What a fiasco! I should have known better!  With our holiday looming, I wrote last month’s Newsletter more than a month in advance assuming that Aromatherapy Today would have arrived by the time we returned.  How stupid of me! As it was, I returned to a mountain of mail from distraught subscribers; the phone calls followed later and still continue as I write  (15th October). What can I say?   

I knew that printing a magazine 12,000 miles away would not be without its problems, but I really had no idea.  Oh, the vagaries of electronic mail!  Why is it that nothing seems to be compatible? All right, don’t answer that!  AT is finally here! I hope that you will agree that it is not at all bad. I like particularly the punchy article by Chrissie Wildwood, Questioning Aromatherapy Convention, in which she explodes some of aromatherapy’s more popular myths and fantasies.

In answer to her question...But from where does the galactagogue myth originate? (Jasmine absolute is a galactagogue and so promotes the flow of breast milk when, in fact,  research suggests that it is a lactifuge)...may I suggest that, as Jasminum sambac has been reported as being used as both galactagogue (Chopra, R.N. Indigenous Drugs of India: Their Medical and Economic Aspects, The Art Press, Calcutta, 1933) and lactifuge (Chopra R.N. et al. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, 1956), it is possible that the researcher may have been using the term ‘lactifuge’ to refer to promotion of milk release from the mammary gland, through the nipple, to the infant; i.e., a literal interpretation (‘escape from’) of the Latin verb, fugere, may have been used, rather than a figurative one (‘vanish’), or vice versa . From such semantics myths derive. Aromatherapy World’s anonymous journal researcher is quite correct: there should still be room for the esoteric!   

Our holiday? It was wet, wet, wet!  Originally we had planned to do two motor rallies: one extremely strenuous, the other a doddle. Tragically my constant canine companion of the last eight years, Baby the Bichon, fell seriously ill just before the off.  We cancelled everything.  The poor little chap passed away a few days later.  Considerably out of sorts, Jan and I now truly felt like a break.  We headed for France. 2,500 miles later, most of it in unremitting rain during which I kept losing all electrics (a foible of older motors), I was delighted to be back home and able to get my feet up. There is obviously a moral in all this: don’t go!
The Future?
How useful is market analysis? In truth, until I buy the report, I shall never really know but here are a few statistics to think about whilst I contemplate whether I can truly justify the expenditure of £2,500 on the latest Datamonitor report on aromatherapy.  That’s an awful lot of 10ml bottles! I thumbed through the promotional blurb.....

Apparently stressed consumers both in the workplace and at home are looking for new ways to relax, get away from it all and recuperate.  Combined with growing demand for more traditional and natural alternatives to modern medicine, this has fuelled the growth of aromatherapy, notably in the UK and US. This presents manufacturers, retailers and ingredients suppliers with major revenue opportunities.  To date, the bulk of innovation has focused on mainstream toiletry categories such as personal hygiene, but future growth can also be found in the household products as stress is tackled at source. The aromatherapy market in the United States is projected to reach US$800 million by 2003. Aromatherapy product sales are currently at US$400 million a year, with candles growing at a rate of 20%.  I could barely believe my eyes. Is this aromatherapy as we know it?  I read on.

Even the UK market is now worth US$52 million. The number of consumers willing to try aromatherapy products is more than three times greater than those who have used them in the past. Currently, only one out of four consumers are familiar with aromatherapy products - the lowest level of consumer familiarity of all major alternative therapies.  And Japan? The trend is changing in the Japanese aromatherapy market as competition intensifies with more local companies and foreign importers entering the market. Three years ago, only 20 Japanese companies were dealing in essential oils.  Now there are more than 100 Japanese companies, medium and small.  How about where it all began, France?  Retailers in France see the aromatherapy market as only the beginning of a huge beauty trend that is an extension of consumer demand for organic food products, natural fibres and herbal medicines that invaded the French beauty market a few years ago.

Frankly, I was staggered.  These are very important (as they say in auction circles) numbers. I have been associated with the essential oil industry for more than twenty years and, more specifically, with aromatherapy for almost fifteen years.  How come all this has happened so suddenly? Aromatherapy is only just starting to move away from its humble origins as a niche market.  To date, both manufacturing and distribution has been highly fragmented between a number of small players, but high levels of growth have seen larger operators such as Coty enter the market. Ah!  That explains the recent spate of mergers, takeovers and strategic alliances with a heavy emphasis on marketing. 

Could be: but why not use our marketing mix analysis to develop your own fully integrated marketing strategy? Benchmark your ideas against current industry practice in NPD, pricing, promotion, advertising and distribution. Learn best practices and pitfalls to avoid, from smaller players such as L’Occitane and larger operators like Tisserand Aromatherapy.  Use us to understand the future direction of aromatherapy by looking at wider trends in the cosmetics and toiletries industry. Evaluate the dynamics which are most likely to drive growth into the next millennium and take the market even further away from its current niche status.  Thank you, but no thank you!  I like my niche, for that is surely where true aromatherapy still survives. A dinosaur maybe, but £2,500 seems a high price to pay to question my own beliefs! 

An Expert’s View of Hydrosols.
I always like hearing from Jeanne Rose, The Grand Dame of Aromatic and Cosmetic Herbals (as the distinguished American ethnobotanist Jim Duke would call her). Perhaps not so well known over here, she is a legend in the United States. In his introduction to her latest edition of 375 Essential Oils and Hydrosols, Daniel Penoel writes.....Some individuals become “certified aromatherapists” after a few days training and many books are mere “copies of copies of copies” .....with all the mistakes and inaccuracies involved by a hasty work of compilation!  I was discussing this very point only the other day, with the critic and educationalist Martin Watt, and would have to agree. Fortunately, this new book by Jeanne Rose belongs to the category of “the best”. Jeanne views aromatherapy as a branch of herbalism, and learning when use of the herb is preferable to use of the essential oil is an important aspect of aromatherapy training. Still, how ever much she knows about herbs and essential oils Jeanne is a real whizz on hydrosols.

Her definition is quite precise: hydrosols are the real aromatherapy.  They can also be considered the homoeopathy of aromatherapy; as herbs are to homoeopathy, so are essential oils to hydrosols. Hydrosols represent the true synergy of herbalism and aromatherapy.  An interesting thought? Jeanne has been distilling and selling hydrosols for the past nine years. The plants are grown organically by The Aromatic Plant Project which was founded in 1990 in the United States to encourage the local growing and distillation of true essential oil plants for the production of hydrosols and, in some cases, essential oils.

In response to my piece in the July Newsletter regarding the safety of hydrosols, Jeanne wrote to me: Our first distillation was in 1992. We have kept quart size samples of all our distillates since that time in two places. In our warehouse, where they are refrigerated, and in our hydrosol “library” where they are not, but are kept in a wine-like cellar.  Our hydrosols were all tested last year for bacteria, mould and fungus.  All our hydrosols tested clean, even those from 1992.  Our California floral and herbal hydrosols are filtered through a paper coffee filter as they come from the still. They are immediately bottled and sealed in five-gallon containers and taken immediately to the warehouse for refrigeration, with a sample going to the “library”. We have no contamination.  Our shelf-life is easily 2-4 years.
Possibly, the hydrosols that were found with bacteria had been produced with essential oil in mind, the water left out and somehow infected.  I can tell you that our product is not ever dangerous, has a healthy pH balance and can be used in drinks.  A restaurant in San Francisco indeed is serving our hydrosols as “non-fat naturally flavoured aromatic waters”.
(Now there’s an idea!).  Happy to answer any questions that you might have.

Fortunately I need not bother this very busy lady, as she rushes around in her Honda stuffed with 100 kilos of lavender just harvested in Santa Barbara to be distilled in Sonoma, because her new book answers all, and more!  For those who wish to know more about hydrosols, and how to use them, it is a must.  Also, in its new compact and lightweight form, it is an even more user-friendly guide to 375 essential oils. 

Oils for the prevention of stroke?
When asked, I knew of none but closer examination of the published literature came up with one or two suggestions: Borage (Borago officinalis L.) and Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis L.) (J. Janick et al. in L.E. Craker and J.E. Simon, eds., Herbs, Spices, and Medicinal Plants: Recent Advances in Botany, Horticulture, and Pharmacology, Vol. 4, Oryx Press, Phoenix, Arizona, 1989, p. 145).

I have read more recently (S.A. Saeed & A.H. Gilani, J. Pak. Med. Assoc., 1994, 44 (5): 112-115) that the essential oil of Clove (Eugenia caryophyllata Thumb.) inhibited human platelet aggregation induced by arachidonic acid (AA), platelet-activating factor (PAF) and collagen.  In vivo animal experiments indicated that clove oil gave 100% protection against PAF- and 70% protection against AA-induced thrombosis and shock due to pulmonary platelet thrombosis. It also inhibited thromboxane production by human platelets incubated with AA. Clove Oil may therefore act as an antithrombotic agent.  Unfortunately, the part of the plant from which the essential oil was derived was not stated.

Clove oils examined.
The Arabs knew clove as karanful, believed to be the origin of the Greek Karyophyllon. The modern English name of clove is from the French clou meaning nail, probably derived from the Latin clavus, while the original Chinese name translates as sweet-smelling nails!

The clove is indigenous to the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, from where, whilst living in Thailand,  I obtained a pair of splendid Grand Eclectus parrots (unusual in that the cock and hen are entirely different colours and so were long considered to be different species).  The first recorded use was in the Chinese Han period BC 220-206, when courtiers sweetened their breath with clove buds in the Emperor’s presence.  Cloves were regularly imported into Alexandria, Egypt, in the second century, and in the fourth century were traded around the Mediterranean.  The Countess of Leicester recorded that she “paid 10-12 shillings per pound for cloves” in AD 1265.  Venice was the leading European source of cloves and other spices in the 13th century and became tremendously rich. Trade was via the Arabs, who had a virtual monopoly until the sixteenth century. Prompted by tales of Marco Polo’s travels, the Spanish and Portuguese set off in search of the spice islands and, in 1498, Vasco de Gama reached India. In less than twenty years the Portuguese had occupied the Moluccas.  A tree reportedly from the Portuguese period and said by the locals to be at least 350 years old used to survive on Ternate Island; for all I know it is probably still there.  A hundred years later the Dutch took over the trade, destroying all clove trees except on Amboina and adjacent islands.  This short-sighted policy virtually ensured clove trees were planted in other countries to circumvent the Dutch monopoly, and led finally to the pre-eminence of Zanzibar and Madagascar in the clove trade.
  
When production of clove oil started is uncertain, and initial mention of an elixir of cloves for the treatment of toothache was probably a direct result of sucking dried cloves which not only sweetened the breath but acted as a palliative. An extract was used as a prophylactic against skin and respiratory diseases in the Middle Ages. The major constituent of clove oil was first described by Liebig in 1836, as nelkensaure or acid of cloves, subsequently eugenic acid, and in 1875 as eugenol by Johann Karl Tiemann of Berlin, who used it to produce synthetic vanillin (J. Chem. Soc., 1900, 600).

Several other unrelated species produce either fruit or an essential oil popularly called cloves or clove oil, and two are well-known members of the Lauraceae.  Ravensara aromatica Sonn., the Madagascar clove-nutmeg used in local rum making, is a small medium-sized tree with leathery leaves and a small aromatic fruit whose taste resembles a mixture of clove and nutmeg; oil distilled from its leaves is commonly an adulterant of true clove leaf oil. Dicypellium caryophyllatum (Mart.) Nees, the Brazil clove, bears highly aromatic flower buds very popular locally for flavouring, which are harvested and dried in a similar manner to cloves.

Clove products can be basically divided into three: clove buds which are used whole and as a ground spice and are also raw material for clove bud oil and oleoresin; clove stem oil; and clove leaf oil, used principally as a source of eugenol. The major component of the three oils is eugenol, but odour and flavour differ significantly due to the varying proportions of minor and trace components (Lawrence, B.M., (1995) Progress in essential oils. Perfum. Flav. 19 (6), 60-62). 

