More versatile than you thought (Ginger)

Member Name: grimalkin21

Product:	Ginger
Date:	04/09/00 (83 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: gorgeous scent, pungent so a little goes a long way

Disadvantages: be aware that it can irritate

Ginger is one of my personal favourite oils, yet one which is not especially widely known and used in this country.
My main use of it is in perfumes, both for wearing and scenting the home. Mixed with any citrus and bottom notes such as frankincense or patchoulli it makes a resonating and heady perfume (which I love but may not be everyone's cup of tea)
It smells not like the ginger you buy in supermarkets, it has a sharper, dryer scent than that, although the warmth and sweeteness can be brought out in blends. If you've ever smelled the fresh green ginger herb - well that's what the oil smells like.
Theraputically, ginger doesn't fall into the 'cure for all ills' category of something like lavender, but almost certainly has more uses than you might have thought.
Before I go into that, though, it should be pointed out that it's highly rubifacient (causes superficial blood vessels to dilate) and some people can find it irritating, even in quite small quantities. I don't at all, even though I have fairly sensitive skin, but do proceed with great caution at first.
Perhaps the best known use for ginger is for all kinds of nausea, including travel sickness. Usually mint and lavender are suggested for those, but i can't stand the smell of either so ginger is what i use. Ginger tablets are, of course, sometimes used for travel sickness, but a few drops of the oil in a hanky and sniffed can be more effective, especially if someone's too queasy to be swallowing pills.
More traditionally, ginger can be included in aromatherapy massage treatments for all sorts of ailments where its warming properties are needed, including menstrual cramps, arthritis and sports injuries.
My personal 'eureka' moment with this oil came when I discovered it can be very effective against migraine (again sniffed from a tissue or vaporised) - won't work for everyone but well worth trying if migraine is the bane of your li
fe.
As ever with oils, make sure you're getting the real thing - if it doesn't say the latin name zingiber officinalis on the bottle don't buy it. Newly distilled oil is a very pale, greeny, yellowy colour but don't worry if it's darker, that just means it's older and this is one of few oils which age quite well. If it's completely clear, however be suspicious, that suggests some of the active principles may have been lost in the manufacturing process.

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