What is Aromatherapy – in simple terms?  

Aromatherapy has been around for thousands of years, offering a wide range of benefits, that can improve our overall wellbeing. A holistic healing practice, using essential oils, aromatherapy can help to promote physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.

How does Aromatherapy work to help maintain wellness? 

Traditionally, aromatherapy is a combination of massage and essential oils. Working with your client to choose the right essential oils to treat their concerns. In modern living, we can incorporate essential oils for their unique properties and benefits, choosing oils to help boost your mood, aid a good night’s sleep, keep us grounded and maintain focus. It’s about allowing yourself time amidst the mayhem of modern living, giving you time to take a breath and reconnect.

How long have you been an Aromatherapist? What made you want to get into it?  

I've been an aromatherapist for over 20 years - after qualifying as a Reflexologist and Holistic Massage Therapist, Aromatherapy seemed the natural next step. It is a slower-paced treatment, with long massage techniques, using essential oils suited to your client’s needs. I became fascinated by the science of plants and their fragrance properties, and the effects it had on people.

How do you become an Aromatherapist?  

Most beauty-departments within a college offer an aromatherapy qualification, or you can look for a private holistic school within your area. I was really lucky to have had a holistic school in my local area, which enabled me to delve deep into each subject area with dedicated specialists. Online courses are available, but I highly recommend the hands-on experience. There’s something so rewarding about being an aromatherapy practitioner and you learn so much more when surrounded by others in a practical environment.

What’s your favourite essential oil, and why?  

This is really difficult to answer, as I have so many! I have favourites for personal use, and I have favourites to formulate with. My top five are:

• Neroli – fresh, floral blossom from the bitter orange tree. A reminder of heady blossom in summer and a natural mood-booster
• Rose Absolute – with a natural affinity to women, it works well to ground other florals, such as Jasmin and neroli. It is an amazing tonic, for both skin and mind.
• Petitgrain - from the leaves and twigs of the orange tree, it carries delicate green, woody and citrus notes and helps to calm a busy mind.
• Angelica root – derived from the roots of ‘wild parsley’, smells fresh, peppery, woody and herbaceous. Great for helping to relieve stress. There’s something addictive about this one.
• Geranium – perhaps my favourite to formulate with, and for personal use. With its rose-like notes and a reminder of the heat of summer, it blends well with so many essential oils. Situated at the heart of a blend, it helps to ground, uplift, balance and restore. Pairing well with woody, citrus, floral and spicy blends – this is one of the most versatile essential oils.

As a busy working Mum, how do you use Aromatherapy to maintain your own wellness? 

My days are so varied and so full-on, it is essential that I make time for me. I use essential oils throughout the day to bring me little moments of calm, or to help me focus and meet my deadlines. My morning skincare features pure essential oils, to give me a wellbeing boost to start the day. A slick of my favourite rollerball when out and about to keep me grounded. I have my aroma diffuser going when I am working from home and select a blend to suit my mood and keep me focussed. I love an aromatic bath to sink into at the end of a long day, with an aromatherapy candle to add to the ambience.

Tell us about each blend – why did you choose the specific blends of essential oils, and what are some of the traditional uses for some of the key ingredients used across the range?  

When working on the aromatherapy blends Restore, Revive and Relax, I wanted to incorporate essential oils that have a long history and connection in these areas, whilst adding a modern outlook too. It was important to choose essential oils with properties and benefits for the feelings we wanted to evoke.

Here are three traditional oils that feature in our chosen blends:

• Lavender has been used for over 2500 years for its calming and relaxing properties. Grown all over the world, lavender grown at high-altitude has a unique chemical profile that yields it one of the most popular for use in fragrance and aromatherapy. Containing a higher level of esters, it increases the relaxing and sedative properties of the essential oil, which is why we have included French high-altitude in our Relax blend.

Relax is deeply calming, with a herbaceous lavender heart and fresh top notes of sweet orange zest, combined with the earthy roots of vetiver to deeply ground and calm.

• Rosemary essential oil is used in aromatherapy to aid memory retention and increase alertness. It helps to improve concentration and information recall – a go-to in my exam days and great for upcoming exam prep. We paired this with purifying eucalyptus and mint, balancing geranium and uplifting and energising mandarin, for a super-fresh boost in the Revive blend

Revive is awakening, bringing clarity and focus. With sparkling top notes of Mandarin, with clean crips notes of eucalyptus, peppermint and rosemary, plus geranium at the heart to provide balance.

• Frankincense essential oil is derived from the resin (tree sap) of the Boswellia tree, in our Restore blend we chose the Carterri variety, for its green, aromatic and balsamic notes. In aromatherapy, Frankincense is deeply grounding, calms feelings of stress and anxiety and allows you to breathe deeply – helping you to reconnect.

Restore is all about bringing back the balance. Frankincense is paired with grounding petitgrain, balancing and restoring geranium, and uplifting sweet orange - this blend is the perfect tonic and allows you to pause and reflect.  

How do you use the blends?  

I love adding the blends to my aroma diffuser, or to the bath and I love how easy it is to pick one to suit your mood. In aromatherapy, you are generally pulled towards the oils that you need the most at that time – so, ideally you'd have all three close at hand!

How do you use the rollerballs?  

The rollerballs are a great way to have aromatherapy on the go.

Restore is a great companion for when you are taking quiet time (or need quiet time). Whether that’s your daily walk, yoga practice, the school run, or curling up with a book.

Relax is perfect in times of stress, for busy lives and for grounding you at the end of the day – great for bedtime too!

Revive is awakening, fresh, uplifting and helps to aid focus. This is a great one for keeping you focussed and when you need a pick-me-up. I love applying this one pre-workout.

How do you use Aromatherapy as part of a mindfulness or meditation routine?