Design 21: Social Design Network

A graduate of Pratt Institute School of Art and Design, I have 20 years of product development experience. I became interested in aromatherapy through years of traveling oversea and having developed a non-tolerance for recycled air on planes and in hotels.

This lead me to experimentation with essential oils; EO of lemon and rosemary quickly became my travel companions. They helped to revive me and warded off the early signs of cold and flu during my travels. Now, I highly recommend these oils along with geranium, eucalyptus, lavender and sandalwood. They are in my opinion, an essential part of a globe trotters survival kit.

Some where between my days in fashion and becoming a Reiki Practitioner, essential oils became an integral part of my life. I started to make personal blends for my clients as an added benefit to the Reiki atunements they had received through me.

I have a friend who said to me out of the blue, why don't you start a line. I am about to open a boutique and would like to carry your blends. So I said, ok, why not, I can do this. Then I went about buying every book I could possibly find on the subject of aromatherapy and I read. In six months time I had a complete line ready for market.

Then just to see if what I had created of on the mark, I began taking some formal classes in aromatherapy. I learned that I was ahead of the curve, but it enhance my knowledge and allowed me to expand upon what I had created.

Since that time the Therapeutate line has expanded to include not just the complex blends we started with, but a full line of natural perfumes and remedies. Thus beginning a never ending journey into the world of perfumery and the natural healing properties of plant botanicals.

My love of aromatherapy lead me to explore the art of natural pefumery, so I continued to study both formally and individually. The formulas just keep coming, it's pretty much like being a painter, the abstractions and landscapes just keep expanding. They become more colorful and full of nuance with each idea from inception to the final fragrance.

This journey with essential oils and natural perfumes has spoiled me. Since being educated on the difference between a chemically manufacturer fragrance and that made in nature. I can sincerely tell you there is no substitute for the bounty nature has to offer and once your noses gets wind of it, you will never again be able to settle for anything less.