When I used to think of essential oils and space (usually home), the only association I had was a common room spray to brighten up the atmosphere. But botanical scent is more than that. It can, in fact, focus on specific purposes and the synergy can be used to empower a person. The benefit of aromatherapy is that you can use it both on your skin and as an ambiance scent, so eventually you and space become one whole entity. There is no need to be a creative person to enjoy the fragrance and get inspired, we all have our own places we enjoy and some of us think of them as dens, havens and shelters, well, if you have enough physical room, you may even call it a studio or an atelier, or, perhaps a study or a library. Whatever name you have, let’s call it simply ‘workspace’.

Here are the positive emotional states I put down to design a formula for a workspace: attention, concentration, confidence, creativity, energy, enthusiasm, focus, organisation, performance; and adjectives: boosting, centring, empowering, encouraging, enlivening. If you journal, you may have mentioned some of them as missing in your everyday productivity or something you have been trying to achieve for long. Just as I look for the right words to find the right oils for a formula, it is important to know what you need for a space where you truly exist and I am talking about abstract notions here. How do you feel when you enter and leave it? Do you want to return to it? Do you feel fulfilled? Have you accomplished anything? Did you refuel yourself? Think of the best moment when you did something extraordinary in exactly that space. Most probably, your emotional state had an enormous impact on your overall productivity that day. Essential oils, even those used in botanical perfumes, can attune you to the right state of mind. Image what a synergy or an orchestrated scent can do!

Do you really need aromatherapy to succeed and be creative? Absolutely not. I think of them as supplementary tools to enhance certain qualities, they make us remember about the five senses we have and the ones we forget to use to stay (mentally) alive. Essential oils are concentrated plant essences and thus are part of nature and our environment. The more often you use scent, the more associated it will be with the positive state you try to get into. Use single oils from the formula or the whole blend, remember about safety, oils mentioned in the lowest amount (1 drop) are either too intense for you nose or must be used in small amounts due to safety issues.

When the formula was finished, I thought of the famous creative spaces and went through the women who inspire me. Most or almost all of creative people work from home and it is inevitable to connect a home scent to a warm working atmosphere: coffee, tea, spices, food, plants, wool, books, ink, etc. This is why the Workspace formula is simple and recognisable in its materials, it is warm, earthy, and can certainly be called a scent for a warm sanctuary. Download the Formula.

Images: 1. Joan Didion 2. Georgia O'Keeffe 3. Anne Sexton 4. Susan Sontag