The Flowers by Robert Louis Stevenson

29 Friday Jan 2010

All the names I know from nurse:
Gardener’s garters, Shepherd’s purse,
Bachelor’s buttons, Lady’s smock,
And the Lady Hollyhock.

Fairy places, fairy things,
Fairy woods where the wild bee wings,
Tiny trees for tiny dames–
These must all be fairy names!

Tiny woods below whose boughs
Shady fairies weave a house;
Tiny tree-tops, rose or thyme,
Where the braver fairies climb!

Fair are grown-up people’s trees,
But the fairest woods are these;
Where, if I were not so tall,
I should live for good and all.

- Robert Louis Stevenson

Blooming wonders: smelly Amorphophallus titanum

16 Saturday Jan 2010

Posted by Aromamuse in Aroma & Aromatherapy, Musings

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

Amorphophallus titanum, carrions flowers, david attenborough in Sumatra, foul smelling plants, The Private Life of Plants

We mentioned the imminent bloom of the Corpse Flower in Milwaukee Public Museum on the Aromamuse Facebook Page but we love David Attenboroughs The Private Life of Plants BBC TV Series, in which the flowering and pollination of the plant were filmed for the first time.

This clip shows David Attenborough’s visit to Sumatra, where it is native to the equatorial rainforests, to view the rare 3 day boom of the Amorphophallus titanum (from Ancient Greek amorphos, “without form, misshapen” + phallos, “penis”, and titan, “giant”) which occurs only once ever 3 years. It’s a gargantuan flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence (cluster of flowers) in the world.

I wandered lonely as a cloud

04 Monday Jan 2010

Posted by Aromamuse in Musings

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

flower poetry, I wandered lonely as a cloud, william wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

~ William Wordsworth, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” 1804

Perfume inspired by nature

31 Thursday Dec 2009

Posted by Aromamuse in Aroma & Aromatherapy, Musings

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

Ayala Moriel Perfumes, beer powered pefume. Sweet Anthem, blue marble energy, botanical perfumes, perfume industry

Since perfumes are inspired by nature and often contain remnants of it, seems logical to seek out those that smell divine without leaving a synthetic chemical residue on your skin or aromatic “after taste”. All our favourite fragrances from the department counters or couture boutiques contain notes of barks, flowers, twigs, leaves, resins and leaves, used as top, middle, base notes and fixatives to create well rounded blends often glorious and memorable throughout the decades and sometimes revolting.

Even Tom Ford’s latest perfume, Italian Cypress, contains bergamot, mandarin, spearmint and galbanum, basil, clove buds, labdanum, cypress, moss ….Jean Paul Gautier’s Classique X is “a sensual interpretation of orange blossom and woody notes”…..both likely lovely fragrances but mixed with synthetic chemical components which renders them less than “healthy” spritzes for your gorgeous skin.

Thank Hummingbird for Sage

29 Tuesday Dec 2009

Posted by Aromamuse in Aroma & Aromatherapy, Musings

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Clary Sage, Common Sage, Hummingbird, role of Hummingbird in pollination, Salvea Officinalis, Salvia Sclarea

Flapping his wings at 12-90 times per second while practicing the art of levitation more effortlessly than David Copperfield, this little Hummingbird, the smallest of birds, was the star attraction in our photo shoot at Mt Griffith Park, LA. He was busily feasting on the nectar of some bright red flowers, which got us thinking, which essential oils do we have to thank him for?!

After our post Thank Butterfly for Chamomile, where we captured a Monarch Butterfly feasting on rosemary at the amazing Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, we didn’t expect to be presented with another spontaneous photo shoot so soon, but lo and behold, this fellow has obviously been in LA long enough to have practiced his acting skills.

Hummingbirds are the only birds who are able to fly backwards and can fly as fast as 54 km/hr. They are extremely fussy about the nectar they eat and reject anything with less than 10% sugar. They require 2-3 their body weight in food so supplement their nutritional intake with insects and spiders, especially when feeding their young.

Thank butterfly for Chamomile

27 Sunday Dec 2009

Posted by Aromamuse in Aroma & Aromatherapy, Musings

≈ 3 Comments

All this talk about flowers, oils and hydrosols and yet so little mentioned of the truly awesome creatures that make all this possible. Yes, the bird, the bees and the butterflies!

Butterflies are less efficient than bees at moving pollen between plants, but are very active during the day and visit a variety of wildflowers. Highly perched on their long thin legs, they don’t pick up much pollen on their bodies and lack specialized structures for collecting it…but certain plants provide perfect landing platforms to accommodate this apparent shortfall.

Butterflies probe for nectar, their flight fuel, and typically favor the flat, clustered flowers that provide a landing pad and abundant rewards. Butterflies have good vision but a weak sense of smell. Unlike bees, butterflies can see red. Butterfly-pollinated flowers are brightly coloured (even red) but odorless.

