Calming Fragrances

Lots of talk is talked about fragrance’s ability to calm us.  As you know, I’m no scientist, but I thought it could be cool to talk about the fragrant materials I find calming.  Some are profound and backed by aromatherapeutic research I have half-assedly looked into over the years.  Other materials I find calming for their transportive vibe.   We all could use some aromatic prompting from time to time to let the hair down & unwind.  You can’t always carry around a pillow, listen to tunes at work, or light a candle on the subway.  But perfume can be carried by your epidermis all day – a fragrant pillow that sings calm melodies.  Here’s my go-to calm down materials.

Ylang-ylang

This is one of nature’s most staggeringly beautiful essential oils. It is extremely versatile in regard to perfumery.  It is used so much that there are literally 4-5 grades within a perfumer’s organ - the first, second, third distillation, a long distillation of all three called “complete,” & a divine top distillate called “extra.”  The name means “flower of flowers,” which is pretty emphatic.  I once found a vine of y-y growing in the Caribbean.  It was narcotic & a bucket list find for yon Moltz.  I sniffed it for hours.

Though ylang-ylang (which keeps getting spell checked to slang-slang - badass fume name?) is heady & opulent - a workhorse flower that helps bolster jasmine, gardenia, and almost any tropical floral idea, it is also the most calming oil I know of. When I inhale pure y-y, I literally feel my nerves slacken.  I take a little vial on planes and sniff it like a liquid Bach flower rescue remedy for the nose.  The nerves pull back, the muscles slacken, and the thoughts slow down.  I can sit back and relax, watch movies because “the sky is my skin” & “I always get to my destination” (mantras from the master Morgan Yakus)

Lavender

This is a 101 relaxing oil for any aromatherapist.  Lavender oil’s aroma varies due to differences in grades, extraction methods, terroir, & hybrid subspecies. To me, pure lavender essential oil form France & Bulgaria are the ones with the most classic aroma profile – key for elegant top notes in perfume making. They have a soft pale purple tone with a fineness approaching dewy rose otto.  Lesser fine grades of lavender are often used in bath products & soap.  They often have a rosemary overtone (spike lavender is the most rosemary of them all). Regardless, all of these grades still relax my nerves.  A drop or two on the pillow beckons sleep.  A drop or 10 in the bath beckons relaxation.

Hinoki

Hinoki was not common growing up in the US, however when I first sniffed it in adulthood, my brain was transported back to the death mall in my hometown of Swampscott, Massachusetts.  Just outside of the Walgreens, ensconced in dark dirty brick, was a patch of conifers inside the mall. All day they bathed in the overheard sun filtered through the skylights.  I had never thought of that area after I was 13 years old (when the mall was demo’d). Low and behold those conifers must have had a hinoki amongst them because my first encounter with hinoki essential oil brought me right back.  But I digress. Hinoki is a very traditional wood used for Japanese Onsen baths. The oil’s fragrance has a dirty-undergrowth-of-leaves by way of fine-pine to it.  When you isolate the aroma of conifers into their most dominant molecules, you find unbelievable secrets (later post for sure!). One of those molecules smells of aggressive rubbery tires. That one is in hinoki, but of course perfectly balanced by the hand of Mama Nature: dark rubber, intense green, undergrowth of forest, strong pine wood.  This is relaxing in the way that it takes the mind on a journey through forest myths, bathing spirits, and sprites of the wood.  It is so dry & frank that you get a sense of calming emptiness in its presence.

Dwarf Pine Oil

I first wrote pine oil here, but honestly there is just too much variety out there in pine oils.  Dwarf pine is the most relaxing to me.  Like anything, at first pass one might say that conifers like pine, fir, cypress & spruce all smell alike.  There are certainly overlaps, but as you observe and sniff them, the variance is staggering. For example, fir essential oil is radically different than say black spruce.  Fir oil is actually a little gross (which is useful in perfume). Many of these conifers paint an aromatic landscape that lots of human beings feel connected to.  Peeps like the cozy feeling and scent of pine forests. To me the purest in aroma that conjures Nutcracker Alpine fantasies is Dwarf Pine oil.  It is so clean, like the quiet green air of pine forests in the snow.  It’s very quiet, light green aroma is relaxing to the mind.  A lil’ nip in the bath takes you out over Swiss chalets joyfully cutoff for an evening of letting go.

Chamomile

Man, chamo is backed by mucho research in the get-well department.  Pete Rabbit crushed it after losing his jacket & almost his life.  A cup of chamo tea calms the mind, muscles, and digestion. It does a whole bunch of stuff to your brain, triggering the release of all those dopamine, serotonin, and more named chemicals.  We all know it makes us relax. The oil’s beauty lies in its ability to conjure fields of apple-scented flowers & herbs growing in the hedgerow. A drop on the pillow or bath paints a bed of yellow dusty buds for the mind to unwind.  I think it’s really good for your skin too.

I was going to include rose, sandalwood, & frankincense, but then I could see how these are more than relaxing to me & one has to draw the line somewhere.  Any of the great oils can be relaxing because certain scents are just entwined with our own personal experiences. I do feel relaxed by some others, but the five above are my go-to when the world radically changes and you just need a friggin’ minute to remember that all is good, beauty is everywhere, & it will all work out in the end.