Love to smell nice but regular perfume gives you a headache? More women are trying out essential oils, both in their home cleaning applications and as a chemical free perfume that boasts aromatherapy benefits.

What is aromatherapy?

Aromatherapy describes the power of plant compounds to bring healing to the body. It’s pure chemistry. Science in nature.

Essential oils produce different physiological changes. Some speed up body systems and improve mood. Many like lemon, cleanse and purify.

Warming oils made from spices like cinnamon, clove and ginger produce excitation at a cellular level. This is due to chemical compounds that are inherently present.

One example is cinnamon: the active plant compound is called cinnamaron. This compound gets your blood flowing and your heart pumping a bit faster, but not as fast as what you might get taking pharmaceuticals.

At the opposite extreme, we have lavender. Lavender is a known gentle sedative. People have been using lavender for thousands of years to relieve anxiety and promote healthy sleep.

These are just two of many different essential oils that, in combination produce interesting physiological changes.

Essential Oil Perfume – Benefits

The healing power of essential oils is vast. Some offer antiviral, antifungal and antimicrobial properties. Many, like rose and orange, lift mood and alleviate depressive symptoms. Some even work as an aphrodisiac.

Perfume is created by blending different, aromatic essential oils that produce different reactions in the body.

Those who have studied the making of perfume may have heard of top notes, middle notes and bottom notes. Each of these is represented by a different category of essential oil.

Top notes wake you up. Bottom notes calm you down. It’s a literal physiological reaction to inhaling the substance or applying it to your skin.

Rose is a top note because of its sharp sweetness. Sandalwood is a bottom note because it is woodsy and earthy. Lavender is considered a middle note.

When you bring together a top, middle and bottom note in a single perfume blend you generally get a balanced profile that smells pleasant and produces pleasant feelings.

Examples of top notes: the sharp, bright aromas of citrus, spicy bergamot, and sweet floral neroli. A top note alone can become overly sweet or sharp to overwhelm the senses, and is better balanced with a middle and or bottom note, like woodsy cedar.

A woman named Stefanie out in Ohio creates natural perfumes using essential oils, and she is an expert at what she does.

For people who are sensitive to regular perfume, this can be exciting.

You can try out her all natural essential oil blended perfumes yourself and see which combinations are your favorites.

Visit Stefanie at Twinkle Apothecary to shop for all natural, essential oil-based perfume now