Jun 2 (edited) • General discussions
Aromatherapy Synergies & Synergizing Your Formulations
Whenever I share information and formulations on various Aromatherapy topics, I use the terms 'synergy' and 'synergizing,' and often someone privately messages me asking what I mean by these terms, as they have never heard them before.
Synergy:
When I am talking about synergy or synergies, I am referring to how various essential oils, due to their chemical constituents, work extremely well together and enhance the effect of the formulation I am aiming for.
For example, if I am formulating an anti-inflammatory massage oil for a sprained ankle, a great synergy is to use essential oils which are high in a-pinene and b-caryophyllene as these two constituents complement one another, both being powerful anti-inflammatories whilst covering other areas such as boosting each other's analgesic properties and, in the case of b-caryophyllene, bringing in some local anesthesia properties.
I won't go too much into detail on this, as there is an excellent article written by Certified Clinical Aromatherapist Jade Shutes on Synergies, which I have attached as a PDF here.
The other definition of synergy I am using is one which adopted from Jade Shutes. This secondary definition refers to an essential oil stock blend, typically a 5ml to 15ml orifice reducer bottle containing nothing but 100% essential oils and/or CO2 total extracts, which can be used in a variety of ways (added to diffuser, inhaler sticks, cleaning products, creams, etc).
Synergizing:
What I mean by synergizing is to allow the essential oils in a formulation to harmonize (get to know each other) so that they mix very well with each other and therefore settle their aroma.
Allowing essential oils to sit together in a blend is a process known as "synergizing" or "marrying," which allows their chemical compounds to interact and bond. This results in a more harmonious, balanced aroma and often enhances the blend's therapeutic benefits.
Key Benefits of Synergizing:
- Enhanced Aroma: The individual scents meld together to create a smoother, unified fragrance rather than distinct, competing smells.
- Increased Efficacy: The chemical constituents interact to create new properties or boost the existing therapeutic effects of the individual oils.
- Balanced Potency: Marrying allows highly dominant or overpowering oils to mellow out, ensuring a safer and more balanced application.
The main question I have been asking about synergizing is how to determine the length of time to synergize my essential oils and formulations.
Well, this depends on my essential oils.
If my essential oils are predominantly light in consistency and predominantly from the same plant part, for example, Lime, Lemon, Orange, Grapefruit, and Mandarin mixed to make a 5ml stock bottle, I called 'Citrus Bliss,' these oils are all very light in consistency (not viscous like patchouli or vetiver) and are from the same plant part, in this case the rhind/peel.
So, because they are light in viscosity and from the plant part, they typically will synergize very fast, so having them in a 5ml dropper bottle and sitting in a dark and cool place for 24-48 hours is enough for the essential oils to get to know each other.
If I am formulating a blend which uses light to medium viscosity oils or varying plant parts, for example, an Appetite Suppressant formula which consists of Lemon, Grapefruit, Sweet Orange, and Sweet Fennel, then I like to synergize these for 7 days.
I like to use 7 days as traditional, each day of the week represents one of the classical planets, and as someone who is into Medical Astrology and numerology, the number 7 has a lot of meaning.
Optimally, if I have the time, I prefer to synergize for 28 days (an entire lunar cycle), especially when a formulation is using more viscous oils or harder to work with ingredients such as vetiver, sandalwood, vanilla oleoresin, etc.
For the viscous oils, I find it's better to add them to your base ingredients (especially as some of these need to be heated to thin out its viscocity to make them workable) and allow the entire formulation to synergize rather than just the oils themselves.
In fact, I prefer to synergize the entire formulation rather than just the essential oils because when essential oils are added to your formulation, the natural aroma of the base ingredients can affect the overall aroma of your product, so when I am experimenting and making batch samples, I like to synergize the entire formulation, and record what I am smelling, when it was first blended, a week later, two weeks later, 28 days later, etc.
To wrap this up, I want to share one experience I had when making a men's cologne.
So, I found a recipe online for a man's cologne using nothing but essential oils in a perfumer's alcohol and distilled water base.
I was new to aromatherapy and mixed everything into a 100ml glass perfume bottle and waited one month for the cologne to synergize as per the instructions. One month later, I sprayed the cologne, and I hated its aroma. I thought it smelled absolutely disgusting. As an experiment, I thought I should leave the cologne in my cabinet and check on it periodically to see if my opinion on its aroma changed.
After the first year since formulating this, I totally forgot about the cologne. 4 years go by, and I was cleaning out my apothecary cabinet and came across this cologne. I smelt it and guess what, I absolutely love and adore its aroma.
The aroma smelled nothing like when I first formulated the cologne, nor did it smell anything like the first year whenever I checked on it. It took 4 years for the cologne to synergize.
3
2 comments
Aromatherapy Synergies & Synergizing Your Formulations
powered by
skool.com/maverick-aromatherapy-3200
Putting your health back in your hands.... through Complementary Therapy and Essential Oils for novices and therapists alike.
Suggested communities
Powered by