Beauty / Society

The power of natural essentials oils: mood-altering, medicinal, or mythical?

By Johanna Ljunggren

Photo: Getty Images

Every plant is its own distillery, and their essential oils can teach us a lot about our moods

Picture this: you tilt a bottle into your hand, allowing a few drops of essential oil to drip into your palm. You rub your palms together to activate the oil and hold them near your face while inhaling slowly. Sweet-smelling chamomile ricochets its way through your nostrils and hits your olfactory nerve, prompting an overall feeling of well-being or perhaps triggers a memory.

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Humans can distinguish an astounding 10,000 scents, landing in the middle field of the capabilities of all mammal species – picking up more scents than mice and even dogs. The biggest difference to other sensory experiences is the olfactive information passes our neocortex (the area involved in higher-order brain functions such as sensory perception). Different fragrances can relocate moments from our past, like our first loves, our traumas and even specific places.

When it comes to natural scents, plants are like small factories. The oils are stored in their petals, leaves, stalks, seeds, roots, wood, or bark. Essential oils are a complex mixture of substances from vegetable matter – the essence of the plant. Primarily. they exist for the plan's health and vitality and to protect it from insects and pests.

Photo: Abel Odor

Made of hydrogen and carbon that are arranged in different constituents. The constituent is the chemical part of the essential oil, which is why in the beauty industry we talk about natural or synthetic chemicals. The art of utilising natural aromatic essences from plants to balance and promote health in the body and mind is called aromatherapy. There are different actions on how the oil will affect its user.

Physiologically, some will be sedating, some stimulating, and some both, like orange oil. Psychologically, reactions can result in triggering mood disorders or memory. Thirdly, the pharmacological mode is the chemical change that occurs as the oil enters the bloodstream and interacts with hormones and enzymes.

The tug-of-war between scientists and clinical aromatherapists has created a grey zone regarding medicinal studies on the subject. Prone to discrediting one another in media, some scientists claim that the 'cure all' attitude in the wellness industry is harmful.

But if you want to research the practice yourself, a curious attitude is the first step, and someone like Ines Lommatzsh is proof of that.

Photo: Abel Odor

Lommatzsh is the founder of the permaculture perfumery Soleone Pantelleria, on the island with the same name. There, she works as an aromatic gardener and wildcrafter.

Speaking about the oils she sources, she comments: "Quality is all; this means the provenience of the oil needs to be known, if possible, sourced directly from an artisan distiller.” The island is famous for its unique vegetation, capers, prickly pear oil, immortelle, mint, cypress, and neroli, to name a few. There she has re-taught post-Covid clients to regain their sense of smell and taste. Treatment through aromatherapy has helped those stuck with lengthy convalesces heal holistically.

The island is situated in the Mediterranean Sea, 100 kilometres southwest of Sicily and 60 kilometres east of the Tunisian coast. With a dramatic landscape of lava rock and hot springs, and even a lake named 'Venus Mirror', which naturally formed in an extinct volcanic crater.

"Sourcing high potent plants here is easy," says Lommatzsh, who always picks the plants according to season. When it comes to dosage, she recommends to treat each oil differently. "There are components like thujone and ketones – found in sage, spike lavender, and artemisia. You need to use less compared to, let's say, a simple lavender oil."

Pantelleria has become a destination for well known people like Giorgio Armani. His perfume 'Cypress Pantelleria' is inspired by the trees bursting through lava rocks near his stunning villa overlooking the sea. Cosmetic companies usually use synthetic fragrances when formulating their products. The scent from essential oils can be replicated in a lab, but the benefits of using the real thing cannot.

To understand the importance of supply chain transparency and traceability, I got on a call with Frances Shoemack, founder of Abel Odor. "Everything we use starts its life as a plant. Our latest launch, Natural Parfum Extrait, was inspired by aromatherapy."

Photo: Abel Odor

“They are highly concentrated and rich in therapeutic-grade essential oils to dab on pulse points for a restorative scent ritual. Brands hide hundreds of synthetic chemicals in one word, 'fragrance', not revealing what those ingredients are.”

Frances is meticulous when it comes to sourcing the oils. "I used to be a winemaker – you can't make good wine with bad grapes."

The Parfum Extraits are created in our small lab in New Zealand, while the main line is produced in Amsterdam. She works closely with the perfumer Isaac Sinclair. "The pandemic changed the behaviours of our customers. We decided to lead with wellness instead of fragrances based on escapism, focusing on intimate application stripped from alcohol."

These smaller brands can offer a sanctuary of handmade plant luxury, focusing on self-exploration instead of simple pleasure.