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New on Smelslike: a botanical herbarium

Every oil starts as a plant. Our new herbarium shows what each one looks like, where it grows and what its oil is made of.

28 October 20262 min read
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
Photo: JLPC · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

A bottle of essential oil is the end of a long story: a field of lavender in Provence, a frankincense tree on a rocky hill in Somalia, a lemon tree in a garden in Limassol. We wanted that story to be part of the shop.

What you will find

  • What the plant looks like and where it grows
  • The main constituents of its oil, with molecular formulas
  • How the plant has traditionally been used, and what research says — with links to the sources
  • How to use the oil according to its EU label, and what to be careful about

We started with fifteen plants — from lavender and peppermint to clove and oregano — and will keep adding new ones.

Why sources matter

Essential oils are surrounded by bold promises. We prefer facts you can check: European Medicines Agency monographs, the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, peer-reviewed reviews. Where the evidence is thin, we say so.

Plants in this article

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
LavenderLavandula angustifoliaA silver-leaved Mediterranean shrub with violet flower spikes — the most familiar scent of summer fields in Provence.
Mint family · Lamiaceae
FrankincenseBoswellia sacraSmall, tough trees of the Horn of Africa and Arabia whose resin has been burned as incense for thousands of years.
Torchwood family · Burseraceae
LemonCitrus limonA small thorny evergreen that flowers and fruits at the same time; the oil is pressed from the bright yellow peel.
Rue family · Rutaceae

Products in this article

LavenderLavandula angustifoliaSmells like floral, sweet, herbaceous
€49.3315 ml
FrankincenseBoswellia spp.Smells like warm resin, a little citrus
€127.3315 ml
LemonCitrus limonSmells like fresh lemon zest
€24.0015 ml

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