Giants Interview Part II
Sylla's Aromatic Thoughts TodayThis interview was originally published in the Aromatika magazine (11.1. 2024. SPRING)This book may be more relevant today as more and more people are exposed to essential oils and hype. The information is relevant to home and...
Giants Interview Part I
Sylla's Aromatic BeginningsThis interview was originally published in the Aromatika magazine (11.1. 2024. SPRING)I discovered essential oils in a scent shop in Austin Tx in 1977 and then at local health food stores or co-ops. I started collecting scents and using them...
In Memory of Tony Burfield (1946-2023)
In Memory of Tony Burfield (1946-2023)A.B.P., M.I. Biol., C.I. Biol., M.I.F.S.T., F.L.S. Anthony Graham Burfield was born July 7, 1946, in Tunbridge Wells, England. He passed away suddenly May 17, 2023, in Tunbridge Wells. Tony spent most of his working life in the...
Turtle Totem
This is a special poem by Sylla's brother, D, to whom she was very close. He introduced her to many things in his life, including her favorite essential oil, Patchouli. Turtle Totem February 1, 2001 I am a warrior of the Turtle Clan. It is not a path I choose, but one...
Last Confession: Use Me! I Will Not Die an Unused Life.
Last Confession: Use Me! I Will Not Die an Unused Life. My brother turned me on to a lot of musicians after the Beatles came to A starting when Dylan came to Raleigh, D worked concessions. Of course it progressed from there. One of the earlier ones was Dave...
Thank you, Rob Pappas (Why I Love Dr. P)
During the Purdue classes in 1996, we went on a field (peppermint!) trip to the Lucac farm to see peppermint distillation. While we were there, we met Rob Brown of Lebermuth, who had with him their new chemist Rob Pappas. Rob was new to the industry, and our meeting...
Confession #7: I LOVE MLM Companies
I confess. I've said many negative things in the past about the multi-level marketing (MLM) companies that have sprung up in the last 20 years. I don't like the way they operate using “pseudo” science, promoting extreme undiluted use and daily doses in water or...
Confession #8: Why I Really Need Help in Restarting
I've accepted that at the awesome age of 63, my silver hair is lovely and I have thin skin that shows experience and feelings. I've learned to appreciate the joy in the beautiful experience of “croning," or becoming an elder. I have a new appreciation of where I've...
I did not set out to form a disaster relief organization (Thank you Doug E)
Doug E. Rasmusson was my inspiration to get involved with disaster relief. Affectionately known as "Doug E", he had over the previous years become a very good friend, mentee, supporter and instructor for the Atlantic Institute of Aromatherapy. We first met when he...
I did not set out to write a book….
By 1994, I had so many books to look up information on specific oils, I decided to create a wall chart for quick reference. Thanks to my hubby who set up the chart format on his computer, I was able to began typing it all in. Then I cut and pasted the first sections...
Let the studies begin
After half a decade of playing around with oils on my own, I wanted to expand my offerings and share the knowledge I had collected. One big influence in this endeavor was Kurt Schnaubelt. Original Swiss Aromatics started up in 1983 and his Pacific Institute of...
Early teacher: Kurt Schnaubelt
After half a decade of playing around with oils on my own, using the few available books I had at my disposal, such as Valnet and Tisserand, I wanted to expand and share the knowledge I had collected. I saw the need to delve further, to really get serious about this...
Days of Rumors
In February of 1982 I married my husband, O.V. on Valentines day and the same month bought the salon business I had worked at for a few years. I renamed it Rumors, in honor of Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks, my obsession at the time. Originally I sold my collection...
I Will Not Die an Unlived Life Part 2
The word ‘cancer’ encompasses over 200 different diseases, yet when it affects an individual it takes on a greater significance, a different tone, and much more meaning. The day my doctor told me I had breast cancer, she also said it would not kill me, but it would...
I Thought I Invented It
In the mid 70’s, like all good hippies, I went on a 6-week road-trip with my Mom in a VW microbus camper to California and back. I found the first scent shop I had ever seen in Dallas, TX. That shop changed my life! The smells were wonderful; the colored oils in glass...
Featured Pioneer: Christine Malcolm
In the summer of 1989, I attended an aromatherapy class by perfumer Christine Malcolm of Santa Fe Botanical Fragrances. Christine has deep roots in the perfume industry. Her career began in 1970 in the research and development area of the fragrance supplier industry....
Featured Pioneer: Colleen Dodt
By the mid-80s, I started to realize that that I was not alone in my practice with essential oils. Colleen Dodt was working quietly away up in Rochester Hills, MI having been recognized in her own right by 1987. Her company, Herbal Endeavours, had started up the year...
Featured Pioneer: Gerri and Pat of Natures Symphony Inc.
The same year I opened my salon Rumors, Natures Symphony Inc. opened in Boca Raton, FL. It was one of the first true aromatherapy stores in Florida and has been a pioneer in the field of Aromatherapy in the US for since its beginning. The company was formed by...
Featured Pioneer: Emilee Stewart
Let me tell you a little about Emilee Stewart, my first live aromatherapy mentor and friend. Emilee is from London, and was inspired to pursue aromatherapy by the Micheline Arcier treatments she recieved in Knightsbridge. She trained at the clinic and got an...
Who Would Have ‘Thunk’ It?
When many aromatherapists gathered for the 2006 Aromatherapy Conference by Michael Alexander in St. Pete, FL, my brother D, allowed us to raffle him for a dinner date for United Aromatherapy Effort, Inc. to raise funds. Jane Buckle won him and wrote a poem I shared in...
Early stirrings
I grew up in North Carolina in the 1950-60s and moved to Florida in early 1970. At that time I didn't know aromatherapy had started with Gattefosse's work, followed by Valnet’s book Aromatherapie which came out in France. Then Marguerite Maury, an Austrian...