Soothing Scents

In today's post I am participating with thirteen bloggers under a united theme organized by fellow colleague Ayala Moriel. Please follow the links at the end of this post to travel to the other participants in this blogorama.

1. Juniper Essential Oil

I came to the world of aromatherapy via essential oil of Juniper. The story of this journey has been repeated often in classes and lectures over the past fourteen years. I was in the midst of a divorce, my daughter Eve was three at the time and the prospect of single motherhood was terrifying. In an effort to rid myself of the psychological trauma as quickly as possible I decided to do as much inner work as possible. The type of work ranged from massage, kinesiology, rebirthing, working with a psychologist, a vision quest and participating in events with women.

A native American sweat lodge with a group of women was one such effort. After the pipe ceremony DeeDee, the friend who had invited me to the sweat, placed four little bottles of essential oil into the center of the circle. She encouraged each of us to anoint ourselves before proceeding to the lodge. I went over and deeply breathed in the aroma from each amber bottle. To my surprise upon inhaling one of the essences I was transported to a vital and fragrant forest where I instantly felt uplifted and fortified. That portal was a bottle of Juniper essential oil.


From then on I began to learn as much as I could about essential oils, ultimately resulting in a certificate in Aromatherapy and becoming a tutor the East West School of Herbal and Aromatic Studies. Soon I switched from teaching illustration classes at Art schools to teaching the benefits of Aromatherapy. Eventually that path widened to include Botanical Perfume.

2. In Fiore

In the year 2002, approximately, I met several individuals interested in botanical natural perfume which have become dear friends. One of them is colleague and mentor Julie Elliot of InFiore. Although I make my own beauty products there are specific items from Julies line that I adore and save for special occasions, like when I need a comfort scent. My two favorites at the moment are Fleur Vibrante, a Jasmine face balm, and the Rose petal "cleansing face and restorative balm" called Lustra. These are heavenly and created by hand from pure, vital ingredients.

3. California Sage

Ever since moving to the Santa Monica Mountains I have developed a fondness for the aroma of the native sages. Many different varieties grace our native garden. I adore how the scent fills the air with their herbal authenticity. Sometimes when we get home at night the scent of sage is the first thing I whiff as I open the car door. I'm looking forward for our plants to get really large so that the fragrance will broadcast throughout the neighborhood and provide food for the honey bees.

4. Tea

Sometimes I feel like I could just live on tea with milk and honey, in fact there are days where I will realize I haven't had anything else. One of my favorites is Herbal Chocolate and Roses from the Tea Garden and Herbal Emporioum. Another favorite is Puerh, lately I have been enjoying the one from Numi, normally I pick it up while in Chinatown. My other tea obsessions are Mate from my homeland Argentina, Vanilla bean from Mighty Leaf and a really good cup of Earl Grey.
Did you know that Earl Grey tea is flavored with essential oil of Bergamot?

5. Cimbalom & Chaparral®

Besides Julies beauty products and my essential oil collection the only other scented items I wear are my own perfumes. The two I most often reach for, especially out of balance, are Cimbalom and Chaparral® in their solid format. I keep both of these in my purse so that I can inhale or put some on whenever the need may arise.

6. The Bath

In aromatherapy the essences most often listed as comfort scents include: Sandalwood, Chamomile, Lavender, any essence in the citrus family but particularly Tangerine and Neroli, Frankincense, Rose and Vetiver. One of the things I do routinely to rsetor balance is to have a bath with one of the above mentioned essential oils or a synergy. My favorite is a combination of Patchouli, Ylang Ylang and Tangerine....euphoric, grounding, relaxing and extremely comforting, especially before bed.

Many thanks to Ayala for inviting me here today, now please journey on to the blogs of the other participants....

BitterGrace Notes
Perfume Shrine
Notes from the Ledge
Scent Hive
The Non Blonde
Perfume in Progress
Katie Puckrik Smells
A Rose Beyond the Thames
I Smell Therefore I Am
Olfactarama
All I Am A Redhead
Savvy Thinker
SmellyBlog

Images: Enchantment and Sierra ©Greg Spalenka, Lustra ©InFiore, Sage photo, Tea cup on parchment and Cimbalom by Roxana Villa.