Treatments We Love: Aroma Aura Reading with Michelle Roques O'Neil
Jo (Fairley) visits holistic supertherapist Michelle Roques O’Neil for a rather different ‘perfume prescription’ – and a therapy session…
As Jo writes: ‘Michelle and I go back a long way. She’s in my pantheon of greatest healers and therapists, actually. The first time I experienced a treatment with her, when I “came to” – and honestly it felt like that – I was facing the other way in the room to the way I thought, in my head. It was literally like my molecules had been rearranged! And her products have always been go-tos for me, in their different incarnations (most recently, Quantum Alchemy, which we chose for Beauty Bible as a Fab Find of the Week, here.
So, when she invited me for an Aroma Aura Reading, a new treatment offering, I almost bit her hand off (although that would not have been in the holistic spirit of this experience). This ‘Experience’ (as it’s categorised on Michelle’s website) happens in a soothing, dark-ish room in her studio just near Golborne Road, in Portobello. (My old home patch.)
It's quite a therapy session, which started with me explaining to Michelle my current ‘state’ (driven, positive, but a bit frantic, creating a magazine and a website, On The Scent, from scratch in a very short space of time). Deeply intuitive, in an almost uncanny way, Michelle then gave me an array of unlabelled essential oils to smell and ponder over. As she describes it, ‘In a blind exploration, engage with thought-provoking questions and unlock intuitive insights that illuminate what your body and soul need to find better balance and alignment.’ And boy, did I need a bit of balance and alignment.
The process involves smelling a range of high-frequency essential oils, and conveying to her what they bring up, as you smell. Some felt soothing; others energising. A few I really didn’t like (and that’s normal). It’s really interesting doing this blind (and I had to focus hard on the emotions and feelings, rather than using my rational brain to try to identify what I was smelling, which is a bit of an occupational hazard if you write about perfume, as I do).
As you chat, sniff, share your feelings – all the while, Michelle observing your reactions to the oils – she’s identifying which she will want to blend into a treatment oil. Michelle also shares your Life Path number (she is a numerologist, one of many strings to her holistic bow); mine is 11/2, known as the ‘Psychic Master’. In all, the session lasted over an hour, with Michelle sharing some spookily accurate insights along the way.
And then, the anticipation. About 10 days later, my anointing oil turned up, designed to be massaged into the pulse and chakra points and b-r-e-a-t-h-e-d, before bedtime. The oil – blended at 10% essential oil strength, for potency – arrived with lifestyle advice (again, spot-on, identifying where I carry stress), prescribing something I know I ought to do: ‘Try to keep a better energy balance, as you might choose to push through when your body and soul need more time and space. Learn to find your natural flow and pace.’
As for the fragrance Aura Oil itself, I’m going to share what the ‘prescription’ says…
Key words: Expression, Creativity, Sensitivity, Confidence
Fragrance story
Purpose: To support, refresh and energise your vitality and optimism, a delicate balance of liberation and creativity fused with gentle grounding.
Soul Star: Blood orange, cardamom, neroli, for passion, gentle grounding, calmness, flow, balance.
Heart Gate: Rose geranium, Arabian jasmine, rose otto, helichrysum – for joy,
release, playful sensuality and liberation.
Earth Base: Patchouli, frankincense, angelica root, ambrette seed absolute – for groundedness, faith in oneself, emotional stability, rebirth, promoting sensuality.
There’s an ‘anointing ritual’ and a mantra to follow as you apply it to the pulse points – and I have to admit, I didn’t always obey instructions, due to sheer knackeredness at this busy time. But used diligently, albeit maybe not with the mantra, I have still felt the massive benefits of this: clarity, sense of purpose, more balanced energy, bags of confidence, and a great sense of creatiivty, as Michelle intended.
It's always uncanny, for me, how Michelle has always nailed exactly what I need at any given time. I’d travel a lot further than the Portobello Road for one of her sessions – and I’m grateful for this oil, to get me through a challenging but exciting time.
Also… I LOVE the smell!
An extraordinary experience, with an extraordinary therapist – truly a great therapy session, which I can’t recommend too highly. Rattle that piggy bank – or save up.
Aroma Aura Reading/£295 – for more info and to book, click here
