My love of fragrance and beauty started when I was a young girl watching my mother get ready for the day. She always had a special area set up on her dresser. She would arrange her crystal perfume bottles meticulously on a vanity tray, each one special to her. Fragrance was always important to her, even in her elder years, and she lived to almost 100. Her favorite fragrance was bergamot and jasmine.
I’ve always appreciated fragrance and how it makes me feel. To me, there’s nothing better than walking in a field of flowers, hiking through towering pine trees, the smell of something delicious cooking in the kitchen, or a beautiful aromatherapy candle lit while soaking in a fragrant lavender bath (I’ve always used only a candle for my nightly bathing ritual).
My professional aromatherapy career started with a trip to England in the 80’s. Aromatherapy facials were very popular in England, and I wondered why they weren’t in America. I visited several spas in London and loved the way my skin looked after an aromatherapy facial treatment. I also had learned about essential oils on my travels to Egypt earlier in my career. I wanted to bring aromatherapy facials back to my spa in Malibu. I studied at the Eve Taylor School of Aromatherapy and became certified in 1986. After talking to several aromatherapists, I found that they always had a unique story as to why they got involved in the business. Life experiences often plays a big part, which leads to a desire to pass that information onto others. Ever since I became certified, I use essential oils with each and every facial.
Essential oils and massage are necessary for your good heath and beautiful skin. Massage therapy, for instance, helps make you more alert and lessons symptoms of depression, fatigue and irritability. The healing power of touch extends across ones lifespan.
Aromatherapy is the use of essential oils from flowers, leaves, fruits, barks, and roots that affect physical and mental health. The scent from these essential oils can have a powerful influx on mood, and have also been studied as treatment for some medical conditions. While the pleasant, uplifting effects of some odors have been known for centuries, specific aromatherapy based on essential oils is traced back to the work of French chemist Rene-Maurice Gattefosse in the late 1920’s. Today in France, England and Japan, medical aromatherapy is an established field that treats medical conditions. In the United States, aromatherapy is mainly associated with the spa and skincare industries, although it also is used as supportive care in an effort to improve quality of life and reduce stress and anxiety. Aromatherapy is also combined with other complementary treatments such as acupuncture.
For 2010 Mother’s Day I created the organic Bergamot & Jasmine Aromatherapy Candle for my 90 year old mother, Renee.
The traditional technique of making the Veronica Malibu Candle has been used in France for hundreds of years, it allows them to burn slowly and neatly for approximately 70 hours. They are hand poured, made with essential oils, organic soy and lead-free cotton wicks.
Mama Renee at 99 and at Griffith Park in 1945
Mother’s Day is a day to celebrate the mothers in our lives, the one who gave birth to us, the one who adopted, the one we choose to be our mother, a grandmother, an aunt, friend or foster mother. I love taking the time to pause, reset and celebrate this holiday.
Here’s to strong women: May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.
Happy Mother’s Day!
With love & gratitude,
Veronica
“A mother is she who can take the place of all others, but whose place no one else can take.”
– Gaspard Mermillod
