Essential Oils
Jun 22
Warm, dry, woody, and quietly grounding, cedarwood essential oil is one of the most versatile base notes in aromatherapy. It blends beautifully with lavender, citrus, frankincense, cypress, rosemary, vetiver, sandalwood, and many other oils. Its slower, heavier aroma can give a diffuser blend more depth and help balance bright citrus or strong floral notes. But …
Jun 21
Soft, herbal, floral, and often faintly reminiscent of apples, chamomile essential oil is one of aromatherapy’s classic gentle fragrances. But there is an important detail hidden behind the word chamomile: Roman chamomile and German chamomile are different plants with distinctly different essential oils. Roman chamomile, Chamaemelum nobile, produces an ester-rich essential oil with a sweet, …
Jun 20
Sweet, spicy, woody, and surprisingly fresh, cardamom essential oil captures much of the distinctive aroma that has made green cardamom one of the world’s most treasured spices. Steam distilled primarily from the aromatic seeds of Elettaria cardamomum, the oil combines two seemingly opposite fragrance personalities. It is simultaneously: That unusual balance comes partly from two …
Jun 20
Warm, dry, spicy, and surprisingly woody, black pepper essential oil captures the aromatic side of one of the world’s most familiar spices. Steam distilled from the fruits of Piper nigrum, black pepper essential oil works beautifully with citrus, woods, florals, herbs, resins, and other spice oils. It can add warmth to sweet orange, brighten cedarwood, …
Jun 20
Sweet, penetrating, minty, and almost indistinguishable at first sniff from wintergreen, birch essential oil is one of the most chemically unusual oils used in aromatherapy. True sweet birch essential oil comes primarily from the bark of sweet birch, Betula lenta, a North American tree also known as: Its distinctive fragrance comes overwhelmingly from methyl salicylate—the …
Jun 20
Bright citrus, delicate flowers, green fruit, and a hint of spice come together in bergamot essential oil, one of the most distinctive fragrances in aromatherapy and perfumery. Expressed primarily from the peel of Citrus bergamia, bergamot smells less sugary than sweet orange and considerably more floral than lemon or grapefruit. Its unusual combination of limonene, …
Jun 19
Mosquitoes can turn a peaceful evening on the patio, a garden project, or a summer hike into an uncomfortable experience surprisingly quickly. That makes the idea of a DIY essential oil mosquito repellent appealing. Citronella, lemongrass, peppermint, cedarwood, geranium, and several other aromatic plant oils have demonstrated some mosquito-repellent activity in laboratory or field research. …
Jun 19
Fresh, green, sweet, and unmistakably herbaceous, basil essential oil captures a surprisingly complex side of the familiar culinary herb. Most aromatherapy basil comes from sweet basil, Ocimum basilicum, but even that does not identify the oil completely. Sweet basil can produce dramatically different chemotypes. One bottle may be dominated by soothing-smelling linalool, while another may …
Jun 18
From lavender and peppermint to cedarwood, bergamot, frankincense, and ylang ylang, essential oils offer an enormous range of fragrances for diffusers, perfume, massage oils, bath and body products, and home aromatherapy. But a useful list of the best essential oils for aromatherapy shouldn’t simply attach a different health claim to every bottle. Some essential oils …
Jun 15
Earthy, dry, woody, slightly sweet, and unmistakably root-like, carrot seed essential oil is one of aromatherapy’s more unusual fragrances. Steam distilled from the seeds of Daucus carota, carrot seed essential oil is especially popular in natural skincare and perfumery. Its volatile chemistry can contain substantial amounts of carotol, along with compounds such as sabinene, beta-bisabolene, …
