A common blend for relaxation is lavender and chamomile, which has been found to reduce anxiety and promote sleep. Everyone has their own response to different smells, so trying a few different scents or blends of essential oils can help you find the most relaxing ones for you.
Lavender. Native to the Mediterranean, lavender is perhaps the most widely researched fragrance. Numerous studies confirm its calming, soothing, and sedative effects.
Orange, grapefruit, and lemon are all energizing and uplifting scents," says Cynthia LaBonte, aromatherapist and herbalist at Newport Aromatherapy. "We associate citrus with cleanliness. Their top notes go straight up the sinuses to the head and make us feel better, fitter, and even more confident and in control."
Lavender
This lovely fragrance can help reduce emotional stress and calm your nerves. The essential oil can also improve tension, depression and headaches. An example of a situation lavender is good for is the school run. Lavender can also help you drift off to sleep so place it in your bedroom too.
And according to the results, vanilla is the most pleasing smell around, followed by ethyl butyrate, which smells like peaches.
Well, a team of scientists from the University of Oxford think they've worked out the best and worst smells in the world. According to their study, the best smell is vanilla and the worst smell is sweaty feet. The results show that people share favourite smells regardless of where they come from in the world.
Citrus (Orange, Grapefruit, Lemon, Bergamot, Lime) – citrus fruits (orange, grapefruit, lemon, bergamot, lime) are thought of as feel-good, mood lifting, and energy boosting. Citrus scents promote mental alertness, enhancing positivity and confidence.
Scents send signals to our limbic system, which is the sector of the brain that controls memory and emotion. According to a 2011 study conducted by Masahiro et al, positive emotions, which can be elicited by certain fragrances have been proven to lower stress levels and improve overall mental outlook.
“Citrus scents are associated with mood boosts – they make you happier – or reduce distress so you feel relief. A Japanese study found that sniffing yuzu made people happier for up to 30 minutes.” “The mint family brings a sense of freshness.
Scientists have classified odors into 10 basic categories: fragrant, woody/resinous, minty/peppermint, sweet, chemical, popcorn, lemon, fruity (non-citrus), pungent and decayed.
Clean and invigorating, the tangy scent of citrus, such as lemon, lime, orange, lemongrass, and red grapefruit gives men that fresh-out-of-the-shower scent, a smell that many women find appealing. Just don't overdo it, or you might smell like the produce department!
Aphrodisiac scents include pumpkin, lavender, vanilla, cinnamon, peppermint, and ginger. Despite some skepticism around the use of aphrodisiacs, studies show that many of these aromas do work — they can be easily incorporated into anyone's fragrance routine.
A scented bar of soap, body wash, or shower gel offers up just a hint of fresh fragrance. Unscented body wash and soaps without added fragrance do the trick, too. Lingering in the shower for an extra minute or two after you lather up is all you need for all-day freshness.
This research concluded that the scents of Lavender, Licorice and Donuts, Pumpkin Pie (cinnamon), Orange, and even Popcorn lead to increased arousal in men. This makes sense as these scents probably remind men of happy memories, positive emotions and an overlying feeling of comfort.
For masking women's body odors, preferred perfume facets usually are: rich, sweet and smooth benzoin, dreamy, sensual and earthy honey absolute, elegant, lush and noble vanilla and rich, deep and complex labdanum. Women also usually have more acidic skin than their male counterparts.
Lavender is one of the most popular scents for relaxing and falling asleep, and with good reason. This fragrance oil has many calming properties, and it can help release tension, soothe racing thoughts and help you unwind.
Women feel calmer after being exposed to their male partner's scent, but being exposed to a stranger's scent had the opposite effect and raised levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. The scent of a romantic partner can help lower stress levels, new psychology research from the University of British Columbia has found.
The sense of smell can and should be used to reduce tension and stress. That is why there is a relaxing, stress reducing type of spa treatment called aroma therapy, much like massage therapy, but using pleasant scents to arrive at the same goal.