The Aloe Family: Vera and her relatives

23 Wednesday Dec 2009

Posted by Aromamuse in Aroma & Aromatherapy, Musings

≈ 2 Comments

Aloe vera var. chinensis

Aloe vera is a member of the Aloaceae family. With over 450 species of Aloe identified, they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Although there are over two hundred species of Aloe Vera, there are probably only four or five with medicinal properties. Of these, Aloe Barbadensis Miller (also known as Aloe Linne’) is the most potent and it is really the only true aloe.

It has been used for medicinal purposes the centuries, having been mentioned in the bible, in the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus (ca. 1552 BC) and of course well-known to the Greeks. Dioscorides (41-68 AD) recommended Aloe applied externally for wounds, hemorrhoids, ulcers and hair loss, and internally as a laxative. Rome, China, India and the West Indies all used it as a wound healer, laxative, and purgative.

When sliced open, the leaves reveal its famous gel. The properties of this gel have, many times, been scientifically evaluated, and it has been found to contain up to an amazing 70 Essential Ingredients including most vitamins (including B12), minerals, amino acids, enzymes and protein. The gel, used as a topical treatment for skin irritation, wounds and other skin disorders, creates a protective shield over the skin, which then allows it to heal more quickly and guard against infection.

per fumum – The origin of perfume

08 Tuesday Dec 2009

Posted by Aromamuse in Aroma & Aromatherapy, Musings

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

base notes, Chanel No. 5, commercial fragrances, essential oils in fragrance, Fougère Royale, fumigation, Guerlain Shalimar, middle notes, per fumum, perfume, synthetic fragrances, top notes, unction, Vanilla essential oil

The word “perfume” is derived from the latin per fumum, meaning “by means of smoke”, a practice involving the transformation of a substance into something airborne through nebulisation. In ancient civilisations, the body and spaces were perfumed by the same method of fumigation, which which was synonymous with “purification”, both for religious and hygiene purposes.

Perfumes didn’t exist in the same way as we know them now. Originally, flowers, plants and resins were offered to the gods. Over time more elaborate substances were used to produce more intense aromas, such as suffumigants, oils, balsams and fermented liquors. They were used as “media for approaching the divine”.

Aromatic Art – Onde Onirique by Yukio Nakagawa

01 Tuesday Dec 2009

Posted by Aromamuse in Aroma & Aromatherapy, Musings

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Aromatic Art, essential oil of lavender, Gabriel Mojay, Ikebana, Onde Onirique, Yukio Nagakawa

In 2003 Yukio Nagakawa created an installation in the Hermes space in Tokyo that was reminiscent of a zen garden. He used 700 kilos of lavender blossoms, some of which he died in cobalt blue, and arranged them in swirls and waves in a sensory display of aromatic intrigue.

Photograph from designboom.com

“lavender has its own grace” he said.

Yukio wanted to represent its depth rather than its superficial beauty,
and offer the gentle invitation of its fragrance.

Ikebana arrangement (courtesy of wikipedia)

Ikebana (生け花, “arranged flower”) is the Japanese art of flower arrangement, also known as kadō (華道, the “way of flowers”).

Aromatic Architecture – Scents of space & social change

30 Monday Nov 2009

Posted by Aromamuse in Aroma & Aromatherapy, Musings

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

affect of aromas on emotion, aroma and architecture, aroma and design, authentic aroma, essential oil aroma, essential oils for communication, essential oils for creativity, essential oils for focus, essential oils for memory, essential oils for positivity, essential oils for relaxation, sense of smell, synthetic odours, Volatile Organic Compounds

“Here are my rules: what can be done with one substance must never be done with another. No two materials are alike. No two sites on earth are alike. No two buildings have the same purpose. The purpose, the site, the material determine the shape. Nothing can be reasonable or beautiful unless its made by one central idea, and the idea sets every detail. A building is alive, like a man.”

- The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand

Aroma used to be an integral ingredient within the architectural design process. Odours are, after all, integral to any space. They also have a role in defining them. Hospitals, schools, the dry cleaners our home, the coffee shop and the local library etc etc etc. We know how they smell before we enter and the recognition of the aroma on entry defines & reaffirms where we are. It affects how we feel in those spaces, determines how long we stay, what we do and how we behave, think and act while we’re there.

