Suddenly, it’s all about ‘the new aromatherapy’. Essential oils are shaking off the last vestiges of their (albeit completely undeserved, we think) hippie-dippyish, Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady image – and becoming powerful tools for modern life, to tackle real, serious woes like lack of sleep, stress, the appalling concentration span which is the knock-on effect of too much looking at our screens/being distracted by social media.

We’re already massive fans of the new-generation aromatherapy collection Ilāpothecary. And now, in groovy Shoreditch, Anatomē has opened as a one-stop destination for wellbeing with some of the most potent blends we’ve ever inhaled. It’s the ‘baby’ of Brendan Murdock (of Murdock London barbers/grooming/fragrance fame), who enlisted the help of Anastasia Brozler, ‘perfume creator’ of countless fine fragrances. As a result, the smells are quite something – and we’ve been experiencing some major (welcome) mood-shifts since we paid a visit to Anatomē’s Charlotte Road store recently.

They take health very seriously at Anatomē. (Say it ‘anatomy’, BTW.) You can book an appointment with a nutritionist, stock up on supplements and get a personalised aromatherapy consultation, which we can’t recommend too highly.  

The therapeutic blends are very clever and very, very effective. Each comes with a card describing the ‘olfactory pyramid’ (just like a fragrance), and the specific points that are best for application. (Not a whisper of the word ‘chakras’ here, by the way.)

There are six blends, in all. Life being what it is (stress-y, with too-much-to-do-in-too-little-time – not to mention quite scary on a global scale at times), you can look at the list and think you need the lot: Recovery + Sleep, Energy + Strength, Balance + Stability, Focus + Concentration, Support + Protection. There are rollerballs, small dropper bottles and larger sizes for sloshing in the bath.

Here’s what we’re especially loving.

Recovery + Sleep – Classic Essential Elixir Oil/£25 for 30ml. A wonder-worker. Honestly – helping you to switch off when your mind’s racing. (We like the recommendation to apply to brows and earlobes). Key oils: Provence lavender, Dalmatian sage, Moroccan rose absolute, German chamomile and frankincense.

Focus + Concentration Essential Elixir Oil/£15 for 10ml. We like this in rollerball format for keeping handy, by the keyboard. Great for calming the monkey mind, with oils of holy basil, ginger root and the amazing Aussie franconia oil, along with Russian eucalyptus, thyme, clary sage, black pepper, grounded with frankincense. (Certain oils appear quite often in the range – frankincense being one of them. And since we love, love, love frankincense, couldn’t be happier about that.)

Energy + Strength Essential Elixir Oil/£30 for 30ml. A great Thursday-and-Friday oil, for when you’re got to be a Duracell bunny through till the weekend. Key oils (there are over 22 in the blend altogether) include black pepper, English peppermint, grapefruit, camphor and May Chang. (Anatomē tell us that it’s also good for willpower.)

Ideally, you’ll get in there for a consultation and sniff them out for yourself. If not? Everything’s on-line, on their very contemporary, not-a-windchime-in-sight website.

£15-65 – buy here

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