Essential Oils can be expensive. We all have our favourite oil and aroma – and we all like to indulge ourselves from time to time. Sometimes just the walking into a shop and selecting a small expensive bottle from the shelves, beautifully packaged, and offering the promise of warm fragrant evenings to come can be enough to lift up our spirits and give us a little perk to put us in a good mood.
But are we just buying into a self-indulgent promise which will fail to deliver? We’ve all walked out of fashion stores clutching an item which similarly promises to make the night a great night because we KNOW we’re going to look great – only to get the item home and realise that the item hasn’t the ability to alter our fundamental body shape!
So when I made an impulse purchase the other day of an particularly expensive Rosemary Essential Oil, what assurance could I have that it would do ‘just what it said on the tin’ ? (or bottle in this case!) 
Rosemary Essential Oil is a particular favourite of mine and at times I think almost an addiction – so its an essential oil that I have particularly researched with fascinating results.
Rosemary Essential Oil and Lavender Essential Oil were both used in a clinical trial on 140 subjects ( performed by M Moss and published in the International Journal of Neuroscience Issue 113 p15-38) . The group was divided into 3 – one being the Rosemary Group, one being the Lavender Group and one being a Control Group.
Into the first two booths were pumped either Rosemary or Lavender, and into the third booth no aroma was pumped to provide a control group.
The results were very interesting and went as follows.
The control group were taken as the base line as it were, and the Lavender aroma group scored significantly lower on the tests for working memory and slower reaction times (suggesting a sedative effect of the aroma) whilst the Rosemary aroma group scored significantly higher than the control group in terms of memory and were judged to demonstrate greater alertness as judged by their response time.
The investigation team judged that the aromas had produced objective effects on cognitive performance and subjective effects on mood.
There have been many similar tests over the years and Id be interested to hear of any others readers can contribute. Ill be publishing details of referenced investigations alongside individual oils as I discover more!
Note: All information is provided as points of possible interest to the reader and as such is not intended as medical advice. You should always consult a doctor or a chemist if you have any complaints or conditions arise. The Aromatherapy Store does not intend to provide you with anything which could be considered an alternative to proper qualified medical advice. ALWAYS treat oils with respect. They should never be taken internally, and should be kept away from babies and children. Pregnant women are als0 advised to practise particular care when using essential oils and all users should stop usage and exposure altogether if there are any concerns. Different skins react differently to oils so always be sure to test the oil (diluted) on a small patch of skin for 24 hours before embarking on exteneded usage.
The Aromatherapy Store is a site dedicated to promoting the safe and confident use of the natural qualities of essential oils and related products for the professional and amateur aromatherapist alike!