Our enigmatic sense of smell; affect of aromas on emotion

27 Friday Nov 2009

Posted by Aromamuse in Aroma & Aromatherapy, Mind, Musings

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

absorption, affect of aromas on emotion, effects of aromas on emotion, Linda B. Buck, olfactory systemolfaction, Richard Axel, sense of smell, Socrates, The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

We have only discovered 3% of the world’s ocean, we only use on average 11% capacity of our brains and until 2004, most of us knew relatively little about our sense of smell. Given everything we have discovered: the boson, the unified field and all these amazing scientific discoveries in space and our universe, it may surprise you to know that we have much to learn about many things closer to home. The human body is still in many senses a complete enigma to us, most likely because of our dependence on science & technology to explain most things. It was Socrates, after all, who said:

“The body cannot be cured without regard for the soul”

In 2004, The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2004 jointly to Richard Axel and Linda B. Buck for their discoveries of “odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system”. Their parallel and independent studies starting in 1991 clarified the olfactory system, from the molecular level to the organization of the cells, giving us for the first time unique insights into how our sense of smell actually works. Continue reading »

Buy organic to save the owl (and other gorgeous creatures)

17 Tuesday Nov 2009

Posted by Aromamuse in Beauty & skincare, Musings

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

bio-magnification, Ethics, organic essential oils, owls as agricultural pest control, save the owl, the Global Owl Project

Farmers employ owls as pesticide control

In Israel, Jordan and Palestine birds of prey were dying from eating rodents that contained rodenticides from the crops, signaling a need to reduce pesticides and chemicals in farming.

Farmers in the regions are now working with scientists to do this, by employing more owls and kestrels as agricultural pest controllers! Kestrels hunt during the day and owls during the night so there is 24/7 crop protections. Ingenious. Full BBC story. Continue reading »

The invisible strength of aroma

14 Saturday Nov 2009

Posted by Aromamuse in Aroma & Aromatherapy, Musings

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

affect of aroma on emotions, aromatic healing, effect of aroma on memory, the invisible strength of aroma, the power of smell

Smell is pervasive every second of our lives, from the moment we are born to the moment we die. It has a huge power or influence over our mood, emotion, memory and ability to function, yet all the while being completely invisible!

Smells are closely connected to our emotions but it is due to the immense power of emotions in the first place that aroma can have such an effect. Aroma is capable of evoking the most primal and ungovernable emotions, sometimes ones that we had forgotten or never knew existed.

Because of this, aroma also has a powerful effect on memory, able to evoke emotions that the scent originally stimulated, bringing to the surface associated pleasures and pains from that moment, situation or part of life.

What’s really interesting to consider is

Ethical Aromatherapy – responsibility to planet & peoples

09 Monday Nov 2009

Posted by Aromamuse in Aroma & Aromatherapy, Musings

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

AGARWOOD, AMYRIS OIL, ARGAN OIL, ARNICA OIL, CEDARWOOD essential oil, conscious consumerism, Cropwatch, Ethics, FRANKINCENSE essential oils, RAVENSARA essential oil, ROSEWOOD essential oil, SANDALWOOD essential oil, Scoth pine essential oil

With the growing awareness of how chemicals are affecting our health and our move towards more organic, wild-crafted and bio-dynamically cultivated botanical ingredients, many of our much loved plants are becoming harvested to the point of extinction. Our earth’s resources are being plundered, while, unaware, we are bathing in organic oils and smothering our delicate skins with the latest “organic” miracle oils.

Part of an organic lifestyle is caring for the planet but we also need to be aware that it is our natural resources that are most at risk of becoming endangered, even if we are buying and using them with the best of intentions.

Cosmetic, beauty and skin care should be responsible for keeping their products in line with sustainable environmental concerns, but we don’t live in a perfect world….these things can sometimes slip through the cracks. We have to take responsibility for keeping ourselves informed.

History of Aromatherapy

28 Wednesday Oct 2009

Posted by Aromamuse in Aroma & Aromatherapy, Musings

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

ancient healing, Ancient wisdom, Aroma & Aromatherapy, aromatherapy, botanicals, history of aromatherapy

“Ever since human beings walked on this earth they have searched for materials which would ease their suffering. As time went on they came to know which plants would feed their hunger, which would poison and which would heal.”

(Valerie Ann Worwood)

The ancient world had a huge influence on what has come to be know as Aromatherapy today. There are two specific historic sites that will amaze you and add credence to this quote: Continue reading »

Musings of an Aromastrategist

~ Reporting from the edge of aroma

Category Archives: Musings

The Flowers by Robert Louis Stevenson

Blooming wonders: smelly Amorphophallus titanum

I wandered lonely as a cloud

Perfume inspired by nature

Thank Hummingbird for Sage

Thank butterfly for Chamomile

The Aloe Family: Vera and her relatives

per fumum – The origin of perfume

Aromatic Art – Onde Onirique by Yukio Nakagawa

Aromatic Architecture – Scents of space & social change

Our enigmatic sense of smell; affect of aromas on emotion

Buy organic to save the owl (and other gorgeous creatures)

The invisible strength of aroma

Ethical Aromatherapy – responsibility to planet & peoples

History of Aromatherapy

“Ever since human beings walked on this earth they have searched for materials which would ease their suffering. As time went on they came to know which plants would feed their hunger, which would poison and which would heal.”

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

“Ever since human beings walked on this earth they have searched for materials which would ease their suffering. As time went on they came to know which plants would feed their hunger, which would poison and which would heal.”

Share this:

Like this: