Honey by Laurie Stern for Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery 2007

October 15, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 19 Comments

Post by Poodle

There was a time when perfumers didn’t need to say their products were all natural. Perfumes back in the day used natural ingredients because we didn’t have all the aroma chemicals we do today. If a perfume smelled of roses it was because it contained rose. Today’s natural perfumers carry on that tradition and some, I must say, do it better than others. I usually don’t gravitate towards naturals for a variety of reasons but once in a while one catches my attention.

Honey by Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery 2007

Honey by Laurie Stern

Photo Stolen Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery

Notes: orange blossom, Moroccan rose, Bulgarian rose, vetiver, Madagascar vanilla, honey, beeswax, sandalwood, clove, pomegranate, pink grapefruit

I recently received a sample of Honey and was pleasantly surprised it. It has decent longevity and is sweet and a little skanky. Perfumer Laurie Stern of Velvet and Sweet Pea Purrfumery has created one of those really good natural perfumes and a classic, sexy scent with Honey.

Honey is a perfume that conjures up vintage perfumes in my mind. When I first tried it it reminded me of something I imagine one of the ladies on Downton Abbey would wear. It smells full and rich. While I wouldn’t say it smells old fashioned I think you’d have to appreciate perfumes along the lines of Bal a Versailles to appreciate Honey. In one of the episodes of the Downton Abbey Lady Mary spills perfume on her bedroom rug. She describes the end result as smelling like a tart’s boudoir. That’s Honey to me. It smells pretty but there’s that underlying impression that this pretty girl may have a naughty side.

Photo Stolen Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery

A lot of natural fragrances have a rough, unfinished feel to them with little development. Honey doesn’t smell like that to me. While I can detect orange blossom and spices the rest of the notes meld together to create a full, plush bouquet. The roses here are not sour or metallic but more like those big fluffy, old fashioned roses. Opulent comes to mind. The honey note along with pink grapefruit gives it a sexy little twist.

I only had a few drops to test but I could imagine this one packs a punch if sprayed lavishly. You don’t need much and I think a little would go a long way with Honey. As the sweetness of the orange blossom, honey, and vanilla fades the warm, cuddly sandalwood and cloves wrap their arms around you.

Photo Stolen Flickr

I think this leans rather feminine. It may be a bit much for the office. I had the husband give it a sniff and he said at first it reminded him of a woman in church (whatever that means) but then he said on second sniff it reminds him of Rubj which he calls my dirty girl perfume. So that basically falls in line with my impression too of the pretty girl with a naughty side.

Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery has a range of Honey options starting at $50

What perfumes do you think have a naughty side to them?

Until next time,
Hugs
Poodle

Skin Drenching Moisturising Potions

October 14, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Post by Trésor

Autumn is officially in full swing in my humble little corner of the globe and the mercury has finally begun its lengthy descent into what I’m expecting shall soon be one hell of a winter. As much as I adore the delightful chill that comes along with such utterly magnificent sweater weather it also brings with it a far less welcome guest: dry, itchy skin; otherwise known as *the* bane of my existence. Luckily for me (and you beautiful readers, if you just so happen to enjoy a fragrant treat or two…or five) I’ve happened upon a number of exquisite lotions and potions that are both positively nourishing and olfactoriaely sublime and it would be my pleasure to share a few of my favourites with each of you.

Skin Drenching Moisturising Potions

Angel Perfuming Body Cream from Thierry Mugler

I’m fairly certain you’re well aware of just who Angel is, she needs no introduction. She’s the face that launched a thousand ships, the high-octane über-gourmand who’s DNA runs through an astonishing amount of fragrances which occupy the spheres of both designer and niche alike. Here, contained within her fantastically celestial flying saucer, her edges have been softened and entire demeanour expressed with a sense of fluidity and grace. Her holy trinity of neon candy floss, camphorous patchouli and sumptuous dark chocolate are still fully intact but wear closer to the skin, their rich languidity reimagined effortless sensuality in her altered form. Deeper, earthier yet somehow transparent; her beauty now bound to the Earth as much as it is to the stars above.

