Using fragrance as a stress‐relief agent

Abstract

One of the most important claims within aromatherapy is that certain aromas are stress‐relief agents. In the early 1990s, we developed a self‐report instrument, called Mood‐MappingTM, that taps consumers’ emotional responses to fragranced products. Based on our experience with extensive testing, we predicted that the most relaxing fragrances would also be stress‐relieving. In order to determine whether this was true in a consumer in‐home setting, we compared a variety of fragranced bubble bath samples with matched unfragranced control samples in a home‐use test. We employed self‐report measures of stress, relaxation, and other moods before and after each subject took a bath. We found that baths taken with a fragranced sample were significantly more stress‐relieving and relaxing than those using an unfragranced control. Furthermore, specific odor qualities of the fragrances were more stress‐relieving than others. We next examined whether these specific types of relaxing fragrances were stress‐relieving as measured physiologically. We utilized a standard laboratory stressor, the Stroop test, in a series of studies of various relaxing fragrances. We obtained the electromyogram (EMG) from the Trapezius muscle (back of the shoulder) as well as other physiological measures during these experiments. Trapezius EMG levels reliably increase during the Stroop test. We have found that a special type of relaxing Myo‐relax® fragrances (patent pending) have a muscle relaxing effect, namely, they will significantly reduce the Trapezius EMG response during the Stroop test as compared to an unfragranced control. One of these, Relaxscent from Colgate's Project Dionysos, will be featured. Thus, we have shown that Mood‐Mapped relaxing fragrances are demonstrably stress‐relieving as measured both physiologically as well as by self‐report in a consumer setting.