Essential oils (or EOs) are concentrated fatty compounds, with distinct fragrances, that are found throughout the plant world. Historically, they have been a source of fascination for healers and laypeople alike. For thousands of years these substances have been associated with health-promoting properties. Medical texts dating back to Sumerian times have described benefits from soothing burns to healing infectious lesions, to driving out evil demons. These ancient doctors thought the smoke produced by burning these oils contain deities; the modern word perfume, meaning from fumes, refers to this belief.
More recently, it’s been discovered that our skin can smell essential oils. The health benefits of essential oil fragrances extend directly to the skin cells themselves, all of which are covered with scent or olfactory receptors that are responsive to essential oil odor molecules.
These odor molecules contact the receptors. They initiate growth effects that can play an important role in wound healing. What’s more, essential oils can improve learning. Try smelling a particularly potent essential oil like peppermint, or perhaps sage or oregano, as you’re memorizing. Try focusing on the facts you want to remember as you inhale your essential oils fragrance. Then, when it comes time for recall, take another sniff of your essential oil. You’re gonna find that your brain will have associated the scent with the facts you’ve studied, and it’ll be much easier to pull them out of your memory.