5 Essential Oils For Love & Sensuality

It’s February and the season of love is upon us! As you know from the Essential Oils 101 guide last week, the fragrance of an essential oil can directly affect your emotional state. Our sense of smell is linked to the limbic lobe of the brain and activates the hypothalamus. What does this mean for your love life?

The hypothalamus is the hormone control center in the body, so regulates and stimulates sex drive, energy levels and healthy production of hormones. Whether you're setting the mood for the perfect, romantic Valentine’s date with your partner or single and thinking about attracting the love of your life, here are 5 essential oils that can help bring a little more love, beauty and sensual magic your way:

1. Sandalwood

I just returned from India, where sandalwood is King! It's a highly prized oil and wood often used for spiritual ceremonies and meditation. Sandalwood is specifically recommended as a fragrance for men, making it an excellent, exotic Valentine's gift for your guy! It's rich, sweet, warm, and woody aroma is enticing, erotic and soothing.

Sandalwood is valued in skincare for its moisturizing and normalizing properties. I've been addicted to this for years and even gave it to my dad as a stocking stuffer. I bought a few extra bottles in India—so we'll see who the lucky men are this time.

2. Rose

Rose is known as the “Queen of Flowers”. Probably the most common scent associated with love, romance Valentine’s Day, rose is also the oil of the heart chakra, and associated with the archetype "The Goddess of Love."

It carries a beautiful, strong floral and sweet fragrance that is highly romantic. It's also known to help balance hormones in the female reproductive system. Used for skin care for thousands of years, it is perfect for dry or aging skin.

Place a couple drops on palms and rub gently in a clockwise direction. Then, slowly inhale 3 deep breaths to let the aroma waft into your amygdala gland in the center of the brain. Place directly on the heart center, behind the ears, on wrists, the womb center or in a bath.

3. Ylang Ylang

This sweet, soft, flowery fragrance has become a romantic favorite. Ylang ylang elevates sexual energy and enhances relationships. Petals of this beautiful yellow flower are often strewn across marriage beds in Indonesia and the fragrance is perfect to diffuse to set the tone for your own romantic evening.

4. Jasmine

Jasmine’s floral fragrance is warm and exotic and has been used throughout history for romance and attraction. It helps balance the feminine energy of the body and is often used during childbirth. An absolute, rather than an essential oil, this is a highly concentrated oil blend that is safe for inhalation but should never be ingested. Jasmine blends beautifully with ylang ylang, rose and sandalwood.

5. Lady Sclareol

“The Great Intoxicator.” This is a blend of some of nature’s most exotic and aromatic (think seductive!) essential oils (ylang ylang, geranium, rosewood, jasmine, clary sage, sandalwood more).

This beguiling concoction was thought to originate from the 'Ladies at Court' of the Middle Ages who discovered its alluring alchemy. Lady Sclareol is a natural aphrodisiac for both men and women, calming and balancing, and can help unblock emotional issues associated with low libido, struggles with fertility and frigidity, as well as enhance romance.