Remember I was talking about scents being psychoactive in a mood elevating way.
Well, nutmeg is my thing - I kind of go crazy when I smell it (but in a good way). But you can't find nutmeg based perfumes. You can get the essential oils, but essential oils will irritate skin if applied directly, and mixing it in with a carrier oil such as jojoba oil or avocado oil make everything too, well, oily.
Look, don't ask why I know all this. You can assume I went through an aromatherapy phase during a desperate period, when I was trying everything and anything to see if it might work against the mood swings, but if you press me, I will deny it.
BTW, aromatherapy did not work at the time - I found out that I go crazy over nutmeg much later.
Back to essential oils. What I've found is that instead of using an oil, it is possible to use moisturising cream as a carrier for the essential oil. I was trying this afternoon and it works. So I'm currently wafting a nutmeg scent and happy. Ta da!
Here's what you need:
Fragrance free moisturising cream (try to avoid the ones smelling mediciney)
Nutmeg Essential Oil (and an eye dropper if the bottle doesn't have one)
Shot Glass - t'was the only thing I could find to mix and store the cream.
A toothpick
A bottle cover (or cardboard) big enough to cover the top of the shot glass. Plastic wrap should work too.
How to do it:
Add fragrance free moisturing cream until the shot glass is about 1/6 full. Then add two drops of Nutmeg Essential Oil. Use toothpick to mix. After mixing, add more moisturising cream until the shot glass is about 1/3 full, then add one more drop of Nutmeg essential oil. Mix some more with the toothpick.
Great! You're done.
Use the bottle cover on the top of the shot glass to prevent the evaporation of the scent. Refrain from the urge to put it into the fridge; you will not be happy applying cold moisturing cream.
You should now have enough moisturising cream for one or two applications. And it makes good perfume, and it can work instead of hair gel. But you will smell of nutmeg for most of the day.
Caution: Concentrated essential oils are harsh on the skin - so given a choice, add less drops of essential oil than more. Try out the mixture on somewhere like your hand and then neck before putting it somewhere sensitive. If the mixture above is irritating, try adding more moisturising cream to the mixture.
Feel free to improvise over my ideas, and try other essential oils. But be aware that I make no comment for the claimed uses of any of the essential oils. All I claim is that the scent of nutmeg tends to improve my mood.
Perhaps a bit too much judging from this post.
It has been a good week so far. My moods have been stable and I have been productive. But it's been busy, and I've not got time to sit down and concentrate enough to write. My bad, and I'm sorry. I am trying to get the blog written daily, but we'll see how that goes.
ps: weight is down about 4 pounds since the 17 jul 12. so there!, jenny.
WP 2 Comments
joeyyesnoSep 23, 2012·yesnodiamond.blogspot.comUser InfoI’ve been diagnosed w/bp 2 – my enneagram diagnosis was 5 w/ a 4 wing which types me as “The Iconoclast”pretty accuratemy wife uses essential oils – sometimes tea tree for the skin problems which works great- and massage oils in an olive oil base-just to smell oils like peppermint is yummyApprovedSpamTrashLikeEditReplyBrianJul 30, 2012User InfoI just read the diary section on your main site. Thank you for sharing. I’ve never been diagnosed with Bipolar II but I always wondered if I fell somewhere on a Bipolar continuum. Many of your stories, discoveries, and experiences hit close to home. Have you ever heard of the Enneagram? I find there is quite a correlation between Bipolar disorder and the core essence of Type 4 and to a lesser extent Type 3.ApprovedSpamTrashLikeEditReply