Aromatherapy for relaxation and body care

Feeling over-worked and over-stressed with little time left to take care of your body? Nowadays you can relax with aromatherapy without having to spend hours in a salon.

Viko Collection Aromatic Therapy and Craft in Yogyakarta offers a range of aromatherapy products for relaxation, stress relief and body treatment.

Viko’s products are all derived from herbal extracts and their application for relaxation or body care can be conveniently done any time at home.

“For stress relief, people usually spend hours in a salon. We target the others, who are too busy to do so,” said Viko Collection owner Novi Gunarsanti.

In 2002, Novi and her husband Eko Mardi Bauski, 41, residing in Jogonalan Lor, Kasihan, Bantul regency, started the Viko Collection business — Viko being short for their names, Novi and Eko.

The idea of aromatherapy struck Novi as she was working with a trading firm in Yogyakarta. One day. Novi was asked to find herbal materials for aromatherapy.

“The job opened my mind. We’re rich in medicinal herbs, why not try this business myself,” recalled Novi.

Meanwhile, Eko, with his background in chemistry, was employed at a laboratory at the time and thus began to conduct trials. The couple experimented with different blends of extracts for aromatherapy.

After dozens of tests, they offered their herbal concoctions to buyers and the response was overwhelming.

“Our principle is simple. We have good and abundant herbal resources we prioritize quality instead of quantity,” said Eko.

To concentrate on making better quality products, Eko resigned from his job at the laboratory to concentrate on the business full time.

To expand into different markets, the husband and wife attended various trade fairs in different cities covering Jakarta, Surabaya, Semarang, Bali and Yogyakarta.

“As quality comes first, we know our products will be consumers’ favorites despite the many competitors in the market. After a year’s promotion through displays, we started receiving orders,” noted Novi, who also left her job to pursue the enterprise.

To meet market demand, Novi’s aromatherapy preparations come in various forms such as incense sticks, cones, essential oils, potpourri and colorful seeds.

Sticks are burned to produce an aroma that relaxes the mind. An essential oil is simply mixed with water to the ratio of 1:10 before warming it for fragrance.

Incense sticks are made by gluing sawdust on sticks and soaking them in an aromatic mixture before being drained, whereas grains are dried and then immersed in an aromatic liquid to produce seeds.

“We have a mini test lab and use reference books to determine the benefits of our products. Materials are dried by draining without sunlight, let alone ovens,” Eko revealed.

Viko Collection now has 26 kinds of aromatherapy notably in liquids, sticks and small sticks for consumers to choose from, each with its own benefit. Lavender aromatherapy, for instance, relaxes nervous tension, induces sleep, calms down emotions and relieves head pain.

Green tea creates mental balance, while lotus overcomes nervousness and anxiety.
For body treatment, Viko Collection includes a shower blend containing 18 herbal extracts such
as rose, jasmine, fragrant grass, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, white turmeric, yellow tubers, citrus leaves and sappanwood chips. All these materials are gathered from coastal areas.

To use the shower blend pack worth Rp 10,000 (US$1), pour it into a liter of boiled water and mix the hot concoction with bath tub water bathing in it. A fragrant mixture for natural skincare can be used for intimate parts of the body, a court tradition that has been handed down for external body care and family harmony.

Another cosmetic product for smooth skin is available in refined yellow powder or lulur, made of various ingredients including rice flour, yellow tubers, honey, milk, cacao and coffee. All the therapeutic and beauty herbs are sold in Jogonalan, with Jakarta outlets in Lebak Bulus, Cikokol and Tanah Abang.

Prices of herbal products range from Rp 10,000 to Rp 20,000 per pack. An aromatherapy incense pack of 10 sticks, for example, costs Rp 10, 000, a pack 50-gram lulur Rp 10,000 and a shower blend pack is also worth Rp 10,000.

Viko’s collection is also known abroad, with regular buyers from Armenia, Italy, Australia, Spain, Japan and several other European countries. Its domestic market covers salons, spa parlors, hotels, restaurants and other places of relaxation in major cities.

The couple’s business has an average turnover of Rp 100 million per month. “Sometimes it reaches Rp 200 million,” claimed Novi. They couple were confident the demand for their herbal products would continue to expand regardless of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA), which has been causing anxiety in business circles.

“We have a competitive advantage with unequalled medicinal herbs, so why worry about the ACFTA?” Novi concluded.

Source : http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/03/03/aromatherapy-relaxation-and-body-care.html