Continuing the discussion from The Physicians of Myddfai - and the birthplace of modern medicine:
I do a bit of aromatherapy. I use orange essential oil often
I don’t care for lavender oil, which seems to be a favorite of many.
I like the citrus scents like grapefruit and lemon.
What are your favorite scents? (question to everyone)
I’m not a fan of lavender either, even though I make little muslin sachets of it to give into a charity shop to sell for a few pence.
I love the citrus smells like mandarin or orange, and I also enjoy ginger. Sage is a good one too, I use rose for the bath. I’m also burning incense at the moment - Lotus for where I am now, and Patchouli for the hallway. I don’t light the sticks where my canary is, for obvious reasons.
I love lavender essential oils in my aroma essential oils diffuser, mixed with water…such a fresh smell that fills the rooms.
I have x2 electric diffusers.
I like rose too. Does sage smell like the cooking seasoning? I haven’t tried ginger but that sounds like something I’d like.
Cherry blossom Magnolia and Vanilla, Black orchid
Bergamot ( lemony with a slight spicey note) and sandalwood, though the latter can be a little ‘cloying’ and heavy without a sharp citrusy note to lift it a little.
And for the guys …cedarwood. Remarkably crisp, fresh smelling but with earthy undertones. Very manly.
You do have to take care if applying citrus oils … they make your skin more photosensitive so if you’re inclined to freckles or uneven skintone it might worsen it.
Please please be careful any dog owners burning some essential oils.
Although they may smell wonderful, quite a few are very harmful for dogs to inhale.
Here are just a few:
Many essential oils, such as eucalyptus oil, tea tree oil, cinnamon, citrus, peppermint, pine, wintergreen, and ylang ylang are straight up toxic to pets.
…
For our canine friends, toxic essential oils include:
Pennyroyal oil.
Pine oil.
Tea tree oil.
Wintergreen oil.
Cinnamon oil.
Citrus oils.
Peppermint oil.
Sweet Birch oil.
Cats and birds are also affected by different oils.
Please do your homework before using.
A few of them can be irritants to humans too Mups.
Tea tree oil especially … always check skin sensitivity. I’ve seen some folk come out in some awful rashes … and pine oil … isn’t used by the manufacturers of cleaning products for nothing, despite it’s lovely fresh scent. It’s powerful stuff.
Trouble is Mort, as my friend said to me recently, people go into shops and buy these oils with little or no advice or guidance from the shop assistant whatsoever.
I have never once been asked what i want an oil for or if i have pets.
I suspect it’s because if something is ‘natural’ people automatically think it can’t be harmful … but it would be excellent customer service if those who sold them had a clue what they were selling.
I agree completely, Morti.
I doubt most shop staff have much in the way of training in what they flog.
I have a friend who is always saying exactly that - “its natural, what harm can it do!” - as she sends off for another load of natural and herbal meds. She never, ever checks for compatability with other meds first - or even with each other.
She reads a few reviews and thinks everything is perfectly natural a cure-all.
Speaking as a retired Consultant Aromatherapist - I would endorse Mups advice!
My two favourite are Rose Attar and Patchouli
A few years ago when it was the flu season, I went into my old PO for some stamps as I was in the area, and it smelt wonderful in there.
I asked at the counter what the smell was and she directed me to lady who was manning the cards section of the shop.
She only worked there part time and was also an Aromatherapist - we had a brilliant conversation about different oils.
Anyway she told me I was smelling Thieves Oil, which I’d never heard of, so she told me the story.
She always made it up and took it in when she worked at the PO, regularly sprayed it around to help get rid of any germs/flu floating around in the shop and also to spray some on her hands.
She gave me the recipe, so I got my daughter to order it all off t’internet.
Then I started to make different ones. Currently I’ve got lemon, patchouli, rosemary, sweet basil, French lavender and other’s which TBH I can’t remember just now. I just play around to get the smell I fancy, especially when I get the feeling the place smells of cooking or something.
It’s lovely when it’s winter and the heating’s on… I spray just a little on the rads. House smells lovely 
For relaxing I use lavender and / or sandalwood. Cedar is quite nice too or wintergreen
For a stuffed nose - eucalyptus & peppermint
To cheer me up - orange & grapefruit or lemongrass
I have 3 diffusers. 2 are ultrasonic and change colours … look pretty & smell nice
My favourite oils are Bergamot, Frankincense and Myrrh 
I have a colour changing lamp too … it’s very relaxing, especially on a dreary winter afternoon.
Aren’t they awesome? My husband went to Costco and surprised me with them. They really do lift spirits plus our 15 year old Yorkie has sinus problems and the eucalyptus & peppermint really help her. They aren’t too bright that I can’t fall asleep with them on.
Frankincense and myrrh is really nice with some therapeutic qualities but frankincense can get very sticky. Don’t you find?
Awesome thread ButterScotch!!!
My faves are probably not going to be all that popular as I guess they are not very floral, but… I absolutely LOVE Pine Sylvestris and Cinnamon Bark. However there is a but, and it’s a really big but - it depends on the quality. (And cinnamon bark is very different to cinnamon leaf - the bark is a much sweeter smelling oil imo).
For both of the above the first bottles I bought were the small ones, and they were absolutely amazing. So I thought great, next time I’ll order the 1ltr bottles… but they smelt nothing like the originals. In fact I got a feeling they might actually be synthetic or a mixture. I actually ordered a second lot and they were the same so sent them back and the whole experience has made me very suspicious about these companies now 
The company I ordered them from is called Mystic Moments, and unfortunately I can no longer recommend them.I have recommended them to a lot of people in the past because years ago they used to be great, but now I wouldn’t buy from them again. When I complained about the quality they didn’t really seem all that shocked and that just made the alarm bells ring.
If anyone knows of any quality vendors here in the UK of large 1ltr bottles at ‘honest’ prices, please let me know 