OK, ok: there are worse addictions than cream, right? I’m not even talking ICE cream, or WHIPPED cream. I mean cream for your skin. I mean cream for your legs, arms, face, scalp, lips, and every other bit of myself. I have never once made it through the first floor of Saks without succumbing; I drift toward the Whole Body area at Whole Foods like a moth to wool socks. For me a product must be effective. It must smell nice. It must feel great.

The more I look into this, the more I value pure healthy ingredients. I love Dr. Hauschka. I love Weleda (Skin Food, especially: the name says it all). I love Aubrey. I love Jurlique (even though they changed their packaging and apparently got rid of the divine oatmeal cleanser scrub in a tube, grrr). And now you know it isn’t only cream. I fall for pretty much anything that Origins puts in a tub, especially now that they have Dr. Weil on board with his magic mushrooms. Sometimes I get so carried away that I try something that isn’t 100% all-natural and organic, like Skinceuticals, but there really is no reason to do that.

Which brings me to Leyla Bringas and Lunaroma.

Lunaroma is a tiny shop on an unassuming corner in Burlington, Vermont that can turn your entire life around. Leyla Bringas, owner and holistic aromatherapist healer, is an unflappable expert with a solution for almost any complaint, and she delivers with the customer’s scent preferences in mind. Think orange, jasmine, rose, peppermint, lemon verbena.

Dry skin? Oily skin? Acne? Insomnia? Cramps? New job? Saggy chin? Portfolio crashing? Baby coming?

“Let’s say you have a high-level of stress,” she explains. “Maybe you tell me you have trouble sleeping, you’re working fifteen-hour days, your muscles are tight, you have to drive an hour each way to work, and you’re so revved up it’s hard for you to unwind. So I might come up with a combination of ingredients and products designed to be calming, pain relievers, good for headaches, for skin problems, for boosting immune system. Something to help you sleep. All natural.”

The headache blend works like magic on me. What’s in it? “It’s made up of analgesics and anti-inflammatories,” Leyla says.  “The blend contains a combination of Lavender, Chamomile, Peppermint and other essential oils containing those qualities.  It is a favorite amongst people afflicted with headaches and sinus headaches the like.”

Why are Lunaroma products are so powerful?

“The trouble with synthetic products is that they’re made to be always the same.  The problem is they’re predictable. Well, the bacteria and viruses are made to be resilient as well. With essential oils, plant materials are never exactly the same. You know, during the time of the bubonic plague, the only people who were not affected were the perfumers. They were the ones who were exposed to the pure essential oils on a regular basis.

“I founded Lunaroma to make healthy products. The world of aromatherapy is all about concentrated herbal and aromatic compounds. These pure ingredients are beautiful, precious, luxurious – and they’re also practical. After all, it’s what plants use for their own health, their own immune systems.”

New Lunaroma store in Maui

Anything else?

“You can clean your house with essential oils, too. The only cleaning product I use that I don’t make is Clorox. Sometimes I like to use 100% Clorox diluted for making sure the bathroom tile is really clean. I use baking soda, vinegar. A while back the Swifter came out. Remember it? It was a wet mop. It had some liquid in it. Dogs were dying. Most of these cleaning agents are making your environment more dangerous, not less.”

In closing?

“When I take a shower, I don’t want to have to feel bad about what’s going down the drain. I love working with these ingredients. I am convinced that just being around them makes you healthier.”

Leyla and her daughter

For more information, go to www.lunaroma.com, email Leyla at info@Lunaroma.com, or call the shop at (802) 951-9714.

Next week: Lauren’s product review