The Impact of Creating and Wearing Natural Perfumes
The education was held in Croatia, Zagreb (www.aromaterapija.info), Rijeka (http://udrugaeterico.com/ ) and Ljubljana https://www.analicina.com/, Slovenia. According to the known proverb that no prophet is accepted in his/her hometown, most classes were held in neighbouring Slovenia. The survey included participants in the four-year period (2014-2017). Questionnaire was sent to 52 addresses and 38 students answered. That’s just enough to cross the threshold above which the results of statistical processing are starting to be relevant!
A group of respondents consisted of 35 women and 3 men at the age of 30-60, persons with higher education prevailed, while those with a secondary school education were few.
Most of the reasons that led people to attend the education were unpleasant physical symptoms or problems caused by commercial perfumes (headaches, breathing difficulties, sneezing, watery eyes etc.), some respondents stated that they had resistance to synthetic ingredients and their aggressive nature, and few people emphasized a tendency towards creative expression as a reason.
To the question what they appreciate and value most regarding natural perfumes, the average rank shows that it is the most important that the perfume is unique and highlights their personality; secondly, it is important that natural perfumes are more pleasant and refined, and reasons that followed were their therapeutic effect, the fact that they improve mood, promote psychological balance, reduce stress, are unobtrusive, non-aggressive, complement the natural body odor and pollute the environment less.
When asked what else is important to them, respondents said that creating natural perfumes was an important opportunity to express their creativity and some answered that they value the comfort they feel when wearing them. Few people said that perfumes’ naturalness was important to them, and some thought that acquiring new knowledge (making perfumes) was a pleasure.
When asked how they feel when they wear their natural perfume, the respondents made assessment based on 6 provided answers. The order based on the frequency of responses is as follows: more satisfied, more relaxed, more optimistic, more self-confident, more energetic. Under “something else”, some respondents indicated these feelings: pride, satisfaction, seductiveness, ornamented with fragrance.
The most priceless I find the answers to the question “What new have you learned about yourself in the process of creating natural perfumes?” They can be grouped into three categories: 53% came to new insights about themselves, 36% stated that they have established better contact with themselves and gained confidence, and 11% answered that it has led to changes in their behavior. For illustration, here is the list of several responses:
– I learned what attracts me and what does not, and that I may (must!) listen to myself. I have to pay more attention to small but important things in life.
– Daily wearing of my perfume makes me happy, because I always talk to myself in that way. I began to pay more attention to smells in general.
– Some of my “doubts” have been confirmed: I love diversity and change (I’m not loyal to a particular fragrance). In the process of creating I realized that I quickly made decisions and after the decision was made I did not question it.
– I realized that I was afraid to exclude intellect and let intuition decide.
– I’ve learned to appreciate nature a lot more.
– I do not like synthetic perfumes and for the past 10 years I did not wear any perfumes. Now I wear a perfume every day!
– I discovered a new passion!
These answers undoubtedly reveal a profound impact of the process of creating natural perfumes on the wellbeing of the participants.
