When Micheline Arcier first opened her clinic in London’s Knightsbridge, aromatherapy was unknown to all but a handful of people attracted to the idea of using natural plant extracts in their health and beauty care. The therapeutic potentials of essential oils were a world waiting to be re-discovered because, although their use stretches back to earliest recorded history, industrialised nations had been wooed away from their time-honoured natural remedies by the development of synthetic cosmetics and body care products.

Now, we are returning with a better understanding and re-evaluation of what Nature’s products can offer and the significance of living our lives holistically in harmony with our precious environment. We are also seeing a greater appreciation of the diversity of beauty so strict adherence to the dictates of fashion is optional and health and a sense of well-being gives a deeper sense of connection with our individuality.

Advances in the science of skin care now offer almost miraculous possibilities, but at the same time across the world scientists, doctors, nurses and therapists are exploring and being excited by the many and varied potentials of essential oils. There is a growing body of evidence, both in clinical studies and research projects for the efficacy of essential oils in a wide range of disease conditions.

Whilst countries around the world use plant extracts for primary health care the Micheline Arcier Aromatherapie range of body and skin care was created and has evolved over six decades to answer the needs of clients searching for a natural support for the everyday challenges to well-being.

Careful processing maintains the complexity of the molecular structure of the essential oils responsible for their varied therapeutic properties from antiseptic to wound-healing. The tiny structures of essential oils allows for their ready absorption through the skin and clinical trials and pharmacological testing have revealed the anti-ageing potential of some essential oils through their elastase-inhibiting and antioxidant properties.

So powerful are these active essential oils that they must be blended with suitable vegetable carrier oils. These provide an added dimension of benefit to each formulation, offering vitamins, anti-oxidants and GLAs to stimulate the production of healthy skin cells, neutralise free-radicals that hasten skin ageing and protect the skin against pollutants. Nourishing, moisturising, toning and balancing sebaceous secretions, vegetable oils are a synergistic partner to essential oils and a natural solution for daily skin care.

Whilst our human sense of smell is unlikely to match that of our favourite family pet, we are subliminally influenced by aromas to a surprisingly significant extent. So an aromatherapie formulation that speaks to the emotional centres of the brain can transform our moods whilst nurturing body and skin and reflects our understanding of the profound links between body, mind and emotions and our place within the natural world.

Aligning our daily care with the natural environment, developing a more sensitive awareness of personal health and supporting body, mind and spirit through the regular use of natural resources such as plant extracts, can bring us to a more harmonious and balanced sense of self and well-being.