Feu de Bois Nourishing Body Cream from LAFCO

The aroma of burning wood is one of my favourites in this entire world. Growing up on the East Coast of Canada where winters are considerably harsh and wood stoves are aplenty one comes to associate the fragrance of woodsmoke with their morning routine, the promise of glowing warmth and comfort after waking up to stone floors as cold as ice or conversely the abating comfort of curling up by to the fire in a sinfully cozy blanket and taking a glorious nap on a particularly chilly evening. LAFCO has captured the essence of these moment’s so beautifully, all the while wearing with an incredible ease and a great deal of comfort to skin which may be feeling a bit under the weather. Soft plumes of woodsmoke are joined by the delicate emerald hum of conifer resins that illuminate their sylvan radiance through the diaphanous haze. Utterly sublime.

Pulp Body Cream from Byredo

There are certain accords in the realm of fragrance which one (myself, at the very least) may develop a particularly blasé attitude toward as time passes. One such example for me is the fruity floral, compositions of this nature truly wield the power to bore me to absolute tears but that, of course, is simply my own personal opinion. Every once and a while, though, something comes around and challenges my preconceived notions. It has me falling head over heels for a fragrance that by all accounts I should very much dislike. Meet Pulp from Swedish niche house Byredo, one of the very first fragrances to have put me in this precise position and caused me to reconsider my exploration of an entire genre. Pulp is absolute divinity, a symphonious amalgam of wildly nectarous fruits like succulent blackcurrant, crimson red apple and unbelievably juicy fig, overripe and on the cusp of decay. It’s absolutely magnificent and in my opinion even more enjoyable in the body cream, which lends a most sensual aura to Pulp’s already subversive leitmotif.

Are there any fragrant body creams which you enjoy breaking out when the temperatures begin to fall?

Until next time, my darlings.

Trésor xx

Geisha Noire EdP by Maria McElroy for Aroma M 2007

October 13, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 23 Comments

Post by Val the Cookie Queen

Daisy, Decants and Bagels. A Perfume Love in New York City.

Daisy of coolcookstyle organized an afternoon and evening with Ladies Who Sniff when I was recently in New York City. She picked me up from my hotel lobby and whisked me off to Brooklyn for a visit to Twisted Lily. As much as I enjoy visiting perfume shops I rarely if ever put anything onto my skin. I have an inate fear of ending up with something nasty. Whilst this does fall into the obsessive compulsive disorder category, it is also based on years of experience. I do sniff lots of things on paper, and whilst not being the best way it is usually enough to confirm my suspicions.

As we were about to leave Twisted Lily I picked up a bottle of aroma M Geisha Noire. Daisy suggested I try it, telling me it was beautiful. We were heading out of the door and I had to make a snap decision. Pushed for time I saturated my left lower arm and left.

Geisha Noire EdP by Aroma M 2007

Geisha Noire EdP by Maria McElroy

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Sandalwood, tonka bean, black amber, vanilla

I read incense and patchouli too.

Absolutely exquisite it induces a sense of physical well-being. Despite the richness of the materials that Maria McElroy uses Geisha Noire remains graceful and elegant. Very seductive. It melds itself with the skin and continues to give both comfort and sultriness for many hours. Heady stuff, I cannot recommend it highly enough. I encourage you to take a look at Maria´s website. There you will find her history and sources of inspiration. She founded aroma M 20 years ago and
spent seven years living in Japan.

We moved on from Twisted Lily to a table in a restaurant, where I spent most of the evening sniffing my arm. Sitting at a table with another eight perfumistas I did not look out of place doing so. Daisy took pity on me and offered to bring me a decant of Geisha Noire and meet for bagels the next morning. I love her.

Photo Stolen Flickr

I am majorly kicking myself for not trying the other fragrances in the aroma M collection. This is being remedied.

Stunning packaging, affordable, and even available in Australia! Samples of the whole collection, both EdPs and the oils are also offered.

Photo Donated Maria McElroy

As I was talking to Vero Kern of .vero.profumo. I asked her if she was familiar with Maria McElroy´s work.
She replied: “I discovered Maria´s creations many years ago in Munich, as we had our fragrances together in the same store. And wow, I so enjoyed them. They are beautifully different. And the packaging just gorgeous.”

