Shop Classic – Sidebar

Amber, Tunisia. Oil of Amber is a transparent, yellow oil, procured from succinic acid (spirit of amber) by increasing the heating temperature. It was produced by repeated distillation. It is very fluid and penetrative and was once used as an antihysteric and emmenagogue. [wikipedia]

Historic medicinal uses

Amber has long been used in folk medicine for its purported healing properties.^[42] Amber and extracts were used from the time of Hippocrates in ancient Greece for a wide variety of treatments through the Middle Ages and up until the early twentieth century.^{[citation needed]}

Scent of amber and amber perfumery

In ancient China it was customary to burn amber during large festivities. If amber is heated under the right conditions, oil of amber is produced, and in past times this was combined carefully with nitric acid to create "artificial musk" – a resin with a peculiar musky odor.^[43] Although when burned, amber does give off a characteristic "pinewood" fragrance, modern products, such as perfume, do not normally use actual amber. This is due to the fact that fossilized amber produces very little scent. In perfumery, scents referred to as “amber” are often created and patented^[44][45] to emulate the opulent golden warmth of the fossil.^[46] The modern name for amber is thought to come from the Arabic word, ambar, meaning ambergris.^[13] Ambergris is the waxy aromatic substance created in the intestines of sperm whales and was used in making perfumes both in ancient times as well as modern. The scent of amber was originally derived from emulating the scent of ambergris and/or labdanum but due to the endangered status of the sperm whale the scent of amber is now largely derived from labdanum.^[47] The term “amber” is loosely used to describe a scent that is warm, musky, rich and honey-like, and also somewhat oriental and earthy. It can be synthetically created or derived from natural resins. When derived from natural resins it is most often created out of labdanum. Benzoin is usually part of the recipe. Vanilla and cloves are sometimes used to enhance the aroma. "Amber" perfumes may be created using combinations of labdanum, benzoin resin, copal (itself a type of tree resin used in incense manufacture), vanilla, Dammara resin and/or synthetic materials.^[43]

Arborvitae, Thuya Occidentalis - Canada = Tree of Life huja (pron.: /ˈθjuːdʒə/ THEW-jə) is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are five species in the genus, two native to North America and three native to eastern Asia.The genus is monophyletic and sister to Thujopsis. They are commonly known as arborvitaes (from Latin for tree of life) or thujas; several species are widely known as cedar but because they are not true cedars (Cedrus) it has been recommended to call them redcedars or whitecedars. [Wikipedia] Medicinal Uses Oil of Thuja contains the terpene thujone which has been studied for its GABA receptor antagonistic, with potentially lethal properties. The natives of Canada used the needles of Thuja occidentalis (Eastern White Cedar) to make a tea that has been shown to contain 50 mg of vitamin C per 100 grams; this helped prevent and treat scurvy. In the 19th century Thuja was commonly used as an externally applied tincture or ointment for the treatment of warts, ringworm and thrush, and a local injection of the tincture was used for treating venereal warts.