Aromatherapy

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Which Plants Are Used in Aromatherapy?

Frankincense, Sandalwood, Rose, Neroli and Lavender

Aromatherapy materials come from the parts of a plant that hold volatile oil, resins, woods, flowers and peels. Several are among the most valuable agricultural products in the world.

Frankincense (Boswellia) is not a flower or a leaf but hardened tree resin. The bark is cut and the sap seeps out, setting into pale tears collected by hand in Oman, Somalia and Ethiopia. It travelled the Incense Route for thousands of years and was worth its weight in gold.

Sandalwood (Santalum album) is heartwood rather than bark, and the tree must reach roughly thirty years before the wood develops its scent. Mysore sandalwood from Karnataka is the most prized.

Rose (Rosa damascena) takes several thousand petals to yield a single millilitre of oil, picked by hand before dawn while the scent is at its height. Bulgaria's Rose Valley still harvests this way each May.

Neroli (Citrus aurantium) comes from bitter orange blossom and takes its name from a seventeenth-century Italian princess of Nerola who wore it. The same tree gives three distinct materials, neroli from the flowers, petitgrain from the leaves, bitter orange from the peel.

Jasmine (Jasminum grandiflorum) is picked at night, because the flowers release most of their scent after dark. It cannot be steam-distilled like most oils, since heat destroys the aroma.

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) takes its name from the Latin lavare, to wash. Roman bathhouses scented their water with it, which is where the association with bathing began.

Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) is the carrier oil which carries every diluted blend here. It is not technically an oil at all but a liquid wax, chemically closer to what skin produces which is why it stays stable for so long.

How Do You Use Aromatherapy at Home?

Our range incorporate three ways to use scent. The roll-ons and body blends are ready-diluted and can go straight onto skin. The Essential Oil Blends are pure and undiluted, for a burner or diffuser rather than the wrists. The bath soaks and incense work on the room and the water.

On the skin. The roll-ons are designed to travel with you, in your pocket or bag, applied to the wrists, the sides of the neck or the
temples, where warmth lifts the aroma. Unwind is lavender, Roman chamomile, neroli and frankincense. Deep Sleep is sandalwood, lavender and jasmine. Headease is peppermint, lavender, rosemary and Roman chamomile. Grounding Oil and Heal the Heart Oil are the two body blends, the first resinous, the second floral.

In the room. Breathe is eucalyptus smithii, black spruce, thyme and tea tree. Deep Sleep is lavender, Roman chamomile, rose geranium and bergamot. Unwind is lavender, holy basil and sandalwood. A few drops in a diffuser is all that is needed. Natural incense works differently again, made from resins and woods and delivers a calming and joyous scent to the room.

In the bath. The Epsom salt soaks are layered with whole flowers and leaves, each with a reusable muslin bag.

Several blends are unsuitable during pregnancy, and the bergamot-containing ones should not be worn on skin in strong sunlight. Patch test 24 hours before first use.

FAQs

Aromatherapy is the use of aromatic plant extracts — essential oils, absolutes and resins — for wellbeing, whether applied to the skin in a carrier oil, dispersed into a room, or added to a bath. The materials come from the parts of a plant that hold volatile oil: flowers, woods, resins, leaves and citrus peels.

Undiluted essential oils should not go on skin. They are highly concentrated — a great deal of plant material makes a small amount of oil — and neat application can cause irritation or sensitisation. Dilute in a carrier oil first, or choose a blend that is already diluted. Our roll-ons and body oils are ready to use; the Essential Oil Blends are not.

A carrier oil dilutes essential oils to a safe concentration and carries them onto the skin. Sweet almond, grapeseed and jojoba are the common ones. Jojoba is unusual in being a liquid wax rather than an oil, chemically closer to skin's own sebum. That structure is why it stays stable for years where most carriers oxidise and turn.

Roll onto pulse points — the inside of the wrists, the sides of the neck, the temples — and let it warm on the skin, since warmth is what lifts the aroma. Reapply as often as you like. Roll-ons are already diluted, so nothing else is needed.

A few drops in water, in an electric diffuser or over a tealight burner. Start with fewer than you think — three or four is usually enough for an ordinary room, and more tends to be overpowering rather than stronger. Ventilate between uses rather than running a diffuser continuously.

An essential oil is extracted from a plant by distillation or cold pressing. A fragrance oil is made in a laboratory to imitate a scent and may contain no plant material at all. Fragrance oils are cheaper, more consistent and last longer on skin. Essential oils are the plant itself, which is why they vary between harvests.

The citrus oils are the ones to watch — bergamot in particular, along with lemon, lime and bitter orange. They contain compounds that increase the skin's sensitivity to ultraviolet light. Avoid strong sun for around twelve hours after applying any blend containing them.

Some are and many are not, so it is worth checking each oil rather than assuming a blend is fine. Several blends in our range are unsuitable in pregnancy — each product page says so — and our Medical Herbalists can advise on what is appropriate.

Citrus oils are the shortest-lived, often around a year. Woods and resins such as sandalwood and frankincense last far longer, and some are considered to improve with age. Store in amber glass away from heat and light, both of which accelerate oxidation. That is why aromatherapy oils are almost never sold in clear bottles.