Aromatherapy - The Hype

You see the word 'aromatherapy' appearing almost everywhere, from shower gels to air-purifiers, from scented candles to spa treatments. So what exactly is aromatherapy?

We are constantly exposed to many different odours everyday. Some odours smell like sewage. Some makes you happy. It's like for those who are coffee-addicts. The aroma of a freshly brewed cuppa perks them instantly. That, my friends, is just a form of aromatherapy.

Here's how Wikipedia defines: Aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine that uses volatile liquid plant materials, known as essential oils (EOs), and other aromatic compounds from plants for the purpose of affecting a person's mood or health. The most popular method of using among us is diffusion using oil burners. The probable reasons being we tend to use this method to mask unpleasant smells and to feel relaxed. We hardly know how such liquids can improve our ways of living.

Let's take a look at its beginning. René-Maurice Gattefossé, a French chemist in the 1920s, was the person who coined this alternative medicine as aromatherapy after his hand accidentally caught fire in one of his research works. He quickly dipped his hand into a container of liquid nearest to him without much thinking and miraculously, his pain was immediately relieved. It was lavender oil that he had in is laboratory. Not only did that surprised him, the healing proccess was also remarkable. The recovery was faster than normal healing period of such burns.

Even before René-Maurice Gattefossé, people in the ancient times were already using aromatherapy for various purposes. For example, Cleopatra not only used milk as baths everday to make her skin soft and smoothe, rose essential oil is also her secret to her youthful look. In the New Testament of the Bible, Luke 7:36-38 tells us Jesus's feet was ainointed with fragrant oil (spikenard) while being a guest at one of th Pharisees' house.

Aromas work wonders in our lives, be it just for perfumery or balancing our moods. It's not a cure for ailments, not just to make you feel good, but also enhances our well-being.

(With references from wikipedia.com)