A Cooling Energy

In perfume and aromatherapy, we think about an ingredient's energy - is it warming, neutral, or cooling? In perfume, this is about how the scent makes you feel, and in aromatherapy, it's about how it affects your body and mind.

It's hot here in LA, so I'm misting my clothes with my favorite cooling ingredient, vetiver. For centuries, people have used vetiver as natural air conditioning. The roots are hung in doorways, woven into screens, and added to fans to create a cooling breeze. Traditional medicine like Ayurveda and Chinese medicine use vetiver to calm "hot energies" like anger and irritation.

In our perfumes, we use vetiver essential oil made from the roots of this subtropical grass. The roots are harvested at 18-24 months, then washed, sun-dried, chopped, soaked, and steam-distilled. The scent is earthy and complex - a little damp with sweet, woody, and smoky notes that vary based on where it's grown and how it's made.

You can find organic Haitian vetiver in our Earth Perfume Oil and double-distilled vetiver in our LA Woman Perfume Oil.

Want to bring vetiver into your home? Try a vetiver basket - just mist it with water for the most cooling scent. Or if you live somewhere sunny like LA, vetiver makes a great, hardy grass for planting that's drought, fire, and flood resistant.

Wishing you cooling energy,
Emily