Hello Friend!

Jenny brought over apples this week, crisp, sweet, the kind that only show up when fall is truly on its way. She’s my daughter and my partner in making the magic happen at the Aromahead Institute and Aromatics International. As soon as she walked in with that basket, I could feel the season shifting.

It’s not just the apples. The mornings are taking their time, the light in the evenings is softening, and there’s a gentle pull toward structure and focus. This time of year always stirs something in me. A readiness to go a little deeper, to work more intentionally, to create with care.

My table’s been full of beautiful new materials like frankincense serrata, magnolia absolute, green wild vetiver, and saffron attar. Each one is rich with story and potential. They’re stirring ideas for the Therapeutic Perfumes workshop I’ll be teaching this fall, and it feels good to be in the middle of it all. I’ll keep you posted on the upcoming workshop!

What You’ll Discover In This Newsletter:

🔴 Jenny just wrapped up a beautiful 3-part series exclusively for our Natural Living Club. This community continues to inspire me with so many thoughtful people sharing real, nourishing ideas, recipes, and ways to live more naturally. If you haven’t joined yet, it’s only $24 a year, and it’s quickly become one of my favorite spaces online.

Aromatic Creations Recipe

Frankincense Evening Diffuser Blend

Resinous, spicy, and softly clarifying, a beautiful way to wind down

As the light shifts and the day begins to settle, this blend offers gentle support for body and mind. Frankincense frereana brings an uplifting, slightly citrusy resin note, while Rhododendron anthopogon adds a touch of brightness, almost like cool mountain air. The nutmeg rounds it all out with warm, spicy comfort.

It’s a wonderful diffuser blend for early evenings, especially as the energy of the day starts to taper and you’re ready to shift gears without going into full rest mode just yet.

Ingredients

• 5 drops Frankincense (Boswellia frereana)

• 4 drops Rhododendron (Rhododendron anthopogon)

• 3 drops Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans)

Let it fill your space for 30–60 minutes. It's a beautiful blend for transition between seasons, between activities, between the outward and inward parts of your day.

Notes of Discovery

Frankincense Essential Oil Benefits: Skin Care, Aromatherapy Uses, and Traditional Healing with Boswellia Oil

Just as the frankincense tree sends forth its resin to heal wounds in the bark, frankincense oil helps us access our inner strength during challenges. 

A few drops in my diffuser before I begin work, a quiet inhale when I need to recenter. This oil has a way of transforming simple daily routines into rituals of calm and clarity. A day that seemed scattered now feels whole. 

I’d like to share Aromahead’s profile of frankincense oil on our blog. 

You’ll learn about this resin’s long history, the different chemistries that various frankincense species have, and the many ways it can support your daily life. From grounding your morning routine to helping you wind down at night, frankincense is a steady companion for creating balance and focus.

Product Spotlight

Frankincense frereana Boswellia frereana

Frankincense has been treasured for thousands of years, but not all varieties are the same. Boswellia frereana, a rare species native to the rugged Daallo Mountains of Somaliland, offers an aroma that’s unlike any other: earthy and musky, with gentle citrus tones that soften its resinous depth. It is considered “the king of all frankincense.”

Distillers in Somaliland harvest and carefully hydrodistill the raw resin, producing a limited amount of oil each year. This rarity makes frereana especially prized, both for its history of sacred use and its unique chemistry. Rich in α-pinene, the oil supports clear breathing, helps soothe inflammation, and brings a crisp freshness to blends. Its complexity is rounded out by α-thujene with its antimicrobial strength, p-cymene, which adds a subtle brightness, and sabinene that deepens the aroma with a spicy, woody note while helping calm inflammation.

In practice, frankincense frereana is a versatile ally:

• For skin – add to serums or balms for its purifying, restorative touch.

• For breath and immunity – diffuse or blend into inhalers to support clear airways and immune resilience.

• For the mind – lean on its centering, grounding qualities in meditation or evening rituals.

Our certified organic frankincense frereana comes directly from Somaliland, where local harvesters continue a living tradition of gathering this extraordinary resin.

From The Vine

Members of the Natural Living Club had a fun discussion about frankincense and their favorite ways to use it.

Here are a few tips they shared…

Shelley O.: My favorite way to use Frankincense is for scar reduction. I cut my finger really bad one time and I used Frankincense to not only heal the cut but to diminish the scar that was created. Since that time, I have recommended it for that purpose to many others, including patients. 

Sonja C.: I love to use it as my serum for my face. I add it to a tiny bit of Castor oil.

Elizabeth B.: I use it in my skincare products and for an arthritis ointment I had made for clients.

Stay Inspired!

In the turning of the seasons, in the slow unfurling of leaves, and in the quiet growth of a tree, we see that life does not rush. Patience allows us to honor that flow, to meet each task with calm, and to create space for what truly matters.