NATURAL FRAGRANCE'S EFFECTS ON THE MIND
LARIA EMBODIES THE SPIRIT OF A LANDSCAPE
IT IS THE PLEASURE OF A WALK ON THE CLIFFS OVERLOOKING THE MEDITERRANEAN. IT IS SEDUCTIVE AND SOOTHING
TO UNDERSTAND THIS BETTER WE HAVE LOOKED INTO THE SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS OF THE BRAIN’S REACTIONS TO THE NATURAL FRAGRANCE INGREDIENTS WE USE
OUR NEW YEAR’S EVE WALK LONG THE CLIFFTOPS TO THE CHURCH OF SAN PIETRO IN PORTOVENERE
TO BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING, THE MODERN SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF THE PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF FRAGRANCE STARTS WITH RENE’ GATTEFOSSE’ A FRENCH PERFUMER AND CHEMIST. HE PUBLISHED THE FIRST BOOK ON AROMATHERAPY IN 1937. HE IDENTIFIED INGREDIENTS, ANALYSED THEM AND PUBLISHED HIS RESULTS
RESEARCH INTO PSYCHOPHYSICAL REACTIONS TO FRAGRANCE INGREDIENTS TODAY INVOLVES AN ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPH WHICH MEASURES DETAILED BRAIN ACTIVITY
AN AUTHORITATIVE STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FRAGRANCE ON THE BRAIN IS ‘INFLUENCE OF FRAGRANCES ON HUMAN PSYCHOPHYSICAL ACTIVITY’ PUBLISHED IN SCIENTIA PHARMACEUTICA IN 2016
IT COLLATES PREVIOUS STUDIES AND REPORTS ON MEASUREMENTS OF BRAIN ACTIVITY OF SUBJECTS WHO INHALED VARIOUS FRAGRANCES UNDER CONTROLLED CONDITIONS
THE STUDY LISTS AROMATIC COMPOUNDS AND THEIR PLANT SOURCES
WITHIN THE EUROPEAN UNION ‘EXTRAIT DE PARFUM’ STRENGTH PERFUMES MUST LIST THESE COMPOUNDS, WITH THEIR CHEMICAL NAMES, IN THEIR INGREDIENTS LIST
FOR EXAMPLE SOME COMPOUNDS THAT ARE USED IN LARIA AND PLANTS SOURCES:
LINALOOL: SWEET BASIL
EUGENOL: BAY LEAF
CITRONELLAL & LIMONENE: LEMON PEEL
BENZYL ALCOHOL & GERANIOL: YLANG-YLANG FLOWER
THE STUDY made some conclusions about INGREDIENTS OF LARIA
FROM MEASURING BRAIN ACTIVITY IN SUBJECTS IT FOUND THAT INHALING THOSE INGREDIENTS REDUCED STRESS AND ANXIETY AND ALSO IMPROVED AWARENESS. THIS MIGHT SEEM OBVIOUS WHEN YOU THINK OF THE EFFECTS OF A WALK IN A BEAUTIFUL NATURAL LANDSCAPE. BUT IT IS GOOD TO HAVE IT CONFIRMED THAT THESE EMOTIONS CAN BE INDUCED BY FRAGRANCE!
THE STUDY ALSO COMPARED REACTIONS TO NATURALLY DERIVED AND SOME ARTIFICIALLY PRODUCED INGREDIENTS. IT FOUND MORE POSITIVE REACTIONS TO THE NATURAL VERSIONS
ALL IN THE MIND? - SPIRITS OF RIVER PERFUMES CAPTURED BY RYAN MCGINLEY