In his 1985 novel, Perfume, German writer Patrick Süskind
explores the sense of smell and its relationship with the
emotional and physiological impact that scents can have on us.
In the case of Perfume, the longing for a certain scent drove
the main character into madness, and even murder. While that’s
quite extreme, surely you’ve experienced feeling transported to
some place far away in your mind’s rewind just by a scent, an
aroma tickling your nose and triggering an emotional connection.
But it’s not just the memory banks that take in the mysteries of
our scented world; our whole body can be affected—and even
healed through certain odors. The practice, when used to treat
or prevent conditions is called aromatherapy, and it’s thousands
of years old. But how does it work exactly?  Concentrated
“essences” of plants, known as essential oils are volatile
compounds, deeply potent and proven to be effective in treating
hundreds of common ailments. Walk into a French pharmacy with a
headache, a cold or any number o