By Kathryn Brightbill

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I seem to favor oils that are very lush and grassy with floral notes, as evident in my first favorite, Geranium. While Geranium is pretty subtle, sometimes the extra lush scents are strong and take awhile to get used to.  My second favorite essential oil is Clary Sage with its nice floral, green scent.  It has a strong aroma, but you don’t need to use much to benefit from its relaxing properties. It turns out that Clary Sage is a great oil for women to use to ease menstrual pain and irregular periods (but shouldn’t be used during pregnancy).  It can also be used as an astringent in a diluted form.  Be careful though, as Clary Sage is said to have narcotic effects if used too often or in large quantities and should be avoided if drinking alcohol.  Just a drop in a candle diffuser smells good and helps me unwind and relax.

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Another oil that I didn’t like at first but have come to use quite a bit is Roman Chamomile.  Initially, the earthy scent was too strong and the floral notes were not strong enough. An incident  helped me change my opinion on Roman Chamomile, though, and actually made me an aromatherapy convert.  One afternoon in the shop, back when I was still pretty new, one of us (not me of course!) spilled a fairly large quantity of Roman Chamomile on the counter. Its strong scent filled the whole shop. Even after we cleaned up, it was very pungent and overwhelming. After awhile, we realized that we were all feeling pretty drowsy and decided it was best if we left for the day and let the shop air out. I went home and slept for a couple of hours, which was very unusual for me as I’m not a napper and never sleep during the day. This incident, more than any other experience so far, convinced me of the power of essential oils and aromatherapy. I now use Roman Chamomile to help me fall asleep when I have insomnia and it works every time. Just one or two drops on a bandana under my pillow does the trick. It is an amazing oil.

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Roman Chamomile and Clary Sage essential oils are my favorites for relaxing and for bedtime sleep aides. They are healthy, natural, non-addictive ways to unwind and get a restful night’s sleep.

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Kathryn Brightbill is one of the wonderful employees at Dreaming Earth who’s agreed to do a regular blog post for us. Once a month or so, she’ll be sharing her reflections on her favorite essential oils and essential oil blends. We’re so happy to have her expertise and passion to share with you! Here’s her first post:

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Even though I’ve worked at Dreaming Earth Botanicals for going on five years, I still think of myself as an aromatherapy novice.  Sure, I’ve learned quite a bit about the aromatherapy field, but I still discover something every time I come into work that I didn’t know before.

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Dreaming Earth is my part-time gig. I work in the library at a small college full-time, I home-school my teenager, and I’m active at church, so I’m pretty busy.   People marvel. They say “I don’t know how you do it!”   Sometimes I don’t know either.   I do know that it helps to have one job that is like an afternoon walk in a flower garden in full bloom.  That is what it’s like working at Dreaming Earth. And I learn something every time I come in.   Like I said, lucky me!

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I thought I might start by blogging about my favorite oils, as I discovered them while working here.  My first “discover” was geranium. While mixing some Skatter one day, I was thinking how nice it smelled for bug repellent. I thought it was probably the Lavender, which has always been one of my favorite scents, but found that it was geranium.   Geranium essential oil is very green and lush… earthy and a little spicy.  It’s so fresh and summery that I started using it to clean with at home.  I add a few drops to some castile soap in hot water and I love the way it leaves the house smelling.  I use it in my candle diffuser, too.  It has anti-depressant properties and helps with skin aliments, as well as being a natural insect repellent.  Geranium is a great essential oil that is often over-looked.  It now stands next to lavender as one of my go-to all purpose oils.

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We get quite a few questions about essential oil quality, with most of them falling into one of the following categories:

• Are your oils therapeutic grade? 
• Isn’t the term "therapeutic grade" or "aromatherapy grade" just marketing hype?
• I’ve heard that only "XYZ" Company has certified therapeutic essential oils.  Is that true?

We thought it might be helpful to reprint here an answer that Dr. Power gave in the FAQ section of our website.  Dr. Power, who founded Dreaming Earth Botanicals, has been working with and teaching essential oil usage for over thirty years.  Here is what she had to say:

"’Aromatherapy Grade’ or ‘Therapeutic Grade’ may be considered by some to be marketing hype but, in fact, it is not. We use the terms "therapeutic grade" or "aromatherapy grade" (same thing) to differentiate our essential oils from other essential oil "stuff". We use the terms to mean that we consider our essential oils to be of excellent quality and suitable for therapeutic applications. There is no official grading system other than perhaps the use of the term food grade or pharmaceutical grade, which often denote oils inferior to those sought by aromatherapists. You could say that all essential oils are alike. You could also say that all wines are alike. I think there is often quite a lot of difference between one wine and another and one essential oil and another.

We find that if you are looking at the therapeutic properties of essential oils, then there is often a very real difference between one and another. That is why we always review the MS/GS (gas chromatography) reports for each oil before making a purchase. No one tells us that these are are "aromatherapy grade" or therapeutic grade. This is the decision we make and the label we apply.

Some oils for sale on the market are adulterated and some have had certain components removed or come from the second or third distillation of the plant material. We consider such oils to be inferior and definitely not therapeutic grade. All our oils are pure, unadulterated, complete and from first run distillations (unless otherwise plainly stated)."

We hope that is helpful information to you.  And, as to the question of whether one company and one company only carries therapeutic essential oils, the answer is easy:  No. 

To read more about essential oil quality, and gas chromatography, click here to go to our articles collection.

Rose Oil is one of the most divine of the essential oils, with an aroma that is intoxicating, sweet, warm, and nurturing.  Many people are shocked by the price of pure Rose Otto essential oil, and it is indeed expensive.  The reason?   It takes somewhere around 60,000 roses to distill one ounce of essential oil, or sixty roses to yield one drop of essential oil.  So, while we sell the pure Rose Otto, we also offer it as a 5% solution (in jojoba) to make it available to everyone.  The 5% is a lovely way of wearing a completely natural and intoxicating perfume–dab a few drops of the diluted rose on the inside of your wrists, behind your ears, and you’ll never reach for the synthetic stuff again. 

Therapeutically speaking, Rose is a balancing, grounding oil, helping to lighten and lift the emotions.  It’s one of the most gentle essential oils, making it suitable for use with children and the elderly, and is excellent for skincare.  Rose oil is a wonderful addition to any mature skin care blend, and is a valuable oil for menstrual difficulties and menopause.  Jeanne Rose calls Rose oil the “prime” oil for women, and suggests this formula for menstrual health:  Add 3 drops of Rose Oil and 3 drops of Rose Geranium oil to 1 ounce of Calendula infused oil and use for a full body massage on a regular basis.