Every time I see a new trend headline—functional fragrance, bioactive, neurocosmetics—I get a hit of déjà vu. But, no, it’s just somebody giving a clever name to something I, and many other plant-based therapists, have been doing for decades.

They call it innovation. The innovation is in the marketers giving new names to something already known.

For years, essential oils have been described in terms of absorption. How they penetrate the skin, and can quickly enter the bloodstream. Not only is that information misguided, but that framework misses the true mechanism behind their most immediate and effective actions.

One of the key elements in the Holistic Essential Oil Triad is metaphysics. And honestly, I don’t always know what that means. That’s the point. Metaphysics in this context gets the nickname “the I don’t know” category. It refers to the therapeutic effects of essential oils that aren’t fully understood. There are times when something just works—physically, emotionally, energetically—and no one can explain why. That “I don’t know, but it works” space is often where the metaphysical lives.

A trend has a way of turning a real practice into a mediocre pitch.

It masks the life of something that was already working, long before it had a name.

From the start, I recognized how essential oils influenced the nervous system. This was well documented in clinical aromatherapy. What began as observation became a deeper exploration into scent science. I saw how smell altered behavior, shifted physiology, and brought the nervous system into balance.

Plant-based essential oil skin care didn’t just treat the surface. It supported the nervous system and transformed the entire experience.

Emotion is at the heart of wellness.

Positive emotions create meaningful connections that elevate the entire spa experience.

Scent plays a major role, deeply tied to how we feel and what we remember.

Essential oils take it further, holistically binding scent and emotion with their therapeutic properties.

This scent-emotion bond becomes an integral part of the wellness experience—and the memory.

Essential oils are complex mixtures of chemical compounds that interact synergistically, influencing emotions, physical responses, and energetic balance all at once. The Holistic Essential Oil Triad™—Olfactory, Pharmacology, and Metaphysical—offers a clear framework for creating blends that support emotional well-being, physical health, and energetic harmony. This integrated approach brings depth and purpose to essential oil therapy, making blends more effective and meaningful.

While it's common to think of beauty as "inside out," this system acknowledges the significant influence of what’s on the "outside" before it’s internalized. By understanding and addressing these external factors, we can better influence our internal state and, ultimately, how we express that state outwardly.

The female reproductive cycle is a complex dance of changes in the uterus, ovaries, breasts, and hormones. Numerous mechanisms, metabolic pathways, and enzymes play crucial roles in regulating the levels of reproductive hormones in the blood. The conversation related to essential oil and female hormonal balance is a complicated one.

The synergy of natural plant compounds with the skin’s surface layers and lipid barrier has always been central to my methods. More than just skin health, this approach also embraces emotional wellness, recognizing the profound impact emotions have on skin integrity.

Like most people, you probably know beauty when you see it. Also, like many, you may be challenged when asked to describe or define beauty. To understand beauty, to be beautiful, or to define beauty, it’s helpful to find a reasonable and scientifically sound understanding of what beauty is. And why we, as humans, have a response to beauty.

Using scent when going to bed significantly improves cognitive health. Combine this with the known results from studies showing how healthy sleep habits improve cognition, and I think we’re on a mission for fragrant restorative sleep. Let's explore this aromatic journey and boost your brainpower.

As we gaze out of our windows, we are not only met with the beauty of nature or the urban skyline but also the invisible forces, and sometimes not so invisible, that impact our bodies. Floating chemicals, electromagnetic frequencies, and relentless ultraviolet radiation (UVR) all pose a significant threat to our skin, accelerating aging and causing cellular damage.

Unlock the transformative power of Psychodermatology and its unparalleled approach to the mind-body connection, enabling you to achieve and preserve the youthful vitality of damage-free skin. I will introduce you to a self-care method of psychodermatology that you can incorporate into your daily life. These methods are based on lifestyle coaching, self-help and the power of positive thinking (intention and law of attraction). Incorporated with the self-help lifestyle practices, the system uses, as a foundation of treatment, plant-based skin care and essential oils as additional therapy to stress reducing strategies for over-all wellness.

Better sleep means better skin. Poor sleep quality causes aging to the skin and disrupts the lipid barrier. Good quality sleep slows the skin’s aging process and results in a beautiful, youthful complexion.

What are the safest essential oils for baby, infant, toddlers and children? Learn what essential oils to use for babies and toddlers and safe ways to apply them.

The forest is a magical environment. The feelings that come from a forest visit are partly due to a genetic connection we, as human animals, have to nature. This connection is called “biophilia.” There is also an emotional and healing response resulting from the compounds saturating the atmosphere released by the forest trees and plants, called phytoncides in the forest bathing community.

Studies have consistently shown that what happens when you visit a forest is a decrease in depression and stress levels, better sleep quality, improvement in overall health, and prevention of viral infections.

There’s plenty of research that shows how essential oils are able to boost and enhance innate (born with) and acquired immunity. When essential oils are used within a holistic lifestyle, your body is super protected from viral and bacterial infections and protection from many other illnesses. Here are some essential oil lifestyle methods to help keep you healthy and strong.

Have you ever thought about what your relationship with nature is? The idea that you have a relationship with nature has broad context and is subjective. It begins by acknowledging that, no matter how you approach it, everyone has a relationship with nature.

News is dark. Fear is the commodity of politics. Sometimes you just have to. Find your Buddha. Maintain your Zen. Be your Yogi. Hold your Intention. Transcend.

Sex and orgasm are very good for skin firmness, elasticity, and radiance. A recent study has concluded masturbation to completion “improved texture and tone, as well as diminished sagging, fine lines, and wrinkles.” Along with a list of other orgasm-skin-health links, recommendations can be made that incorporate sexual activity with wellness and skin health, including suggestions for the best essential oils for intimacy, sensuality, and skin.