If you have ever enjoyed a cup of Earl Grey tea, you are familiar with the scent aroma of bergamot. Simultaneously sophisticated and refreshing, pure bergamot oil is a cold pressed essential oil produced by cells extracted from the rinds of citrus fruit (Citrus bergamia) that grow on bergamot orange trees predominantly grown in the town of Bergamo in southern Italy. It smells kind of like a sweet orange, but with a floral note that makes it an exceptional component to the complexity resulting from some of our cultured scent blends in the Floral/Fruit category.
This power player is commonly used in perfumes, colognes, toiletries, and cosmetics for both men and women, due to its ability to fix the aromatic bouquet of aromas and harmonize all the essences, enhancing the fragrance. However much bergamot allows those other scents to synchronize, the scent in those products is so altered by the process as to be almost unrecognizable compared to the spicy, sweet aroma of the pure essential oil. Used thoughtfully, whether on its own or combined with companion fragrances, bergamot has many therapeutic properties aside from being merely pleasing to the nose.
Thought science behind aromatherapy has more often been directed at more commonly used lavender, citrus, and certain herbs, recent studies have been done that include bergamot, showing benefits to using the scent in both humans and lab animals. These include improving mood and mild symptoms of stress-induced disorders such as depression as well as facilitating sleep induction. Experiments with bergamot aromatherapy and massage has been shown to relieve symptoms of anxiety in patients with cancer. In fact, using bergamot oil in combination with other medicinal aroma-therapies is not a new practice, but finding the right balance between a medicinal and pleasantly aromatic experience falls to the fragrance experts at Sanari Candle Company.
Take Aria, for instance. This is a gorgeous example of how bergamot may not be the star of the show but is a necessary background player that assures the headliners shine. The overall effect is one of utter relaxation-with the marriage of tangerine, eucalyptus, mint, lavender, patchouli, ylang ylang, and cedarwood joyfully rounded out by the stability and warmth of bergamot, which features both the fruity and the floral!
In a complete departure from the invigorating properties of Aria is Granita, from Sanari’s Citrus/Herbal collection. Here, bergamot is more roundly embodied as that comforting warm cup of Earl Grey tea. Rosemary and combined citruses tangerine and grapefruit offer a more herbaceous experience without being at all medicinal, this designer scent is just cozy.
The importance of bergamot oil in the cosmetics and personal care industry may come as a surprise when you consider most people are not even aware that it exists at all. It is that indefinable something that draws all the other floral, herb, and fruit scents collectively to harmonize, where there might otherwise be discord. In the case of our candles, I believe you will be able to pick bergamot out of that scent symphony, and when you do you will have that “ah ha” moment of finally knowing what that subtle glorious scent is that so gracefully allows all the others to work so well together.