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and EauMG
Twisted Lily has $85/50ml + Samples

Cherry Blossom Bussis
CQ

The Mini Museum & Esscentual Alchemy – Unguent, Unguentarium & U Tour

October 12, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 18 Comments

Post by Azar

Hello APJ,

Several years ago both Brad and I collected all kinds of antiques. We were such crazy collectors that at one point our home began to take on the aspect of a museum. When we moved from that very old house (by American standards an antique in it’s own right) into a larger, more “modern” 1960s home, we gave away or sold many of our old “treasures”. In our new house we resolved to maintain a clean, spare look and try not to become burdened by our stuff. Well, as you probably have guessed, that resolution didn’t last. These days we don’t feel quite so driven to possess used things but we still like the look and feel of something old. I believe that I can sense another person’s way of life or spirit in a vintage piece, not unlike the experience of using someone else’s pen or pencil. For example, when I play a friend’s musical instrument I find it has taken on certain aspects of the musicality of the person who regularly uses it. This phenomenon may be the result of an actual physical change in the instrument’s materials brought on by years of exposure to the player’s individual style.

The Mini Museum & Esscentual Alchemy

Unguent, Unguentarium & U Tour

That being said, toward the end of the summer we were eagerly awaiting the arrival of an unguentarium and two other ancient miniature glass pieces from the Mini Museum’s Unguent, Unguentarium and U Tour. It was a weird experience when we finally opened the boxes. The unguentarium, a very small (just over 4cm high) mouth blown glass bottle, encrusted with sediment, was from the early Roman period, circa the 1st century A.D. It was carefully packaged in sand to give the impression of an archeological dig. An unguentarium (from the Latin unguentarius, a perfumer or dealer in unguents) is a small vessel designed to hold liquid, solid or semi-solid perfumes, cosmetics, perfumed oils, etc. These little bottles can still be found in ancient Greek and Roman sites, especially in tombs.

My favorite of the three artifacts was a longer (7.30 cm), narrower and seemingly more delicate bottle, also of mouth blown glass dating from roughly the same period. This lovely little piece was called a lachrymatory – a vessel for tears or a tear catcher – also used to hold perfumes, fragrant oils and unguents. It is believed that the ancients used these bottles to gather their tears, burying them with their deceased loved ones.

The third artifact was a tiny blown glass mold form probably created around 50. A.D. in Phoenicia (modern Lebanon).

In addition to the three ancient minis there were two modern perfume samples, created by perfumer Amanda Feeley of Essential Alchemy specifically for this Mini Museum traveling unguentraium project. Here is a brief description of these fragrances from the museum’s fact sheets:

” ‘Helena’ is the chosen name for both the ancient vessel…and the commissioned re-creation of [an] ancient Roman unguent by perfumer, Amanda Feeley. In her meditation with the vial, Amanda ‘felt an image of a woman in a garden on a warm, spring day’…The end result was her ‘Helena’ – the reconstructed, oil-based fragrance of 30% parfum concentration and ‘Helena MMXIV’ – the brighter, alcohol-based eau de parfum…”

For more information about these beautiful fragrances check Amanda Feeley’s website. I understand there will be another Unguentarium Tour next year. If you are interested in the project contact Allen at the Miniature Perfume Shoppe/Mini Museum

Azar xx

Mona di Orio Oud Giveaway WINNERS

October 12, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Post by Portia

How I love the Mona do Orio fragrances,

We have three winners today, I hope one of them is you. As always, thank you for being part of the APJ Fragrance Family. We love you all so much.

Portia xx

Mona di Orio Oud Giveaway WINNERS

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Pettigrain, green mandarin, elemi
Heart: Nagarmotha, patchouli, osmanthus
Base: Oud, Atlas cedar, musk, ambergris

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 3 winners who will receive:
1 x 2ml Oud by Mona di Orio sample
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Closed Sunday 11th October 2015 10pm Australian EST
Winners will be chosen by random.org

Photo stolen thegarfieldshow-diary

lionceau

Rene Groyer (via Twitter)

Lindaloo

The winners will have till Thursday 15th October 2015 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.

