Frankincense & Myrrh
Frankincense (boswellia serrata) and myrrh (commiphora) are familiar botanical products in the east & gaining popularity in the west. Frankincense is mentioned 22 times in the Bible.
Frankincense and myrrh essential oils are distilled from the resin of two separate but related trees of the burseraceae family. Plants of this family are often sculpted into natural bonsai by the extreme conditions of their desert environments, with eerily contorted trunks and stubby leafless branches.
The trunks of both frankincense and myrrh trees exude a sticky substance called oleo gum resin. The tree trunks are incised by collectors to expedite the release of the resin, which dries in the hot desert sun into hard knobby masses called tears -- a fitting name considering what the tree goes through, and in light of the fact that myrrh traditionally symbolizes suffering. (Frankincense symbolizes divinity.)
Similar to Frankincense, myrrh contains up to 75% sesquiterpenes compounds that help with relaxation.
The benefits of myrrh also include skin care. Since the Egyptians it has been used to maintain healthy skin, prevent skin aging, smooth wrinkles, and sooth chapped or cracked skin.