By Anita Kalnay, RA^® EOT^®

Self-care has become our personal ritual, and baths or showers and the water element may offer the renewal that we seek.

Here are a few statistics: 

According to Perfumer and Flavorist, “On a 1-10 scale of the importance of scent, ‘scent in my bathtub products’ received 9.3. Women’s post-bathing go-to products are body lotions (95%), body creams (68%), and body butters (50%). Interestingly, women switch scents often and for a variety of reasons. 65% of women change out scents on a regular basis, while 31% switch out shower scents each month and 22% change scents weekly. 72% switch scents on impulse after discovering a new scent in-store, 50% switch scents based on mood, 46% switch scents to match the season, 41% switch because they’re bored with the usual, and 68% try to match bath/shower scents to post-bathing skin care scents.”

10 Keys to Uncovering the Value of our Creative Services as Aromatherapists

1. Scent can be customized to offer relaxation and/or increased energy for your mind and body! As aromatherapists, we already know this as we have been customizing scents for our clients since the industry was born. That’s our super power! I love the fact that each of us is different and although it certainly is possible to create generic fragrances, the art in it might be the element of customizing using a client-centred design. 

2. The bridge that links the mind and the body is emotions. With the range of sensation involved in emotions, this bridge is like a rainbow! We know from colour theory that each colour has a different vibrational frequency and that it can be related to the energetics of the chakra system. So, using colour as part of our creations can also be a stimulus as well as a creative opportunity to explore our aromatic design abilities. 

3. The skin is the largest organ in the body, inside and out! So a focus on products that can be applied to the skin before, during or after a bath/shower experience can be key tools for well-being.

Massaging the skin stimulates the nerves that lie close to the surface, offering a soothing and nourishing experience. In India, everyone from babies to grandparents gets a daily massage! This not only connects the generations, but also offers the therapy of touch. 

4. It is not limited to gender as men love beard oils, body scrubs, creams, deodorants and gels just as much as women. And all of these can be created from naturally sourced ingredients. 

5. Nature is key and our self-care rituals can reconnect us to nature even if we live in an apartment in the city. Scent revives our senses and anchors an element of earthly delight to the start or end of our day. Each element offers a different energetic component so it can also anchor a fiery, airy or watery delight.

6. Trust is the primary essential element in relating to our clients and potential clients. They want to trust us as product designers and aromatherapy specialists. But most of all, it’s not just the products themselves, but also the relationship of trust and the feedback that they can offer us that allows us to make better products and understand how our clients use them.

7. The joy of creating. Whether you offer your services and products as a full-time career or even just as a hobby, the joy of engaging in the creative process offers originality and meaning. The focus that it takes to count all those drops can be soothing in an otherwise hectic world. As aromatherapists, we love what we do! 

8. The design and presentation of our products is like creating beauty and gifting it to others to enjoy. I love it when I can create a gift box of products and mail it to a client or drop it off. There is a delight and a reward in the surprise and joy that they receive from exploring a new scent. And even more so if it is customized specifically for them. 

9. Exploring sustainability. Yes, lately prices have gone up and our industry has shifted due to availability, but many colourful and aromatic plants grow in our backyard and park areas! Exploring ways to use more local options can be very sustainable. 

Something to explore:
This past summer, in order to keep our prices reasonable and not just escalate because everyone else was, we decided to dry flowers for colour to use in bath salts and also learned as a group to distill hydrosols. This will be an ongoing process to explore as many people are not familiar with the scope of what can be done with a hydrosol.

10. The nose knows! Hope is on the horizon. Nature always finds a way to restore balance and harmony. She can be our teacher. And our nose always guides us to what we love, what we need and what we don’t like. The nose knows. The accuracy of our attraction to a scent that can offer benefit is likely 100%. As an example, after doing a bit of research on the scents that I or my clients like best, it's easy to see the correlation to health issues, as well as emotional attraction to just what we need. 

Anita Kalnay, RA^®, EOT^®, has more than 30 years of full-time practice as an aromatherapist and intuitive healer. She holds a diploma in Spiritual PhytoEssencing and has completed more than 3,200 certified hours in other natural health modalities. She is also a natural perfume designer and works with more than 500 essential oils. She can be found at www.genieinabottle.ca.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska