The Blog
Last blog published in October 2017.
For more recent articles, visit The Tisserand Institute.
Hidden benefits
Reports on the effects of aromatherapy massage on pain, anxiety and depression in cancer patients are inconsistent, with some finding significant effects, and others not. One that did find an effect (Imanishi et al 2007) was authored by a group of researchers from...
Ravensara rant
OK, here's the problem as I see it. And, if you're not an essential oil aficionado, I advise you to stop reading now. There is an oil produced from Ravensara aromatica, and it is known by the (somewhat uninventive) name of "Ravensara" or, occasionally, "ravensare" It...
Bad science
I have been reading a book called Bad Science by an English doctor, Ben Goldacre. His principal targets are the media (for consistent misinformation), nutritionists and homeopaths, but all "quacks" are fair game, since "quack therapy", according to Ben, is no more...
The paraben parable
Most of the consumers I have spoken to, usually visitors to natural product trade shows, know that they don’t want to see parabens in the natural products they use. Most of the same people, when I pressed them for an explanation, had no idea why. But they know with...
Placebo? What about the rats?
I have heard it said that a pleasant-smelling massage is surely very relaxing, but there's nothing more to aromatherapy than that. And if there is, well it's just that old placebo effect. It must be so because, I am reliably informed, there are no clinical trials...