Valentine's Day is coming up. Now is the time to gather your essential oils and begin daydreaming your perfect romantic evening. Aromatherapy is a great tool for creating a romantic, relaxing atmosphere. Read the steps below to create a truly memorable evening on Valentine's Day or for any special occasion.

One of the key draws of natural perfumery and aromatherapy is the art of attraction. Essential oils are produced in plants to attract pollinators to further their reproduction. Observant humans found that the fragrance of these same essential oils worked to enhance their own fragrance which in turn boosted their own attractive capabilities. Modern humans like us can take advantage of this ancient discovery and the rich history of botanical fragrance to set the mood on special occasions and romantic evenings.

The first step in creating a romantic evening is creating anticipation. Writing a note to your love, or sending an invitation for your romantic evening can build anticipation for the evening ahead. Take this one step further by perfuming the invitation with an essential oil or natural perfume that evokes romance. Simply apply a small amount of your natural perfume to your finger or a q-tip and apply it to your card or note. The smell is sure to catch notice and inspire fantasy for the evening ahead.

After anticipation, comes preparation! Prepare your home or space for an evening of romance using your essential oil diffuser or by burning natural incense resins.

If you have an essential oil diffuser you can diffuse your favorite combination of essential oils. We suggest a combination of bergamot, lavender and ylang ylang which is soothing, uplifting and playful.

I like to take an uplifting citrus top note like bergamot or mandarin, then add a warming wood oil like cedar or palo santo and add and exotic floral oil like ylang ylang or a touch of jasmine. You can blend a diffuser blend before hand and just add to the diffuser before your romantic evening begins.

If you would like to burn incense wood or resins you can follow the video link here for instructions.

Burn agarwood, palo santo or frankincense hojari resin to set the stage for special evenings. Burning resins not only purifies your home, it also elevates the energy and helps us access more meditative state. What a wonderful gift to give your lover- your full undivided attention while enveloped in the heavenly fragrance of sacred incense resins!

Now that your space is prepared you can begin your own personal preparation for your romantic evening.

Natural Perfumes are the perfect way to scent skin and hair. Just add a drop of essential oil or natural perfume to your hands or brush and run through your hair. You can also add a drop of essential oil to the top of your head- the heat from your head will release the oil around you making you a human diffuser! Essential oils can be used to make aromatherapy sprays to scent linens- click here for a how to video on how to make your own linen spray.

An aromatic massage is a wonderful part of preparation for a romantic evening or a featured event to share with your partner. Infused massage oils not only nourish the skin they also smell wonderful. Marula oils are available in floral scents like neroli, jasmine or rose, or in the deeper scents like vanilla or palo santo sandalwood. These oils are a lovely gift to share.

An aromatic foot massage is also a simple way to show your love. A foot rub is such a kind gesture, and since you can access meridian points for the entire body through the feet it is an effective way to give the benefits of a full body massage without needing a massage table! This is a sweet and nurturing practice for everyday affection, so be sure to share this with your partner on a regular basis!

Anointing with essential oils is a very special practice to share. Essential Oils can open our hearts and minds and offer us permission to access our deepest love. Key points to anoint with essential oils are the heart and the third eye point in between the eyes and the crown of the head. Key oils are rose, sandalwood, saffron attar, lotus attar, frankincense, patchouli, jasmine or any oil or natural perfume that has special meaning to you.

An Aromatic Bath is a relaxing way to unwind together. Use soothing essential oils like Lavender essential oil, Palo Santo essential oil, Bergamot essential oil, Ylang Ylang essential oil, Relax Blend, Dream Blend or any of your favorite skin friendly essential oils.

Any evening can be a special occasion when you put your essential oils and aromatherapy knowledge to good use. Enjoy these suggestions and have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Note: Please be sure that essential oils and carrier oils do not come into contact with mucous membranes as this may cause irritation, or barrier methods of contraception as the oils may degrade and make these items ineffective.