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Many essential oils are a complex blend of fragrances in their own right. Using this perfumery dial helps in analyzing the individual elements and building up a fragrance profile for a particular oil. The dial is shown marked up for rose oil.
MANDARIN
To gain familiarity with the different essences and to develop your sense of discrimination, test oils individually. Do not smell essential oils directly from the bottle. Always use a strip of blotting paper. Ideally, dilute the oil to 50 percent, using a bland base. Dip the paper into the essence, then study the odor immediately. After a few minutes smell it again, then periodically over several hours. You will see that the most volatile components will rise quickly up the blotting paper and disperse, while the more viscous elements will remain at the tip. Mark the strip clearly at the other end and record your results on the perfumery dial shown below, starting at the top with the floral notes and then moving round the face. For example, if floral notes are absent, put a dot in the center; if predominant, put a dot in the outer circle. Continue around the circle, trying to detect each note in turn, to complete the profile.
Fragrance families and their effects
The following table is based on the Austrian perfumer, Jellinek’s concept of relating perfumes to skin and hair type.
Fresh (blond)
GREEN
HERBACEOUS
MEDICINAL
Soothing (brunette)
SPICY
WOODY
EARTHY
Sultry (black)
MUSKY
ORIENTAL
HONEY
Exalting (red)
FLORAL
FRUITY
CITRUS
Trying to identify or verbalize a particular scent is difficult, yet odor classification is most important for developing scent discrimination and perfecting the art of blending. In modern perfumery work, this discrimination includes knowledge of all the synthetic fragrances now available. Indol, for example, is a natural component of jasmine absolute, now produced chemically. In concentration, it smells strongly camphoraceous, but in minute proportions it adds sweetness and volume to heavy, floral-based accords. In psycho-aromatherapy, however, the groups of aromas are wholly natural in origin, as in original perfumery classifications.
Massage is one of the most fundamental forms of therapy, and has been utilized by many diverse cultures for thousands of years. The need to be touched is itself an essential and primitive human instinct, for without physical contact, the overall health of the individual suffers. Recent research has shown that a lack of tactile contact is associated with immune depression, and positive touch with immune stimulation.
Over the course of time, many different massage techniques have been developed, each having its own individual therapeutic approach. The oriental art of shiatsu massage, for example, works primarily with specific pressure points along the lines of the meridians or channels of energy in the body, to influence the overall balance of energy within the body, much like acupuncture. In contrast, the Western style of Swedish massage concentrates more on releasing areas of tension trapped within the muscles, joints, and connective tissues of the body. Even performing the same stroke in different ways can produce different effects. A single movement performed vigorously can stimulate the body, while a similar movement performed slowly can promote relaxation.
Massage not only improves circulation and relaxes muscles, but also has psychological benefits, making the recipient feel comforted and cared for, and produces a unique sense of well-being.12 However, when the general benefits of massage are combined with the effect of specific essential oils being rubbed into the skin, the healing dynamics already at work can take on a completely new dimension.
The actual techniques of aromatherapy massage are adapted mainly from the Swedish massage style, combined with a more individualistic approach to body work, adopted from the intuitive massage style initiated in the early 1960s. The theory behind the preparation of the essential oils themselves is based largely on the ideas of the French dermatologist, Marguerite Maury. Her concept of the individual prescription is still utilized by most professional aromatherapists working today, and they always prepare an individually chosen blend of essential oils for each client and for each massage session, depending on the needs of the client on each separate occasion.
JASMINE
“The way to health is to have an aromatic bath and scented massage every day.”
HIPPOCRATES
There are three distinct but overlapping aspects of an aromatherapy massage treatment and this form of therapy can therefore be seen as being beneficial in three quite distinct but interrelated ways:
