If you are feeling stressed, you might want to take a whiff of lavender, lemon, mango, basil and other fragrant plants that contain linalool.  Japanese researchers recently discovered that when animals under stress were exposed to linalool, levels of inflammatory chemicals in their blood were reduced, compared to another group that did not smell linalool.  Smelling linalool also reduced the activity of more than 100 genes activated during times of high stress.

What is Linalool?  It is a colorless, unsaturated terpene liquid alcohol obtained from essential oils and used in perfumery.  Linalool (a.k.a. linalol) is recognized by smell as the ‘sweetness’ of many oils; almost any essential oil that has a sweet aspect to its aroma, or is commonly used as an anti-stress agent, will contain linalool.  Lavender is perhaps the most popular linalool-containing essential oil, although it is also found in bergamot, rosewood, ylang ylang, geranium, neroli, melissa, lime, litsea cubeba, and coriander, just to name a few.

Numerous studies have investigated linalool’s anxiolytic (anti-stress) effects. According to these studies, inhalation of linalool (from natural essential oils), leads to decreased aggressive behavior, lessens stress response, and improves sleep.

Most lavender species produce an essential oil that contains between 30 and 40% linalool, therefore 25 drops of Lavender essential oil delivers somewhere around .3 grams of linalool.

Essential oils containing linalool can be found in the following Hothouse Botanicals aromatherapy products:

Bourbon Geranium

Bergamot/Ylang Ylang

Lavandin/Litsea Cubeba

Vanilla/Lime

Sources:

1. Powers, Kate.  “When Life Gives You Lemons.” Prevention Dec. 2009.
2. American Psychological Association’s Stress in America Survey
3. “Linalool, A Common Essential Oil Constituent, Shown to Have Anti-Cancer Effects.” 2009. The Ananda Apothecary Weblog. www.anandaapothecary.com

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new Organic Body Wash in two of our most popular aromatherapy scents: Lavandin/Litsea Cubeba and Vanilla/Lime.  Made with saponified organic coconut oil, olive oil, and jojoba oil, they are luxuriously sudsing with moisturizing properties.  As always, our products are 100% Vegan, cruelty-free, paraben-free, and Dirty Dozen Free.  Delight in the pure natural lavender/lemon and vanilla/lime aromas!

Organic Body Wash

Lime Fizzy Foaming Bath

Christina Clark, a writer from Green Daily, posted a review of our Fizzy Foaming Bath last week.  Green Daily’s website covers all things eco-friendly.  Christina says that, “Hothouse Botanicals put the fun of a fizzy bath bomb in a powder form. You can add as much as you like to your bath to fizz to your personal preference. And while the products smell wonderful and work as expected, the extra nice part are all the natural ingredients…. And did I mention how good they smell? The Vanilla Lime combo is just amazing. The lime is just invigorating. And the Bourbon Geranium is a nice, spicy rose scent. The Lavandin Litsea is a lavender and lemon scent that is both relaxing and fun at the same time.”

You can read the entire review here: http://www.greendaily.com/category/natural-body-care/