Hydrosols - The New Name in Aromatherapy

Most everyone is familiar with floral waters, also known as toilet water. This is most commonly the water left over after steam distillation of plants to produce essential oils. This left over water contains some of the plants healing properties and chemicals that are water soluble as opposed to those inherent to the essential oil itself which floats at the top of the water and is skimmed off, otherwise a basic floral tea is formed. Hydrosols (Hydro = H2O and Sol = solution = essential oils) are very much like floral waters except they are produced with the sole intention of being used as a floral water, otherwise the essential oil is not skimmed off the top. The water is not a by-product and the essential oils are combined in the water therefor creating a much more potent, faster acting floral water solution.

This is just one of the new innovations to hit the Aromatherapy industry and community of practitioners. One may wonder how these new Hydrosols can be used in classical and "at home" Aromatherapy treatments. Firstly, they may be used in the place of traditional floral waters when it comes to classical Aromatherapy but in a smaller scale, they are more potent and do not need the same quantities as normal floral waters. Being that they are more potent, they can be used for compress and plaster applications. They can be gently heated and poured over a cotton cloth to soak and then be laid over the skin to promote either healing or a relaxing, de-stressing effect. This can be especially helpful to muscle strain, headaches, minor skin conditions (such as acne, sunburn, etc.) and aging skin. Hydrosols, once again because of their potency, may also be used in place of common bath oils which tend to sit on top of the water and evaporate quickly. Hydrosols will be more likely to mix with the water and stay put longer allowing you to enjoy the benefits better.

Currently, Hydrosols are being produced on a small scale in the US. They are many times derived from Organically grown plants which is very superb and bottled on the spot at the actual farm. These farms commonly produce only a few Hydrosols such as lavender. For more information on a foundation supporting Hydrosol manufacturing and small farms which produce them, visit the link area and look for and org. started by Jeanne Rose for further information.

Because only small batches are being produced and only a few types a year, they can be quite expensive and not be a botanical type you're looking for. The beauty of

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