AROMATHERAPY

​According to the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA), aromatherapy is "the art and science of utilizing naturally extracted aromatic essences from plants to balance, harmonize and promote the health of body, mind and spirit.  It seeks to unify physiological, psychological and spiritual processes to enhance an individual’s innate healing process." Specifically, aromatherapy utilizes the natural essential oils extracted from the flowers, bark, roots, and leaves of plants to improve and enhance mental and physical wellbeing.

The use of plant essences and essential oils can be traced back thousands of years to Greece, Egypt and China. The Egyptians, for example, actually developed one of the first distillation machines to extract oils from certain plants for the purpose of embalming. Cedarwood, cinnamon and clove, as well as resins such as myrrh were used in the embalming process. The Greeks believed the Gods possessed knowledge of fragrance and perfume. Hippocrates, who is considered the "Father of Medicine," is credited with using aromatherapy for healing purposes, while the Greek perfumer Megallus, created a fragrance from myrrh he coined "Megaleion." It was the Chinese, however, who are believed to have utilized aromatic oils for the purpose of enhancing mood.

While people have used natural plant extracts in the healing arts and perfumery for thousands of years, the actual term "aromatherapy" was not used until 1937 when French perfumer and chemist Rene-Maurice Gattefosse published a book titled "Gattefosse’s Aromatherapy." Gattefosse was motivated to write the book after he was burned and realized the application of lavender essential oil actually helped to heal his burn wound. Catching wind of Gattefosse's discovery, the French surgeon Jean Valnet used essential oils to help heal soldiers' wounds in World War II, proving the medical benefits of aromatherapy.
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"His book “Gattefosse’s Aromatherapy” contains early clinical findings for utilizing essential oils for a range of physiological ailments. It seems vital to understand what Gattefosse’s intention for coining the word was, as he clearly meant to distinguish the medicinal application of essential oils from their perfumery applications.

So we can interpret his coining of the word “Aromatherapie” to mean the therapeutic application or the medicinal use of aromatic substances (essential oils) for holistic healing. As the practice of aromatherapy has progressed, over the years, it has adopted a more holistic approach encompassing the whole body, mind and spirit (energy)" (naha.org).

Essential oils are utilized in Creole Moon's products and my Voodoo Mama's brand for both aromatherapeutic as well as perfumery applications.


References

About Aromatherapy https://www.naha.org/explore-aromatherapy/about-aromatherapy
The History of Aromatherapy http://www.aromatherapy.com/history.html