form of candles, aerosol sprays, potpourri, gels and mechanical or heat release products. ^[1]

They work in one of five ways:

1. Masking: Many “fresheners” obscure odors with a fragrance.
2. Adsorption: Adsorbents like activated charcoal or silica gel may be used to absorb offending, chemical odors.
3. Chemical neutralization: Substances such as rubber or TEG may be used for some odors.
4. Disinfection. Odors caused by bacterial activity can be eliminated by disinfectants like ozone, TEG, or bleaching agents containing hydrogen peroxide, chlorine or hypochlorites.
5. Anesthetization: Some air fresheners use anesthetics to dull the sense of smell.

A Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) study of 13 common household air fresheners found that most of the surveyed products contain chemicals that can aggravate asthma and affect reproductive development. The NRDC called for more rigorous supervision of the manufacturers and their products, which are widely assumed to be safe:

“The study assessed scented sprays, gels, and plug-in air fresheners. Independent lab testing confirmed the presence of phthalates, or hormone-disrupting chemicals that may pose a particular health risk to babies and young children, in 12 of the 14 products—including those marked ‘all natural.’ None of the products had these chemicals listed on their labels.” (wikipedia)

It doesn’t paint a pretty picture, does it?

What is an odor? An odor is a molecule; some agents, such as ozone, function by severing the bonds in the molecule. Odors can arise from most anything, many odors are caused by bacteria and fungi. At one point we need to accept that odors are part of life, messages about our surroundings. It is better to smell the smoke and realize that something is burning, than to suddenly find yourself in a burning inferno…?

An alternative is to use essential oils….more about that in my next post… Stay tuned.

Source: Happi Magazine; Vol. 46, No. 6; June 2009

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York recently introduced the Safe Baby Products Act, which would direct the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate and regulate hazardous contaminants in personal care products marketed to or used by children.

Sen. Gillibrand-who was appointed to fill the vacancy created when Senator Hillary Clinton became U.S. Secretary of State-introduced the bill in response to a study by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which revealed that many widely used baby shampoos and bubble baths contain formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane, which may be hazardous in certain quantities. The chemicals are not listed on labels because contaminants are exempt from labeling laws.

The campaign also recently sent a letter to Johnson & Johnson asking the company by the end of August to reformulate its personal care products so that they are free of 1,4-dioxane and preservatives that release formaldehyde.

The Safe Baby Products Act would direct FDA to test a wide range of children’s personal care products, publicly report the findings and establish good manufacturing practices to reduce or eliminate hazardous contaminants from products.

“We applaud Sen. Gillibrand for being a champion for children’s health,” said Lisa Archer, national coordinator of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

“This bill is a good step forward, because it would give parents the right to know what’s in the bath products they use on their kids, and would give FDA authority to keep dangerous chemicals out of children’s bath products. Next, we need to overhaul cosmetics laws so the FDA can fully assess and assure the safety of all personal care products.”

The campaign released its test results in March. At that time, Dr. John Bailey, chief scientist for the Personal Care Products Council, said the “extremely low” levels of chemicals in the products tested “are not a cause for health concern.”