Styrax

Description

This tree which can reach 15 meters high is native to Asia Minor and forms forests in Turkey.

The resin of Styrax was one of the most precious substances of the antique world. It was used in fumigations in incense compositions but also eaten, drunk, and pasted for medicinal use. In these days, aromatic matters’ value was due to the knowledge that men had of their wonderful property.

Their beneficial effects were used in the spiritual sphere (ritual use) and in the physical one as medicine. But for the medics of the past, these two dimensions of human beings were so tightly related that they believed one could not heal one without the other. They prepared aromatic receipts that cured the soul as well as the body. Balsams, ointments, baths, incenses and perfumes were ritually prepared according to ancient tradition from the expert hands of medic-perfumers that often hold religious positions.

As the other aromatic gums (Frankincense, Myrrh, Benzoin, etc.), Styrax possesses narcotic, cicatrizing, and expectorating properties and has a particular affinity with the mouth and is indicated in the cure of diseases such as tracheitis, tonsillitis, and gingivitis.

The essential oil is obtained by distillation and possesses the same properties as the resin. It is used in high-class perfumery as a fixative of quality for exclusive perfumes. Sweet and warm, Styrax perfume has an extreme persistence and a discreetly vanilla smell very similar to the fragrance of human skin which makes its aroma very sensual.

Styrax is traditionally used to cure epilepsy, anxiety and the disturbs of the menstrual cycle. In perfumetherapy, Styrax is indicated for stress-related conditions.

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