Vetiver

botanical name: /vetiveria/ /zizanioides/

also known as /“Khus”/

Element: Earth

Voudoun: War oil

Perfumery: Woody base note


Vetiver is one of my favourite oils. It makes me feel safe and strong and sexy, all in one.

I was first introduced to me by a lady called Zsuzsannah Budapest. I was lucky enough to be employed to translate for her at a huge New Age festival in Eastern Germany, shortly after the wall came down...She was preparing for a press interview, and dabbed it behind her ears, explaining as she did it that vetivert oil is known as “War Oil” in Voudoun traditions because it gives you courage and strength: ” As Witches we need all the help we can get, esp. during interviews with the mainstream male press!” The interview was a rousing success, the highlight being when this delightful elderly franciscan monk made an official apology to Zsuzsannah as a representative of all female Witches, for the atrocities done to so many by the Christian church during the middle ages....

Now how much this was due to the effects of the Vetivert Oil I don't know...but it taught me a valuable lesson about the power of scent, and Vetivert in particular.

I use it a lot nowadays for female friends going through menopause, a time when you really need to boost your strength and courage as an ageing woman in a Barbie Doll dominated world....also because it seems to have a boosting effect on flagging female hormones!

Vetivert is one of the strongest Earth Element Oils that I know. It is incredibly grounding and very useful for anyone who is feeling insecure and “ungrounded” in any way. And it also has a bit of a reputation as an aphrodisiac.

In Ayurvedic medicine it is known as the “Oil of tranquility” and used in the form of pastes on the body for fevers and other heat conditions such as rheumatism and arthritis as it is anti-inflammatory and calming to the mind.

In Aromatherapy it is used for any anxiety and depression, as well as in skin treatments, for mature and also for oily skins as it is mildly astringent.

The oil is extracted from it long roots of the tropical grass /vetiveria/ /zizanioides/ , by steam distillation. The grass grows in an amazingly wide range of countries, and has turned out to be one of most useful plants Mother Nature has given us. It has been used for centuries to weave baskets and other useful things, but it's caused a great flurry of excitement in the conservation world of recent years due to it's wonderful uses in soil conservation.

Vetivert has a different growth pattern to most other grasses, in that it's roots grow deep and down rather than forming shallow mats.

The average Vetivert plant will grow 1.5 metres high, and develop a root system with 2 to 4 metres of depth!

This coupled with the fact that it will grow in a wide variety of climates with very little water, in the poorest of soils, makes it an absolute God- send to a planet dealing with a widespread loss of top soil. (For those of you who haven't heard about this, conventional agriculture and timber harvesting have robbed Mother Earth of vast forests the world over that used to hold the nourishing topsoil in place, upon which the lives of most other plant species rely. Australia is one of the hardest hit, as it's topsoil layer is quite thin and, like most tropical soils, the actual “store” is in the dense multistoried growth of the the old forests. Take away that growth and you have but a delicate layer of soil left that is then dried out by our harsh sun and blown away but the wind).

Vetivert is now being used in low cost soil conservation and regrowth projects worldwide, and excitingly, it is also showing promise in natural water purification! (see http://www.vetiver.org/)


In Perfumery it is a very versatile base note. It has a woody earthy scent that blends beautifully with a wide range of other base notes such as patchouli and cedarwood, where it creates a wonderful canvas to carry a many florals and is a lovely counteraccent to citrus topnotes too!
We use it in our "Love Potion" perfume combined with Blood Orange and Jasmine where it gives a lovely deep Earthiness and a sexy raw edge that anchors them perfectly!

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