La Panthère by Mathilde Laurent for Cartier 2014

October 11, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

I first tried La Panthère in an airport hotel in Sydney. My colleague and I had missed a connecting flight to our home city. It was late, and we were tired and cross. But in the end I thought there seemed nothing for it but to relax, have a shower, order room service, and crack open a Cartier mini set I’d bought in Paris at Charles de Gaulle airport. Fun

It happened that I did not have internet access that evening, so I was testing blind.

La Panthère by Cartier 2014

La Panthère by Mathilde Laurent

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Rhubarb, strawberry, dried fruits, anise, bergamot
Heart: Gardenia, orange blossom, pear, rose, ylang ylang
Base: Musk, oakmoss, patchouli, leather

In the absence of this information I panicked a bit because the opening of La Panthère seemed strident, almost screechy. It reminded me of fragrances I dislike including Dior’s J’Adore and Miss Dior Cherie, and Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle. I thought I’d made a mistake. But during the night as I woke up momentarily here and there I was delighted in a drowsy way with what I could smell: a very intimate scent of warm contented skin, not animalic, but sexy as hell.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Gardenia is not something I know well, either as a flower or a perfume note so I can’t comment much on its use here except that I like it. And what saves La Panthère for me in particular is its chypre-like character. A lot of reviewers find it a chic, elegant, intelligent fragrance and I agree. Fruity chypre it may be, but La Panthère is too vivid and modern to really stand comparison with classical greats like Guerlain’s Mitsouko or Rochas’ Femme. It’s cleaner than YSL’s Yvresse and more supple than Badgely Mischka, which seems lugubrious next to La Panthère.

That brightness stays all the way through the life of the fragrance on my skin, and a few generous dabs from a mini lasts me ALL DAY. I could be extra-sensitive to notes like strawberry, rhubarb and pear – normally I hate them – and that’s maybe why La Panthère won’t quite leave me alone. I like it very much but by the end of the day I’m often rather tired of it.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Showering it off is like kicking off a pair of gorgeous but tight little shoes. Ahhh, that’s better. Looking back, I’m surprised I slept so well that first night I wore La Panthère . Like the shoes, La Panthère is wonderful to put on and wonderful to take off.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Perfume Posse
FragranceNet has $83/50ml before Coupon
My Perfume Samples has $3/ml to $9/5ml

Do you have a ‘chic little shoe’ fragrance?

Until next time, keep spritzing!
Anne-Marie xx

Cartier – La Panthère, the feminine fragrance

Narcisse Noir by Ernest Daltroff for Caron 1911

October 10, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Post by Portia

Hi there Vintage Vamps,

A while back I stumbled across someone’s Sale Document in Facebook Fragrance Friends and on the list were some lovely fragrances that I really wanted to try in their vintage form. One in particular was the last couple of ml of a Caron scent that was, and still is, based around one of my favourite notes Narcissus, it is Narcisse Noir…

Narcisse Noir by Caron 1911

Narcisse Noir by Ernest Daltroff

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: African orange flower, narcissus
Heart: Jasmine, orange, tincture of rose
Base: Vetyver, musk, sandalwood

Narcisse Noir opens with a lovely soapy orange blossom curled around narcissus. Not the potent feral narcissus of the absolue, here it is softened and sweetened, draped elegantly over lashings of musks and sweet smooth and creamy sandalwood. This is OLD! because I can smell real animal musk. Yes there are some sweet flowers in the heart but they seem to be only ornaments to the narcissus, sandalwood and musk.

Normally I wear Narcisse Noir and just let myself float freely on a cloud of its loveliness. It’s weird trying to parse notes of something that I have had so much enjoyment out of as a whole and finished creation.

Photo Stolen Flickr

The heart gives me a hint of indolic skank but nothing that would upset the vicar (sadly) and orange does make an appearance, it’s a juicy and pithy orange quite rounded and I had never noticed it before today’s wear. Narcisse Noir is much more multifaceted that I ever thought, light, shade and nuance that wearing as a fragrance just doesn’t show. Even a fruity rose rears its head, not a loud one but when I look for it after reading a note list it’s there.

