WELLNESS

SENSUAL AROMATHERAPY

JULIAN JACKSON

Scents have been the language of love and sensuality from the time of Cleopatra. Our sense of smell keys into the area of the brain that holds memory and emotion. Scents produce strong, emotional reactions and are a great way to enhance your love life. Aromatherapy has been used in erotic practices and rituals by many different cultures over history. Scents were used to attract lovers, restore a relationship, and ensure sensual pleasure.

Cleopatra is reputed to have used a special blend of cardamom, cinnamon and rose oil to bewitch Mark Anthony. Young Italian women used basil to seduce potential conquests and ancient Arabic manuals refer to black pepper as having erotic properties.

OILS AND HERBS FOR SENSUALITY

Lovers can use oils and herbs in many ways to enhance their sensuality. Essential oils in diffusers, burners, candles, incense, scent rings, scented potpourri, or added to bathwater or massage oils can create an exciting atmosphere and ensure a fulfilling experience.

One way to use these oils is to create an ideal aromatic bath – perhaps with one, or maybe two or three scents that you particularly like, to build the right atmosphere for an erotic encounter. Or you could use them for a warm massage. Or even the bath could lead to the massage.

One note of caution: many aromatherapy oils are powerful and should not be used undiluted on the skin. It is customary to mix them with a massage oil base. Any seed or nut kernel oil will do, but popular ones are safflower, sunflower, sweet almond, or grapeseed oil. Avoid olive oil as it is too pungent and will overwhelm the delicate scent of the essential oils.

Basil, both the herb and its oil, is known as a sensual scent, with a sweet, spicy aroma. It has many associations with love and fertility. It can awaken the senses and ease mental, emotional and physical fatigue.

Bergamot is a balmy oil that can uplift the mood of lovers. With a lemon and floral aroma it will lift a special person's spirits and can relieve tension and stress.

Black pepper is a sensual scent which can add intrigue and vitality to a sensual moment. It has warming and penetrating properties that can rekindle old passions.

Cedarwood is a lovely oil that reveals emotional depth and draws lovers into a blissful and sensual ambience. Ginger is a pungent and spicy erotic scent. It will boost the libido and inflame passion and desire.

Jasmine, both herb and oil, is heady and exotic. Use it to capture, sustain or rekindle the passions of a lover.

Use lime to uplift the senses and increase desire and passion in a relationship. Neroli Absolute is an aphrodisiac scent which can seduce and satisfy a loved one.

Patchouli is an earthy aroma with a deep, musky fragrance associated with sensuality and primeval feelings.

Sandalwood is a special scent with a sweet and woody aroma. It has been used from ancient times in erotic rituals celebrating the divine nature of sexual ecstasy.

THE POWER OF SCENT

By mingling scents as part of the erotic experience, through seduction, foreplay and massage, in either a new relationship, or perhaps an existing one that has become a little bit stale and ordinary, lovers can build or renew the bonds that come from deep down inside ourselves. Scents stimulate our olfactory system, generating the powerful emotions that emerge from the ancient part of our brain and its links to the core of our personality and experiences.