The Aromatic Apothecary

It is just a week to go until our Perfume Masterclass at Calli Pizza. There are a couple of spaces left so you havent missed out just yet!

❤️BOOKING REMINDER!!❤️

🌿✨ NATURAL PERFUMERY CLASS — BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! ✨🌿

You asked… and we listened! 💚

Our Natural Perfumery Class is back after selling out last time — and I’m so excited to be bringing this one back on Sunday 11th October, 10am–3pm at the lovely Calli Pizza Cafe. 🌸

If you love beautiful scents, natural ingredients and creating something completely personal, this is such a lovely day to immerse yourself in the world of natural perfumery.

During the class, we’ll explore the fascinating art of creating your own natural fragrance using beautiful essential oils and natural aromatic ingredients.

You’ll learn about:

🌿 The different fragrance families and perfume notes
🌸 Top, middle and base notes — and how they work together
🍃 How to blend essential oils to create a balanced fragrance
✨ The principles behind natural perfumery
💧 How to create a scent that is uniquely you

And, of course, you’ll get to make your very own natural perfume to take home. 💕

There’ll be plenty of time to experiment, smell, blend and play with the different aromas — no previous experience is needed, just a love of beautiful scents!

And because this is a full day, there’ll be plenty of opportunity to relax, enjoy the experience and meet like-minded people along the way. ☕️🌿

📍 Calli Pizza Cafe
📅 Sunday 11th October
⏰ 10am–3pm
💷 £60 per person

Spaces are limited, and given that our last class sold out, I wouldn't leave it too long if you've been wanting to come along!

💌 Message me to book your place or for more information.

I can't wait to get those perfume bottles and essential oils out again! 🌿✨

A preclinical mode found that exposure to frankincense (B. carterii) EO or isolated alpha-pinene, significantly reduced anxiety in subjects. Further testing of alpha-pinene enantiomers (-)-alpha-pinene and (+)-alpha-pinene showed that both mirror image molecules also significantly reduce anxiety. Computer modeling predicted that alpha-pinene binds most strongly to the anxiety-related cannabinoid CB2 receptor, with (−)-alpha-pinene showing the greatest affinity—nearly matching a known CB2 activator (AM1241)—although both enantiomers produced similar behavioral effects and the receptor activity still requires laboratory confirmation.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13491522/

🌿 Your Scent Could Be Doing More Than You Think… 🌿

If you’ve been to one of my skincare workshops, you’ll have heard me talk about the power of natural aromatic oils and how much I love incorporating them into our everyday rituals.

And now there’s some really interesting research to back up what I’ve been saying for years. 👃🌿

A 2023 review looked at around 70 studies exploring the effects of essential oils on the nervous system.

The findings were fascinating.

Research has found that certain essential oils may have effects relating to:

✨ Stress and relaxation
✨ Anxiety and emotional wellbeing
✨ Sleep
✨ Mood
✨ Mental fatigue
✨ Cognitive performance
✨ Pain perception
✨ The nervous system and autonomic responses

This is one of the reasons I find natural scent so much more interesting than simply smelling “nice.”

When we use a natural botanical perfume or aromatic blend, we’re not just choosing a fragrance — we’re surrounding ourselves with complex compounds derived from plants, and our sense of smell has a very direct relationship with the brain and nervous system.

Of course, essential oils aren’t magic, and the research is still developing — but there is enough interesting evidence to make me want to keep exploring how we can use them thoughtfully in our everyday lives.

For me, this is what natural beauty and wellbeing is all about.

Not just what does it smell like?

But how does it make you feel? 🌿🤍

And if you’ve been to one of my skincare workshops, you’ll know I could happily talk about this stuff all day! 😂

Research: Sattayakhom et al. The Effects of Essential Oils on the Nervous System: A Scoping Review, Molecules (2023).

And there’s plenty more fascinating research around individual oils too — I’ll be sharing some of my favourites soon… 🌿

🌿✨ NATURAL PERFUMERY CLASS — BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! ✨🌿

You asked… and we listened! 💚

Our Natural Perfumery Class is back after selling out last time — and I’m so excited to be bringing this one back on Sunday 11th October, 10am–3pm at the lovely Calli Pizza Cafe. 🌸

If you love beautiful scents, natural ingredients and creating something completely personal, this is such a lovely day to immerse yourself in the world of natural perfumery.