Bud oil is a clear, colourless to yellow mobile liquid, with a strong characteristic sweet and spicy clove odour, and a warm, almost burning and spicy flavour. Its main components are basically three: eugenol 70-90%, eugenyl acetate to 17%, and caryophyllene sesquiterpenes (mainly beta-caryophyllene) 5-12%.  It is perhaps worth noting that a comparison of the main constituents of clove bud and stem oils from Madagascar, based on an average of five years’ analyses (Gaydou, E.M. and Randriamiharisoa, R. (1987) Multidimensional analysis of gas chromatographic data to differentiation of clove bud and stem essential oils from Madagascar Perfum. Flav. 12 (6), 45-51), revealed that stem oil contained less eugenol (77.10%) than bud oil (80.80%). The other main chemical components were almost identical in percentage with the exception of eugenyl acetate: bud (4.40%), stem (7.38%). Although its medicinal properties are now considered of minor importance, it is a stimulant, carminative and used to treat flatulence. The oil also has antimicrobial activity.

Stem oil of good quality is a pale to light yellow liquid, but freshly distilled oil is almost colourless, with a strong, spicy, somewhat woody odour similar to eugenol but coarser and more woody than that of bud oil. Redistilled stem oil contains contains 90-97% eugenol, but its odour is less sweet and floral than bud oil and its eugenyl content is low; components include beta-caryophyllene, methyl alcohol, methyl-n-amyl-ketone and furfural.  Certain trace constituents not present in bud oil have been reported in stem oil, including naphthalene and bicyclic sesquiterpene alcohol.
Leaf oil (crude) is dark brown, often with a purple or violet tint, cloudy to some extent, sometimes showing precipitation. Its odour is harsh, woody, phenolic, slightly sweet, and quite different to that of bud oil.  Redistilled leaf oil is a clear pale yellow, with a sweeter, less harsh, dry woody odour closer to that of eugenol. The oil is obtained by steam or water distilling fresh or dried leaves but, in more primitive areas, the charge may contain twiglets, unripe buds or opened flowers. Thus there can be considerable variation in leaf oils.  Eugenol content is 80-88%, lower than bud oil with only a small content of eugenyl acetate, but a high caryophyllene content.

For aromatherapy, it is generally accepted that oil from the bud is the only one which should be used because the eugenol (a powerful skin irritant) content is usually lower than that of oils from other parts of the plant and is “buffered” by the higher eugenyl acetate content than in the other oils.  I am not entirely convinced about this, as witness the  Madagascar study above.  However, even oil from the buds should be treated with caution and used on the skin only in dilutions of 1%.

Environmental Fragrancing.
If I was to read every aromatherapy magazine and book that landed on my desk I doubt that I would ever have the time to write a Newsletter. In the early days I used to set aside specific periods for reading but, as I became increasingly occupied with writing for motor magazines as well, Aromatherapy World and the like were soon competing for my time with Motor Sport and Classic Cars.  I abandoned the regime. However, if I was not to dip into the odd one or two, or three, I doubt that I would have anything to write about at all.  I have just had to become more selective. Unfortunately, on occasions, I miss something.

Aromatherapy: Scent and Psyche, by Peter and Kate Damian, had lain unopened on my shelves for several months.  What a find!  Previously, when asked about the pros and cons of environmental fragrancing, I had launched into a frenzied search of old newspaper cuttings.  Had I looked sooner at Peter and Kate’s book I need not have bothered.  In their Aromatherapy Today and Tomorrow: Theory and Practice, Issues and Debates chapter there are some fine examples of American “anti-feeling”. Some are almost unbelievable; and yet I have a sneaking feeling that certain European attitudes are moving along similar lines.  Thus it is perhaps worth taking note of the American experience.

