The Power of Scent

Posted by Sharon Falsetto Feb 16, 2009

Being an aromatherapist, my life is heavily influenced by scent! I have already mentioned the scent of flowers and plants in a couple of blog postings but thought it was worth highlighting again. Scent is more than just a nice smell found in a perfume bottle of bubble bath; in fact, many of today's manufactured perfumes are filled with sythethetic perfumes and chemicals and not the ingredients of perfumes of the past, when true essences and essential oils of plants were used.

The ancient perfumes of Pompeii were not only pleasant smells but were also healing; Pompeian ladies also used beauty masks of lupines, honey, melon roots, turnips and various other plants and flowers; perfumes were fragrant blends of rose, jasmine, lily and marjoram, amongst others. Other Roman centers of perfumery making in Campania (where Pompeii was located) included Naples, Capua and Paestum.

Marie Antoinette of France did much to influence ladies' fashions of the time, but the perfumes of Marie Antoinette were nearly as flamboyant as her dresses. Marie Antoinette had her own personal perfumer, Jean-Louis Fargeon, to make her scents of many flowers including violet, jonquil, rose and tuberose. Marie Antoinette also fragranced the royal apartments with healing scents of lavender and orange blossom; throughout her pregnancy she requested scents to relax her and soothe her and even a perfume remedy for her sudden loss of hair after her first pregnancy!

Walking through a garden on a summer's day, you can often smell many fragrant plants; some popular fragrant climbing plants are honeysuckle and clematis. There are others too, including sweet pea and, of course, the ever popular rose. Without always realising it, we are often calmed, healed and uplifted by the essences of many flowers in gardens.

As spring approaches, there are many places to visit to experience the power of plants and to understand the native plants of the places in which we live. Here in Arizona, there are many arboretums and botanic gardens to visit and learn more. One of the most famous botanic gardens is probably Kew gardens in London, where many plants can be viewed; Kew is having a historical celebration of 250 years in 2009.

So, this spring and summer, as you walk through a garden, remember that not only do many plants and flowers smell nice, they are capable of healing, both in their natural environment and in natural perfumes....