During the class, we’ll explore the fascinating art of creating your own natural fragrance using beautiful essential oils and natural aromatic ingredients.

You’ll learn about:

🌿 The different fragrance families and perfume notes
🌸 Top, middle and base notes — and how they work together
🍃 How to blend essential oils to create a balanced fragrance
✨ The principles behind natural perfumery
💧 How to create a scent that is uniquely you

And, of course, you’ll get to make your very own natural perfume to take home. 💕

There’ll be plenty of time to experiment, smell, blend and play with the different aromas — no previous experience is needed, just a love of beautiful scents!

And because this is a full day, there’ll be plenty of opportunity to relax, enjoy the experience and meet like-minded people along the way. ☕️🌿

📍 Calli Pizza Cafe
📅 Sunday 11th October
⏰ 10am–3pm
💷 £60 per person

Spaces are limited, and given that our last class sold out, I wouldn't leave it too long if you've been wanting to come along!

💌 Message me to book your place or for more information.

I can't wait to get those perfume bottles and essential oils out again! 🌿✨

🌿 Another reason I love lavender…

If you’ve been to one of my aromatherapy or wellbeing sessions, you’ll probably have heard me talk about lavender a LOT! 😂💜

And here’s another interesting piece of research to add to the conversation.

A 2025 randomised placebo-controlled pilot study looked at inhaled lavender essential oil in 58 adults aged 40–60 with hypertension.

Participants used lavender for just 15 minutes a day, for seven days. The researchers found improvements in:

✨ Anxiety
✨ Fatigue
✨ Sleep quality
✨ Systolic blood pressure
✨ Diastolic blood pressure

There was even a measurable reduction in anxiety and systolic blood pressure after a single 15-minute session.

After seven days, the lavender group showed significant improvements across all of the measures studied compared with the placebo group.

Now, this is where I think the conversation around complementary therapies gets really interesting.

It doesn't have to be either/or. 🌿💊

Using aromatherapy doesn't mean rejecting conventional medicine. And taking prescribed medication doesn't mean you can't use complementary approaches to support your wellbeing.

In fact, this study is a lovely example of the two approaches potentially sitting alongside each other.

The researchers themselves describe lavender inhalation as a complementary approach — not a replacement for medical treatment.

And that's very much how I see aromatherapy.

It's about understanding what these wonderful plant extracts may be able to offer, using them safely and appropriately, and knowing when conventional medical care is important too.

🌿 Complementary, not competing.

And for anyone who has been to my skincare workshops… you'll know I've been raving about the benefits and versatility of natural oils for ages! 😉

📚 The research: Wang et al. (2025), Complementary Therapies in Medicine
“Short- and long-term effects of inhaled lavender essential oil on anxiety, fatigue, blood pressure, and sleep quality in middle-aged adults with hypertension.”

As always, research into essential oils is developing, and aromatherapy shouldn't be used to stop or replace prescribed medication. If you have hypertension or take medication, speak with your healthcare professional about your individual circumstances.

🌿✨ THE OIL I NEVER STOP RAVING ABOUT… ✨🌿

If you’ve been to one of my skincare workshops, you’ll probably have heard me talk about this one before! 😂💚

**Black Cumin Seed Oil — also known as Black Seed Oil (*Nigella sativa*) — is one of those wonderfully unassuming oils that deserves far more attention.**

And now there’s a lovely new research review giving us even more reason to be interested in it. 🔬🌿

A comprehensive review published in the *Journal of Medicinal Food* looked at the research surrounding Black Cumin Seed Oil and one of its key bioactive compounds, **thymoquinone**.

And this little seed oil has quite the scientific CV…

✨ **Anti-inflammatory properties**
✨ **Antioxidant activity**
✨ **Antimicrobial effects**
✨ Potential **analgesic (pain-relieving)** activity
✨ **Immunomodulatory** effects
✨ Research into its potential role in supporting various skin conditions, including **eczema**

One of the fascinating things about Black Cumin Seed Oil is its thymoquinone content. This naturally occurring compound has been the subject of considerable research and appears to contribute to many of the biological effects associated with the oil. 🌿

And this is precisely why I love talking about **carrier oils** in my skincare workshops.

