Natural Perfume with Pure Essential Oils

Let me introduce you to Lavender. Lavender is widely grown in gardens. Flower spikes are used for dried flower arrangements. The fragrant, pale purple flowers and flower buds are used in potpourri. Dried and sealed in pouches, they are placed among stored items of clothing to give a fresh fragrance and as a deterrent to moths. The plant is also grown commercially for extraction of lavender oil from the flowers. This oil is used as an antiseptic and for aromatherapy.

Lavender flowers yield abundant nectar which yields a high quality honey for beekeepers. Lavender monofloral honey is produced primarily in the nations around the Mediterranean, and marketed worldwide as a premium product. Lavender flowers can be candied and are used as cake decoration. Lavender is also used as a herb, either alone or as an ingredient of herbes de Provence. Lavender is also used to flavour sugar, the product being called "lavender sugar", and the flowers are sometimes sold in a blend with black tea, as "lavender tea".

French chefs in and around Provence, France have been incorporating this herb into their cuisine for many centuries. Lavender lends a floral, slightly sweet and elegant flavour to most dishes. For most cooking applications it is the dried buds (also referred to as flowers) of lavender that are utilised, though some chefs experiment with the leaves as well. It is the buds however that contain the essential oil of lavender, which is where both the scent and flavour of lavender are best derived.

Medicinal use

Lavender has been used extensively in herbalism.

English lavender, Lavandula angustifolia, yields a highly effective essential oil with very sweet overtones, and can be used in balms, salves, perfumes, cosmetics, and topical applications. French lavender, Lavandula x intermedia, yields a similar essential oil, with higher contents of turpin, which adds a harsher overtone to the fragrance.

Essential oil of lavender has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. It was used in hospitals during WWI to disinfect floors, walls and other surfaces.

An infusion of lavender is claimed to soothe and heal insect bites. Bunches of lavender are also said to ward off insects. If applied to the temples, lavender oil is said to soothe headaches. Lavender is frequently used as an aid to sleep and relaxation: Seeds and flowers of the plant are added to pillows, and an infusion of three flowerheads added to a cup of boiling water are recommended as a soothing and relaxing bedtime drink. Lavender oil (or extract of Lavender) is claimed to heal acne when used diluted 1:10 with water, rosewater, or witch hazel; it is also used in the treatment of skin burns and inflammatory conditions. During the height of the Plague, glove makers at Grasse would scent their leathers with lavender oil, and this was claimed to ward off the Plague. This story could have some validity as the Plague was transmitted by fleas, which lavender is known to repel.

A wonderful plant used in aromatherapy perfume is Jasmine. Jasmine or Jessamine (Jasminum) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae), with about 200 species, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the Old World. The majority of species grow as climbers on other plants or on structures. The leaves can be either evergreen or deciduous, and are opposite in most species; leaf shape is simple, trifoliate or pinnate with up to nine leaflets.

Jasmine flowers are generally white, although some species have yellow flowers. Unlike most genera in the Oleaceae which have four corolla lobes ("petals"), jasmines often have five or six lobes. They are often strongly and sweetly scented. Flowering is in spring or summer in most species, but in a few species, notably J. nudiflorum, in winter on the bare branches of this deciduous species.

Sandalwood is the fragrant wood of trees in the genus Santalum. Species of this tree are found in Nepal, southern India, Sri Lanka, Hawaii, South Pacific islands and Australia. It is used as fragrance in perfume and incense, and for woodworking. Some temples have been built with sandalwood in India and these retain the aroma for centuries. Jewelry boxes, fans, and ornate carvings continue to be made in many parts of Asia, especially India, using sandalwood.

Sandalwood essential oil provides perfumes with a striking wood base note. Sandalwood smells not unlike other wood scents, except it has a bright and fresh edge with few natural analogues.
To produce commercially valuable sandalwood with high levels of fragrance oils, harvested santalum trees have to be at least 40 years of age, but 80 or above is preferred. However, inferior sandalwood produced from trees at 30 years old can still fetch a decent price due to the demand for real sandalwood.

Unlike most trees, sandalwood is harvested by toppling the entire santalum tree instead of sawing them down at the trunk. This way, valuable wood from the stump and root can also be sold or processed for oil.

Ylang-ylang (ee-lahng ee-lahng) Cananga odorata, is a small flower of the cananga tree. The leaves are long, smooth and glossy. The flower is greenish yellow (rarely pink), curly like a starfish, and yields a highly fragrant essential oil.

The name ylang-ylang is derived from Tagalog, either from the word ilang, meaning "wilderness", alluding to its natural habitat, or the word ilang-ilan, meaning "rare", suggestive of its exceptionally delicate scent. The plant is native to the Philippines and Indonesia and is commonly grown in Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.

The fragrance of ylang-ylang is rich and deep with notes of rubber and custard, and bright with hints of jasmine and neroli. It is believed to relieve high blood pressure and is considered to be an aphrodisiac.

The oil from ylang-ylang is widely used in perfumery for oriental or floral themed perfumes. Ylang-ylang blends well with most floral, fruit and wood smells. In Indonesia, ylang-ylang flowers are spread on the bed of newlywed couples.

Cinnamon has been known from remote antiquity, and it was so highly prized among ancient nations that it was regarded as a gift fit for monarchs and other great potentates. It was imported to Egypt from China as early as 2000 BC, and is mentioned in the Bible in Exodus 30:23, where Moses is commanded to use both sweet cinnamon and cassia, and in Proverbs 7:17-18, where the lover's bed is perfumed with myrrh, aloe and cinnamon.

The use of cinnamon in perfume adds a rich, exotic note to the blend. Much richer in aroma than ground cinnamon, it is peppery, earthy, spicy, bright yet slightly woodsy.

Cinnamon has been said to relieve exhaustion, high blood pressure, and stress.

Beautiful to look at, delicious and juicy, oranges are a vision of seduction. Sweet Orange oil (Citrus sinensis) is produced by cold pressing the skin of the orange itself. Citrus scents, such as orange, are well known for their ability to lift the spirits and as such they are often used in the treatment of depression and nervous tension.

Research at the Smell and Taste Institute in Chicago has found that a grapefruit-based fragrance can make women look up to 6 years younger to men, and a floral/spice combination can make them look up to 12 pounds lighter! That's good news, ladies. That means that when you wear Forever Young, by God's Country Botanicals, you can appear up to 6 years younger and when you wear Heavenly or Captivating by God's Country Botanicals, you can appear thinner to men (sorry, it doesn't have the same effect on your mother-in-law.)

Other benefits that come from wearing all-natural essential oils include improved mood, increased immunity, and better concentration. So throw out that synthetic, liver-clogging perfume you got for $100 per ounce (or give it to your mother-in-law) and invest in your health and your looks! Get any of the above-mentioned perfumes at www.godscountrybotanicals.com.