Attune Aroma

WOW!  I can not believe it has been more than a month since I last posted!  It is amazing how busy this time of year can be…but also so invigorating.  With the crisp autumn air and all of the entertaining the holiday season brings, comes wonderful aromas all around.  As a clinical aromatherapist the medicinal properties of essential oils usually come before their aromas but this time of year tends to inspire me to blend strictly for olfactory pleasure.  I find myself reaching for spicy essential oils such as cardamom Elettaria cardamomum, ginger Zingiber officinalis, clove Eugenia caryophyllus, cinnamon Cinnamonum zeylanicum and nutmeg Myristica fragrans while usually adding sweet orange Citrus sinensis.   Not only is the color orange pretty much synonymous with autumn but it goes so well with spicy aromas – all while adding a light, refreshing top note.  As you can probably guess, diffusing these aromas associated with holiday cooking gave an overwhelming sense of peace and comfort to my home turning the blend very medicinal in the end.  Not to mention all of the powerful antiseptic & warming qualities these oils offer making them perfect for the colder months.  Blending essential oils to support wellness is apparently unavoidable!

In between my busy personal and professional life these past couple of months, I did manage to put together a very effective blend for a client of mine with psoriasis on his hands.  He  had the red, scaly peeling on the skin surface that commonly comes along with the condition as well as pain in his joints, resulting in psoriatic arthritis.

The blend consisted of yarrow Achillea millefolium, roman chamomile Anthemis nobilis, helichrysum Helichrysum italicum, patchouli Pogostemon cablin, carrot seed Daucus carrota & lavender Lavendula angustifolia in a non-greasy organic body lotion.

When first approaching any kind of skin irritation, I usually almost immediately turn to german chamomile Matricaria recutita to blend with helichrysum.  These two oils work wonderfully together because helichrysum works like magic on injured skin while german chamomile is not only healing for the skin, but any kind of inflammation – from skin to joints & tendons.  Unfortunately I was all out of german chamomile but I did have yarrow on hand and decided to use it in place of german chamomile.  The reason I chose yarrow was because it has a strong azulene content similar to that of german chamomile.  In the end it did prove to be an effective anti-inflammatory substitute (not to mention the oil is a lot more cost effective).   Since yarrow is not a chamomile I felt the need to add some roman chamomile to the blend hoping to make up whatever the yarrow may lack.  Although skin soothing roman chamomile is also an anti-inflammatory, it is used more for any kind of painful, cramping condition – both traits that are helpful for the pain in his hands.  Next came the soothing, skin cell regenerating patchouli & carrot seed followed by the pain relieving, nurturing, supportive lavender.

Even though this particular blend has lavender and roman chamomile in it, its aroma is not what I would classify as feminine.  The helichrysum, yarrow, patchouli & carrot seed add herbacious and warm tones giving the blend a nice gender neutral aroma.

This combination of oils is a definite keeper as its effectiveness is proven by the voicemail my client left.  And just like he said it would be, a refill was promptly ordered.