For the past few years, I had been playing around with the idea of introducing exotic essential oils from India to my clients, but wasn't sure if people were going to love them as much as I do. I wasn't sure whether people were going to appreciate the unconventional nature of these oils and was worried that these might be construed as a "little too exotic." However, I was pleasantly surprised when people expressed strong interest in them after smelling them burning in my diffuser at the store and asked me to bring some for them the next time I travelled to India - which I have - and it's amazing how popular they really are.
I have been bringing these traditional oils, called Attars (extracts with a sandalwood base) and Ruhs (pure botanical extracts with a water base), from India for quite a while now and have been using them in my diffuser at home and at the store. I also much prefer wearing these oils as opposed to the conventional colognes because of their natural scents and healing properties.
The remarkable thing about these oils that I find so attractive is their organic nature and the fact that most of them are created using no modern technology at all. Unlike synthetic fragrant oils which usually have a glycerine or alcohol base to them, these oils are very organic in their base (water or other botanical oils) and for this reason smell very natural. I find that when using them in a diffuser, you don't have to deal with the "chemically" alcohol smell or heavy glycerine film that is so common in many conventional oils. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that there are quite a few synthetic oils that are out in the market that are very high quality, but I'm not sure how many of those can you actually wear on your skin as well.
This March I travelled back to India for yet another buying trip and had the pleasure of going to the old cities of Lucknow, Kannauj and Kanpur. Lucknow, Delhi and Kannauj have long been known in India for their Attars and Ruhs and oils from these cities are highly prized. Alchemists, called Attar-wallahs (Attar-makers) in these ancient cities have been making essential oils, using botanical extracts of plants, roots, woods, resins and spices employing traditional techniques, for hundreds of years. The traditional technique continues to this day making these authentic oils. There are traditional blends and newer blends developing all the time.
At the moment we have quite a few different types of Attars, Oils and Ruhs from India. The Attars, oils and Ruhs we carry at Durga are generally all traditional blends. I find the old recipes to be a lot more appealing than the newer stuff - however, some new stuff is quite nice as well and I am thinking of bringing some in the future. I also have brought in some prayer oil, called Sri Laxmi Oil, from the State ofTamil Nadu, South India which is a blend of many botanicals; namely rose, jasmine, sandalwood, hibiscus and many other "secret" roots and herbs that I will never be privy to. The end result is amazingly light and smells fantastic and is one of the most popular South Indian oils that I have.
Next time you are at Durga Interiors, check out these fantastic oils and take your olfactory senses for an amazing ride.
