A romatherapy should not be confused with the more popular art of perfumery. Commercial fragrances are designed to appeal primarily, if not exclusively, to the physical senses. They may arouse, seduce, or otherwise invade the senses, but rarely do they lift the consciousness into a higher realm. Pure essential oils certainly harbor pleasant and intriguing fragrances, and this is a vital aspect of their healing power. Yet many of the oils which are used would not be considered appealing by the popular standards of perfumery.
Some essential oils are very pungent and even medicinal in character.
Other pure oils have beautiful fragrances which we may not be able to immediately appreciate because our senses have been jaded by more overwhelming and excessive synthetic perfumes. One is not merely using an essential oil to cover up a malady, or for surface pleasure as one would wear a perfume. The essential oils have a powerful capacity to purify and transform, but to be used in this way the practitioner must recognize what is truly needed and apply the oils in creative, insightful ways. O f utmost consideration is the quality and viability of the essential oils which are used in aromatherapy. We live in an era of incredible cleverness and technical manipulation.