What you smell goes to your brain the fastest, and your brain knows what it wants and likes. Griffin said aromas make an immediate change in brain chemicals to either reduce stress or give energy. Lavender can be used to calm people if they like the smell and peppermint is an energizer and pain reliever, she said. True essential oils are very concentrated and can be toxic to the liver, kidneys and stomach lining. Griffin said therapeutic oils are applied to the body similarly to perfume.
Different remedies require that the oil be dabbed onto different places on the body.
That's what perfumes are for - to sexually attract. Scented candles are synthetic and those that contain lead can be toxic, Griffin said. She said beeswax candles are the safest and suggests putting drops of aroma oils in regular candles to make your own, safe aromatherapy candle. A person's body reads taste, smell, color, shape and touch as the same language, Griffin said in her book, Mother Nature's Herbal. Griffin has an old-fashioned distillation unit in her home similar to the ones used thousands of years ago, which she uses to make essential oils and flower essences.