Essential Oils and Skin Conditions – Eczema, Dermatitis and Psoriasis

I am one of those people that react to the world around them and have struggled with my skin for most of my life. I had severe psoriasis over most of my body including my ear canals and contact dermatitis on my hands to the stage that my skin split and bled.

Having spent thousands of dollars seeing dermatologists and being prescribed everything from steroids and UV treatment to foul smelling goo, that may or may not have offered temporary relief, I was more than sceptical to invest in Aromatherapy.

The name aromatherapy can be misguiding – after all how is smell going to help my crazy skin.  I wish it had been called Botanical Medicine as that is what it truly is.

Through the years I have learned so much about my skin and how it all began in my gut. Jennifer Jefferies, the author of our book Amazing Scents  is a Naturopath and Aromatherapist – a brilliant combination. She also wrote a book called ‘If you want great skin throw away your cosmetics’, a book that was way before its time but still makes perfect sense today.

One of the first things she taught me was the origin of my issue – she used the term ‘Bum Glue’ which made me laugh and caught my attention.
The following is my layman’s interpretation and memory of what she said:

She explained that gooey food like white bread, white rice and white pasta were the main culprits but that as they were used in so many foods we often didn’t realise they were there. These foods created a plaque on the interior wall of the bowel and hindered the body from discarding toxins, these toxins then accumulated and exited via the skin. She showed me photos of a gentleman with skin much like mine before and after colonic irrigation and a week on fruit juice and psyllium husks in an expensive retreat.

I was amazed that his skin cleared so quickly but was I prepared to go that far?
No – so was there an easier way. Hell yes!

I started taking 1 tsp of Psyllium Husks every morning in fresh juice. It has no taste but it does have texture, after a minute it make perfect slime for the kids to play with so I learned to stir it in fast and then quickly skull it. Now I take magnesium powder each morning and add it to that. Please don’t get caught up in marketing, you can buy organic Psyllium Husks in the health food section of the supermarket for a fraction of what the butchered ones available through pharmacies. Each dose would be no more than 10 cents.

You can also hide psyllium in many foods, cereal, porridge, smoothies, yoghurt, baking, soups and casseroles, make soft butter and add it so that you can butter bread with it. It slowly and gently removes the plaque at the same time as forming perfect poos – it is great to bulk diarrhoea or to move constipation. In fact we used to give it to our horses back in the days.

Once the plaque is gone the bowel returns to doing its job and the skin settles. This needs to become a habit unless you have the perfect diet it will be for life. On top of this the skin can be irritated by the massive amount of chemicals and toxins in our lives but the bowel remains the issue.

Your next step is to learn about removing toxins from your home through our Practical Workshops and how to eliminate them from your skincare and personal hygiene through our Sensational Skin and Hair Workshops.

My next blog will be on what you can do from the outside to protect and soothe the skin.