Aromatherapy by Candle Magic

Aromatherapy

What is Aromatherapy?

Aromatherapy is the use of essential oils in various ways that benefit the mind, body and soul.
An Essential Oil is created when the essence or lifeblood of a plant is extracted through various means (most commonly through steam distillation).

How does it work?

The energy field which protects the plant from harmful insects, bacteria and fungal infections is a part of this essence that is captured in the essential oil. The essential oil that captures the personality and protective aura of the plant can benefit humans and animals in the same way the plant's protective hormones benefit the plant.

The most common practice of Aromatherapy is through inhalation - whether it's direct inhalation from the powerful essential oil itself or the subtle enjoyment of the essential oil's scent released into the air when an aromatherapy candle is burned. Other ways to benefit from aromatherapy are through direct contact with the skin and hair (always diluted) when essential oils are used in body care product such as shampoos, massage oils, lotions, etc.

smell the flowers

listen to the wind

touch the earth

History

Even though the practice of using plant essences and perfumes is ancient, French chemist Dr. Rene-Maurice Gattefosse is considered the father of modern aromatherapy after coining the term and using it as the title of his 1937 book.

What has been known intuitively since ancient times, has been proven by modern scientists - the ability of sights, sounds, and smell to dramatically influence our minds, our emotions and thus our overall state of health.

Our Practice

At Candle Magic, we use are the finest Aromatherapy grade essential oils available. We also use perfume oils made from natural and synthetic materials for certain scents that would be outrageously expensive in pure extract or absolute form. Many of the perfume oils also offer more staying power and lower evaporation rates, along with practical affordability.

Our blends usually feature top, base and middle notes and are mixed by hand and blended in small batches. Following is a partial list of scents we use regularly. Many other scents are available upon request.

Cedarwood

Cinnamon

Clove

Fir Needle

Gardenia

Geranium

Jasmine

Lavender

Lemon

Nutmeg

Patchouli

Rose

Rosemary

Sage

Sweet Pea

Sweet Orange Blossom

Vanilla

Ylang-ylang

Scentual Thoughts...

"When the olfactory bulb detects something - during eating, sex, an encounter, a stroll through the park, it signals the cerebral cortex and sends a message straight into the limbic system, a mysterious, ancient and intensely emotional sector of our brain in which we feel, lust and invent. Unlike the other senses, smell needs no interpreter. The effect is immediate and undiluted by language, throughout translation."
Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses

"Our sense of smell, like so many of our other bodily functions, is a throwback to that time, early in evolution, when we thrived in the oceans. An odor must first dissolve into a watery solution our mucous membranes can absorb before we can smell it."
Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses

Our Sense of Smell

"Smells are surer than sights and sounds to make your heart-strings crack."
- Rudyard Kipling

"Who that has reason & his smell,
Would not among roses and jasmine dwell,
Rather than all his spirits choke
With exaltations of dirt and smoke?"
- poet Abraham Cowley

"Smell is a potent wizard that transports us across thousands of miles and all the years we have lived. The odors of fruits waft me to my southern home, to my childhood frolics in the peach orchard. Other odors, instantaneous and fleeting, cause my heart to dilate joyously or contract with remembered grief. Even as I think of smells, my nose is full of scents that start awake sweet memories of summers gone and ripening fields far away." - Helen Keller

Smells That Take Us Places

Have you ever experienced how a certain scent can transport you instantly to a different time and place?
Here are several personal examples of various scents that stir our memories. Please feel free to share your expressions as well. We'd love to hear from you!

The smell of fresh, home-baked chocolate chip cookies transports me to my motherís kitchen coming home after the first day of school each fall. It was her annual tradition to reward me and my sisters for bravely facing the uncertainties of another school year and the challenges it would bring.

The smell of candied apples, funnel cakes and cotton candy, mixed with the hum and exhaust of generators and the chantings of the gamers coaxing us to challenge our skills and our luck... that particular carnival smell... carries me home to our annual county fair which always seemed to fall during the first cold snap of the year, adding an element of excitement to the air - the hope that relief from the oppressive South Alabama summer was near.

The scent of night-blooming jasmine, mingled with frangipani, mimosa and the occasional honeysuckle... and I'm splashing through puddles on my old Conch cruiser down the narrow rain-soaked lanes of Old Town Key West on a warm summer night.

The sweet smell of magnolia, hanging in the humidity that penetrates a Southern summer night brings to mind the sprawling fresh cut lawns and wide open skies with all the celestial characters spread before wondering eyes.

Suntan oil and warm salt air bring feelings of spring break - the ultimate feeling of freedom, if only for a week.

The scent of pine brings back the grand vista, the feeling of accomplishment and the ache in my thighs after the 2-hour uphill hike to the peak beyond the tall stand of pines on the Appalachian Trail.

The pungent, bitter aroma of dried tobacco brings images of old, gray, wooden barns in the mountains of North Carolina.

Chlorine - the fear and excitement of the first swimming lesson.

Fresh, raw corn on the cob brings me to my Great Aunt Eva Jo's and Uncle Prestonís kitchen where over the years our extended family shucked a lifetime's supply of corn from their garden.

The scent of wild sage brings the feeling of the dry, hot air and incredible view of the Grand Canyon.

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Cedarwood	Cinnamon	Clove
Fir Needle	Gardenia	Geranium
Jasmine	Lavender	Lemon
Nutmeg	Patchouli	Rose
Rosemary	Sage	Sweet Pea
Sweet Orange Blossom	Vanilla	Ylang-ylang

The smell of fresh, home-baked chocolate chip cookies transports me to my motherís kitchen coming home after the first day of school each fall. It was her annual tradition to reward me and my sisters for bravely facing the uncertainties of another school year and the challenges it would bring.	The smell of candied apples, funnel cakes and cotton candy, mixed with the hum and exhaust of generators and the chantings of the gamers coaxing us to challenge our skills and our luck... that particular carnival smell... carries me home to our annual county fair which always seemed to fall during the first cold snap of the year, adding an element of excitement to the air - the hope that relief from the oppressive South Alabama summer was near.
The scent of night-blooming jasmine, mingled with frangipani, mimosa and the occasional honeysuckle... and I'm splashing through puddles on my old Conch cruiser down the narrow rain-soaked lanes of Old Town Key West on a warm summer night.	The sweet smell of magnolia, hanging in the humidity that penetrates a Southern summer night brings to mind the sprawling fresh cut lawns and wide open skies with all the celestial characters spread before wondering eyes.
Suntan oil and warm salt air bring feelings of spring break - the ultimate feeling of freedom, if only for a week.	The scent of pine brings back the grand vista, the feeling of accomplishment and the ache in my thighs after the 2-hour uphill hike to the peak beyond the tall stand of pines on the Appalachian Trail.
The pungent, bitter aroma of dried tobacco brings images of old, gray, wooden barns in the mountains of North Carolina.	Chlorine - the fear and excitement of the first swimming lesson.
Fresh, raw corn on the cob brings me to my Great Aunt Eva Jo's and Uncle Prestonís kitchen where over the years our extended family shucked a lifetime's supply of corn from their garden.	The scent of wild sage brings the feeling of the dry, hot air and incredible view of the Grand Canyon.