Basically the fragrance then takes hours to dry down. Instead of making great changes it smooths and creams its way to a hum that just shimmers above my skin making me smell divinely better than I really do.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Further reading: Now Smell This and Yesterday’s Perfume
Galaxy Perfumes has EdT $85/50ml (the only bottle I could find online not on eBay or Amazon)
Surrender To Chance has samples from $3/ml

Did you ever spend time with Narcisse Noir? Will you miss it when it’s gone?
Portia xx

Oudh Osmanthus (Oud) by Mona di Orio 2011

October 9, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 32 Comments

Post by Portia

Hey there Fragrant Family,

I can’t remember exactly but I think it may have been 2013 and Jin, my BFF Kath and I were in Melbourne for the weekend and we dropped by Peony Melbourne for a sniff and a chat with proprietor Jill. The shop is lovely, loads of choice and there were so many fun things to sniff. We went to the Mona di Orio section because Violette Fumee had just been released and I was dying to get my sniff on it. It was right then that Jin started to get excited, he’d just spritzed Oud (now called Oudh Osmanthus). By far the most expensive in the Mona di Orio stable at that time and way out of his budget, but he was smitten. I heard about Oud quite a bit over the next couple of months.

Oudh Osmanthus (Oud) by Mona di Orio 2011

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Pettigrain, green mandarin, elemi
Heart: Nagarmotha, patchouli, osmanthus
Base: Oud, Atlas cedar, musk, ambergris

So what I did was buy Jin a 10ml decant in a split well in advance of our anniversary thinking it would be an excellent amount to test with, which hadn’t arrived a week out. PANIC! So I ordered him a FB which arrived on the day. PHEW! When the split finally arrived I used it a couple of times and put it aside, where it has sat ever since. I recently found it while cleaning.

How does it smell? The softest, most sueded of ouds, a resinous opening both warm and herbally earthy. The barnyard is not in your face but beyond the line of some trees, they are flowering and have a fruity/white floral scent that could be jasmine and ylang or could be mango and banana. It’s heady and intoxicating stuff yet manages to retain a winsome primness, quite the dichotomy.

The oud smells expensive, and in a market saturated that is saying something. Mona di Orio’s Oud is a cool classiness, a restrained power, an elegant sufficiency but no more. Yet again Mona di Orio creates a fragrance that is less about its name than the notes combining to create a ring efftect. Imagine that you have a large perfect emerald cut cognac diamond and around it the jeweller has cleverly set a mass of tiny yellow topaz: the topaz serves to give the diamond depth and highlight its deep burnished lustre. The whole piece becomes even more beautiful.

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and EauMG
Peony Melbourne has Oud $525/100ml with FREE Australian shipping
Parfum1 has Oudh Osmanthus $395/75ml (Currently $395 is AUD$548)
Surrender To Chance has Oudh Osmanthus samples starting at $6/.5ml

Want to try it? See below.
Portia xx

Photo Stolen TheTruthAboutMummy

Mona di Orio Oud Giveaway

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have 3 winners who will receive:
1 x 2ml Oud by Mona di Orio sample
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me (portia underscore turbo @ yahoo dot com dot au) so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ

and

Please tell us a Mona di Orio you’d like to try, or one you own and why you love it

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Oud by Mona di Orio GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-4n1 #Perfume #Giveaway

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 11th October 2015 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winner will be chosen by random.org
The winner will have till Thursday 15th October 2015 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.

Ellenisia by Steve de Mercado for Penhaligons 2005

October 8, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Post by Gabriella

Hello perfume lovers!

It’s often said that happiness comes when reality beats expectations. This can happen as much in the perfume world as anywhere else, especially now when we’re faced with rave blog reviews or when there’s a new release by one of our favourite brands or perfumers.

Today I want to talk about a beautiful perfume that has fallen short for me, not because it is not good – quite the opposite – but because I have built up my expectations about it over several years, actually having it and wearing it doesn’t match those expectations. That scent is Ellensia by Penhaligon’s.

Ellenisia by Penhaligons 2005

Ellenisia by Steve de Mercado

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica lists these following accords:
Top: Mandarin orange, violet leaf
Middle: Jasmine, gardenia, rose, tuberose
Base: Plum, vanilla

The weight of expectations for poor old Ellenisia was built up a long time ago. At the earliest stages of my perfume wanderings, when I was skulking round the perfume boards on Makeupalley, board members were raving about it as the most gorgeous white floral. As the perfume was unobtainable in Australia back then, it became even more coveted and desirable to me. My desire only grew when people said it was a better version of Chanel Gardenia.