The National Foundation of the Chemically Hypersensitive, trumpeting its protection of the innocent from the evils of cologne and after-shave lotion, has demanded that designated fragrance-free zones be required in all restaurants and state-owned buildings.  The Center for Independent Living (!) desires that warning signs be posted on all buildings to deny entrance to anyone who wears perfume or whose clothing may be carrying the odour of smoke, dry cleaning, or fragrances.  Terri White, the executive director, wants the chemically hypersensitive to be legally represented as another disability or handicapped group and given protection under federal law.  A tiny minority with an unfortunate idiosyncrasy and an overactive imagination, the chemically hypersensitive have literally raised the exercise to an art form by their  hysterical claims of dangerous second-hand scents and unreasonable demands for odour bans and fragrance-free zones. 
      
It is instructive, however, that these phenomena and other idosyncratic or otherwise incidental allergic reactions to scents and fragrances are neither attributable to aromatherapy nor the consequences of pure essential oils (yet?). Nevertheless, what might happen if the same artificial, chemical scent ingredients (or essential oils) were not randomly worn by individual people but instead were  deliberately sprayed into public arenas is another matter altogether. Entirely new and truly public health risks would be created, some obvious and some not so obvious. But environmental fragrancing presents more than a social health problem; it creates an ethical predicament involving social and personal liberty.  Worth a thought?  I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Another thought - Charity challenge or self-help trip?
Were I not contemplating doing The Inca Trail with my 1960 Austin A40 in 2001, 18,500 kilometres of some of the world’s more challenging roads, as a retirement challenge at my own expense, I doubt that I would have given it a second thought. 
Imagine a land at the tip of South America, reads the brochure, a place to set your soul and imagination free.  Then imagine cycling through the heart of this beautiful and exotic country, with nothing to do but pedal and soak in the experience.  It sounds like bliss. And thanks to Sense, the National Deafblind and Rubella Association, almost anyone can enjoy it. All you need is the courage to ask your friends and neighbours to pay for the trip, telling them it’s a challenge for charity. To be quite honest, I had never thought of it quite like that until I read Richard Tomkins question in the Financial Times.....Who benefits from good causes’ sponsored holidays?

At least 40 charities, including many of Britain’s biggest, have become travel agents or tour operators, advertising their holidays in newspapers and magazines, printing glossy brochures and appointing full-time staff to organise the adventures. All this costs money.  But for those taking part, the attraction is that other people - friends, colleagues or the public - pay the bill. In most cases, the participant’s only contribution is a registration fee, typically £199, and many charities refund this to people raising more than a certain amount.  In, for example, Sense’s Trans-Andean Cycle Challenge, participants are required to raise a minimum of £2,000. But barely half that goes to charity; £920, or 46%, goes directly to benefit the participant, paying for his or her travel costs.  

Some charities acknowledge the ethical issues involved in using public donations to pay participants’travel costs. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children insists that all participants pay their full travel costs. At NCH Action for Children, Ms. Higgins says some charity workers have suggested airing the issue at a meeting of the event managers’ forum, a charity sector group, later this year.  In the meantime, people asked to sponsor charity challenges can always say no, although many find it easier to pay up than face the embarrassment of refusing.  The trouble is, you can’t say no when people tell you it’s for a good cause. It’s emotional blackmail.  What do you think?

Tempus fugit.
It seems only a couple of years ago since we last offered Two for One at Christmas; in fact it was in 1993! For those who still retain a copy of the 1993 Christmas Offer (I wonder how many there are?), it may come as a surprise to discover that the majority of our prices have reduced! Seven years ago, we also had a standard postage charge of £3.50.

Therefore, when Justin suggested that we might do something similar to mark the end of the 20th Century, I had to give it a little thought. Why? Although prices have tumbled, volumes have increased and the thought of double-bottling at the busiest time of year, when we are already a little behind due to illness, did not fill me with glee. A few, short years ago it would have been a simple task of putting a postcard in the window of the local post office and a queue of temporary bottlers and packers would form at the door.  Now, thank goodness, business is booming in the Cotswolds. How about a compromise?

Eureka!  20th Century; 20ml bottle!  Single fill, single wrap, but double the quantity!  Twenty of the most popular essential oils to choose from this month and another twenty in December. All for the price of 10ml! I hope that you will welcome the bonus, and enjoy!

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