It’s a well known fact that aromas can have a huge impact on our mood and trigger memories. A person never forgets a unique smell. If you were to smell the perfume you wore in high school, it will instantly transport you back to the good old days, while the smell of your sunscreen brings memories of the beach. This is not a strange thing when you consider that the olfactory lobe in our brains, which is in charge of smells, is also a part of the limbic system responsible of regulating emotions and long-term memory.
And this is the science behind essential oils and why they are so great for calming, helping us sleep better and even treating a number of health issues like clogged sinuses and headaches. Each essential oil can have a certain effect, like for instance lavander – which is a great for meditation and calming. When you blend different oils together, you can achieve a synergy of their effects. This means that essential oil blends fuse the respective powers of the oils in order to intensify them. Grouping three or more oils according to the effect your after will work a lot better than only using a single one.
According to this, it’s useful to know which essential oils are great for calming, and which ones are great for giving you an energy boost. To get you started, here are the most popular aromatherapy oils and their properties:
- Energizing: lemon, grapefruit, ginger, eucalyptus, peppermint, rosemary, basil, pine, bergamot.
- Calming: lavender, ylang ylang, jasmine, patchouli, sandalwood, geranium, palmarosa.
- Detoxifying: lemon, mandarin, peppermint, grapefruit, rosemary, hyssop, juniper, helichrysum.
- Anti-anxiety: geranium, Roman chamomile, sandalwood, lavender, valerian, jasmine, tangerine, bergamot, black pepper, marjoram.
Essential oils, just like perfumes, are divided into notes classified as top, body or middle note, and base note. The top note is the first smell you’ll notice in a blend. It’s strong but it doesn’t last much long. The body note is also called the “bouquet” of the oil blend. It becomes noticeable after the initial aroma fades away and it lasts for several hours. Finally, before the aroma of the blend completely wears of, you can notice the base note which gives the blend its lasting power. Some especially base notes can even last until the following day.
Aromatherapy and essential oils are a great natural remedy for a variety of situations. To find out which blend may help you, you can do an online research or find an aromatherapy book for some DIY recipes on mixing your own healing scents. But if you don’t have the time to play with oils, you can simply find an online supplier and purchase expertly made essential oil blends.