Time went on and then Penhaligon’s made an appearance at our local department store but a bottle was way beyond my budget. I’d go in often and spritz some Ellenisia on a blotter to get my fix of the fume and delight in the sensual, heady but very playful gardenia and tuberose mix.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

This happened for a while, until of course, other perfumed delights came my way and Ellenisia was temporarily forgotten.

Fast forward to last year. I had just moved to Melbourne and I am out of work. Again, a bottle of Penhaligon’s is too expensive and out of my reach. Again, I covet it more than anything.

A couple of months ago, I finally pull the trigger. After more than a decade, the object of my rapture is finally in my hot little hands and I can’t wait to wear it. I am carefully unwrapping the cellophane from the pink cardboard box and lifting the little glass cap that sits so prettily atop a pink ribbon, I press the atomiser and….nothing. For sure, Ellenisia was pretty, it was the same gorgeous mix of gardenia and tuberose, given depth by the mandarin and plum but not too sweet, thanks to the greenness of the violet leaf. It was nice, but it didn’t rock my world like it had in my head time and time again. Mr M says I smell pretty and I do, but I can’t help feeling something’s missing. I’ve ruined my own perfect scent, I have built it up too much in my mind, building it up and up and up that it can’t help but fall short. Hopefully, as I continue to wear it, my expectations will fade to the background and the beauty that is this gorgeous white floral will come to the fore, unencumbered by the prospects in my mind.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Further reading: EauMG and Mimi Froufrou
Libertine Parfumerie has $239/100ml
Luckyscent has $4/0.7ml

Have you ruined a perfectly gorgeous scent through the weight of your expectations? Conversely, what perfumes have you set the bar really low for that have subsequently rocked your world?

With much love till next time.

M x

Best Stress Relief Scents

October 7, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Post by Suzanne R Banks

Often smelling something is enough to create change in emotions and stress addiction because scent works powerfully on our mind, body and brain function. Stress can become a habit that we get used to rather than a trigger to help us survive, and in turn we get adrenal and cortisol overload. This is not good! Smell something good to break your habitual mind reactions.

Best Stress Relief Scents

Photo stolen Pixabay

Stress Relief: Marjoram

Oreganum marjorana

Little leaf, big scent, great results. Marjoram has been used in herbal medicine for centuries, and comes from a time when our food was our medicine. This beautiful herb essential oil will help everyone from babies to the elderly with its stunning aromatic medicine.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Keyword: relief

Marjoram is wonderful for:
grief
any kind of physical stress
soothing emotional pain and angst
help induce sleep
muscle pain
period pain
headaches

Stress Relief: Frankincense

Boswellia carterii

Another botanical substance that has been used for a long time, made popular by stories from the Bible, is a must have for stress relief. This essential oil which is steam distilled from the resin has a deeply calming effect by inducing longer, slower, deeper breaths. This leads to a meditative state of mind creating Alpha brainwaves to help you chill out.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Keywords: meditation, truth, preservation

Frankincense is great for:
restful sleep
meditation
relaxing
connecting to your youthfulness
helping us see the bigger picture
moving us away from a busy mind
asthma attacks and sufferers
coughing and not being able to breathe very well

Stress Relief: Chamomile

German Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) and Roman Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile)

Both chamomiles are wonderful for stress relief but work in slightly different ways and have distinctly different scents. Roman chamomile has an intense honey-like sweetness whereas German chamomile is very deeply herbaceous.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Keywords: cool down and less tension more inspiration

German chamomile is good for:
restlessness
inducing sleep
settling anger
emotional healing
reducing inflammation in the body
physical heat

Roman chamomile is good for
soothing tiredness
softening inflexibility
relaxing the body as a whole
allowing tension to subside
reducing cramping in the body

The best and easiest way to use the oils is to open the bottle and take a whiff, also in oil burners or even if you put your foot over the shower drain and a few drops in, breathe deep.

If you’re wondering why I haven’t included lavender in this article it’s because I know that you know it’s a really great oil for stress relief – well done!

Check out my YouTube Channel too, thanks.
Suzanne R Banks xx

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