Cate's+ISP

Aromatherapy is the practice of using oils extracted from plants to promote health, both physically and psychologically (University of Maryland Medical Center website). It makes use of essential oils, which are concentrated extracts taken from the leaves, roots, seeds, or flowers of plants ( University of Maryland Medical Center website ). It is a remedy many people swear by, and have for almost six thousand years ( University of Maryland Medical Center website). But is it really as effective as it’s made out to be? The exact science of aromatherapy is a combination of chemistry and psychology. Aromatherapy candles are also an established part of the candlemaking and scent industry. The question I’ll be answering is really whether people perceive aromatherapy candles to be effective. I plan to find a single aromatherapy candle that’s meant to relax, likely from Yankee Candle (because that is the place of all candle magic), and an unscented candle. I’ll take the test subject and sit them cross-legged on the floor with their back against the wall. They will read a list of forty-three emotion-related adjectives and circle all that describe their current mood. Then, I will light the candle (without telling them which candle it is) and have them sit with their eyes closed while it’s burning for five minutes. After that time is up, I will extinguish the candle and have them circle their mood adjectives again. I will record the words they circle, and whether it indicates that they were relaxed by the scent. This should effectively show any correlation between the aromatherapy itself and relaxation. My personal belief is that the aromatherapy candle will have no more effect on the test subjects than the unscented candle.

Materials: -Aromatherapy candle -Unscented candle -Room free of other stimuli -Test subjects -List of adjectives

Results: The results we got were fairly close. While they both improved by a bit, if you look at the before percentages you will see that the ones exposed to the aromatherapy candle improved slightly more. However, this was still very close. From the results it is hard to say which one truely worked better.

(unscented) ||= 67% ||= 33% || (aromatherapy) ||= 66% ||= 34% || (aromatherapy) ||= 76% ||= 24% ||
 * =  ||= Positive Emotions ||= Negative Emotions ||
 * = Before
 * = Before
 * = After(unscented) ||= 74% ||= 26% ||
 * = After

(Try using more than just a candle. Find some insense or something like that to burn too. Nathaniel Sheets) What sents will you use? Emily Blicharz Are you going to use similiar scents or completely different scents? Ex: Peppermint and say.. Birthday Cake. (Hannah Heinz) Where are you getting the candle from?(Sarah Baer) -Cate Reem