Welcome to my letter V post in the #AtoZChallenge. My theme for this year is aromatherapy and today, I want to discuss the oil I most recently purchased: vetiver essential oil.
Vetiver essential oil is derived through steam distillation of the aromatic roots of the Vetiveria zizanoides plant. The aroma is strong on its own and can be described as woody, earthy, herbaceous, smoky and spicy. Vetiver essential oil has potent emotional balancing properties and is, for this reason, also referred to as the oil of tranquility. It is also sometimes called the fragrance of the soil.
Almost the entire vetiver plant has been used since ancient times. For example, in tropical countries, people used to make coolers from vetiver plants. They were woven together with coir ropes to make grass mats, which were soaked in water and then hung in doorways. That way, the warm air from outdoors would be cooled.
Since the Middle Ages, vetiver essential oil has been used for its scent. Its deep and woody aroma, its low evaporation rate and its sollubility in alcohol make it great for use in perfumes. Opium by Yves Saint Laurent, Miss Dior by Dior and Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel are some well-known perfumes that incorporate vetiver. Vetiver is also used in many if not most men’s fragrances.
Vetiver essential oil can be used on the skin to treat acne, reduce the appearance of scars, help with wound healing and lessen the effects of aging on the skin. Its maximum usage rate in a carrier oil is 15%.
However, it is even more useful in a diffuser blend. It has warming, grounding, balancing and sedative properties. It is also thought to be an aphrodisiac scent.
Vetiver essential oil blends well with many other oils, including sandalwood, patchouli, lavender and clary sage. If you happen to have rose absolute, this is also a great aphrodisiac to be used with vetiver essential oil. Some sources recommend using as many as five drops of vetiver essential oil in your blends of ten drops. However, AromaWeb’s author recommends using the oil sparingly in blends to prevent it overpowering other scents. I agree with that.
A Multitude of Musings 
That one sounds pretty interesting, we don’t remember that one.
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It’s certainly an interesting oil. I didn’t know much about it until researching for this post either.
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I love how you describe vetiver oil. I think I need to give it a try. When I was a chemistry teacher, my students sometimes extracted essential oils from several different plants, herbs, and spices.
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Oh wow, really? That sounds awesome, your students extracting essential oils. As for vetiver essential oil, I didn’t think I’d like it at first, but I do.
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I have not heard of this oil before. Thank you for sharing this.
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You’re welcome and thanks for commenting. 🙂
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I love the smell of vettiver… did you know the word vetiver has Tamil roots; and I recall one of my aunt used vetiver mats for cooling off their porch on hot summer days .. they hung vetiver mats like curtains off their porches and sprinkled water over it.. the effect was amazing – smelled wonderful and cooled even more so…
Lady In Read Writes
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Thanks for sharing this. No, I had no idea about the roots of the word vetiver.
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it sounds lovely, is it expensive?
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It is probably in the middle range cost-wise. I bought one 10mg bottle, which was about €15, but that bottle came with a rubber pipette dropper, which gets dirty easily. I think I’ll look into buying it from another store where it’s more expensive.
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