Angelica is a warm and musky, herbaceous scent that is very grounding. Avoid use in pregnancy.
Black Pepper is a hot and spicy piquant scent that warms and stimulates. It should be used sparingly because it is easily overpowering. It may also irritate sensitive skin.
Cardamom is a warm, sweet and spicy scent with a hint of eucalyptus. It is stimulating and head-clearing, but should be used sparingly because it is easily overpowering.
Cedar Wood is an ancient camphor. It is a sweet soothing antidepressant with a woody undertone. It was said to have been used in the Egyptian embalming process. Avoid use in pregnancy. May irritate skin in high concentrations.
Cinnamon is a warm and spicy stimulant. Grown in the Far East, East Indies and China, it is one of the oldest spices known – used by the Egyptians, Romans, Greeks and even mentioned in the Old Testament. It could irritate sensitive skin if used in baths and massage oils. Use in very low concentrations.
Clary Sage is an uplifting relaxant. It smells sweetly herbaceous and floral. Used by the ancient Egyptians to cure women of infertility, these dried leaves were considered sacred in those days. The Chinese have also used it medicinally for centuries. Use sparingly, and should be avoided by pregnant women and anyone who suffers from epilepsy.
Cloves are a warm and stimulating sweet-spicy-bitter scent. It is easily overpowering so use sparingly.
Coriander is a sweet and spicy, slightly musky scent. It is a warm, uplifting stimulant that effects light-heartedness.
Ginger is a warm, peppery and spicy stimulant.
Jasmine is my personal favorite. I have jasmine vines growing on the north and south fences around my home. It is warm with musky undertones. Aside from being an antidepressant, it is also known as the fragrance of sacred love. It is an ancient favorite of the Arabs, Indians and Chinese. It was introduced from Persia to Europe in the sixteenth century.
Neroli is a soothing and uplifting antidepressant. It has a sweet floral scent with bitter undertones. Neroli is better known as the orange blossom, white blossoms of the bitter orange tree which originated in China, but also grows in Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, the United States, Italy and southern France. In 1680, Anna Maria Orsini, Princess of Nerola, was said to have brought the fragrance to fashion among the Italian aristocracy.
Nutmeg is a warm and spicy stimulant. Use sparingly because it is easily overpowering.
Patchouli is a rich and earthy relaxant. It is warm and stimulating, one of India’s most favorite perfumes. The oil is extracted from the dried and fermented leaves of the small patchouli shrub.
Rosemary is a sharp and fresh stimulant. This small shrub, at most three feet high, with gray-green leaves and pale blue-white flowers, was first favored by the Egyptians. Before long, though, its popularity grew with the Greeks and Romans, who believed it symbolized love and death. Use in low concentration, as excessive doses may bring about epileptic convulsions. Do not use if you are pregnant or have high blood pressure.
Roses have long been the valentine flowers of choice. Cleopatra was said to have carpeted her bedroom in rose petals to aid her seduction of Mark Antony. In Roman times, it was used in garlands, baths, and often in ostentatious public displays. Although it is a sweet and mellow antidepressant, it has a tendency to be heady. It is not advisable to use it as a bath or massage oil when you are pregnant.
Sandalwood is an ancient sensual scent that soothes. It is warm, woody, soft, and sweet. It is an antidepressant that mellows with age. The evergreen sandalwood tree grows to a height of up to 30 feet in China, Indonesia, and East India. It is from the roughly chipped and powdered wood that the fragrant balsamic oils are derived. Many temples in India were built with this wood.
Vetiver is an ancient rich and earthy scent. It is warm and soothing.
Ylang Ylang is another personal favorite. It is intensely sweet, like jasmine. An antidepressant, with a tendency to get heady. It is a tropical tree native to Indonesia and the Philippines. The ylang-ylang tree reaches a height of 60 feet and produces yellow flowers that used to be mixed with coconut oil to perfume and condition the body and hair.