We often focus so much attention on essential oils that we forget the beautiful plant oils we're using to dilute and deliver them can have their own fascinating properties.

💚 **Your carrier oil isn't just “the stuff you dilute your essential oils in.”**

It can be an active and purposeful part of your skincare formulation.

Black Cumin Seed Oil is a brilliant example of this.

That said, a little scientific caution is important too…

This paper is a **review of the existing research**, rather than a single clinical trial proving that Black Cumin Seed Oil treats a particular condition.

The evidence includes laboratory, animal and human research, and the strength of evidence varies depending on the particular use being investigated.

So I’m not suggesting that Black Cumin Seed Oil is a miracle cure for everything!

Rather, I’m saying:

🌿 **This is a fascinating medicinal plant oil with a growing body of research behind it—and one that deserves a place in the conversation about evidence-informed natural skincare.**

And if you've been to one of my skincare workshops and remember me enthusiastically going on about Black Cumin Seed Oil…

😂 **NOW YOU KNOW WHY!**

I promise I don't rave about oils without a reason. 😉

**Research Reference:**

Chatterjee G, Saha AK, Khurshid S, Saha A. *A Comprehensive Review of the Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, and Therapeutic Efficacies of Black Cumin (Nigella sativa L.) Seed Oil and Its Thymoquinone.* J Med Food. 2025;28(4):325–339. doi:10.1089/jmf.2024.k.0149. PMID: 39807848.

🌿✨ Science makes me love my oils even more. ✨🌿

🌿✨ ESSENTIAL OILS & FUNGAL NAIL INFECTIONS — WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SAY? ✨🌿

Fungal nail infections can be stubborn, uncomfortable and frustrating to treat. So when we hear that essential oils may have antifungal properties, it’s natural to wonder: is there actually any science behind it?

Interestingly, some recent research is beginning to explore exactly that. 🔬🌿

A 2024 study investigated whether a specially formulated essential-oil-based nail lacquer could be developed to help manage fungal nail infections (onychomycosis).

The researchers first screened essential oils for antifungal activity, then incorporated a selected blend into different nail-lacquer formulations.

💅 The most successful formulation:

✨ Created a smooth, transparent film over the nail
✨ Had good formulation characteristics, including no tackiness or unwanted white patches
✨ Demonstrated antifungal activity in laboratory testing
✨ Produced a larger zone of inhibition than the marketed preparation used for comparison

In simple terms, the essential-oil formulation showed an ability to inhibit fungal growth in laboratory testing.

And this is where it gets interesting…

🌿 Could essential oils potentially have a role in topical antifungal care?

Possibly.

But—and this is an important but—this study does not prove that applying essential oils at home will cure a fungal nail infection.

The researchers themselves call for further research and clinical studies in humans to establish safety, effectiveness and whether the formulation is genuinely useful in real-world treatment.

So I wouldn't take this research as:

❌ “Forget conventional antifungals—use essential oils instead.”

I'd take it as:

✨ “There is enough interesting science here to warrant investigating this further.”

And that's an important distinction.

This is how I think we should approach aromatherapy and natural medicine generally.

We don't need to dismiss promising natural compounds because they aren't conventional medicines.

But equally, we shouldn't turn an interesting laboratory result into a treatment claim before the clinical evidence exists.

🌿 Evidence first. Curiosity always. Safety throughout.

That middle ground is where integrative healthcare gets really interesting. 💚

And if you have a suspected fungal nail infection, getting the diagnosis right matters too—there are several nail conditions that can look similar, and established treatments may be appropriate.

Research Reference:

Goyal R, Goyal A, Khan AA, Fatima S, Singh T, Malik DS. Formulation and evaluation of herbal essential oil based nail lacquer for management of onychomycosis. J Mycol Med. 2024;34(4):101515. doi:10.1016/j.mycmed.2024.101515. PMID: 39520795.

🌿 Research is exciting—but laboratory findings are not the same as proven clinical treatments. Always seek appropriate professional advice for persistent or suspected fungal infections.