It seems that aroma therapy has more scientific support.

Aromatherapy, the use of fragrant plant oils to improve mood and health, has become a popular form of alternative medicine today. And linalool is one of the most widely used substances to soothe away emotional stress. Until now, however, linalool's exact effects on the body have been a deep mystery.

The scientists exposed lab rats to stressful conditions while inhaling and not inhaling linalool. Linalool returned stress-elevated levels of neutrophils and lymphocytes — key parts of the immune system — to near-normal levels. Inhaling linalool also reduced the activity of more than 100 genes that go into overdrive in stressful situations. The findings could form the basis of new blood tests for identifying fragrances that can soothe stress, the researchers say.

A brief scan reveals that there are two main types (enantiomeric forms) of linalool that can loosely be divided into those that are minty and those that are citrusy. I come into daily contact with many of these scents since I grow lemons and oranges in the yard and fight invasive mints and lavenders in my pastures. No wonder there's no stress response, I'm being dosed with anti-stress aromas all the time.

It's interesting that linalool is also used as a pesticide against fleas, roaches etc. and that its oxidized by-product can be an allergen. Keep the lid on your scented hygiene products. The invasive minty weeds that I fight don't seem to suffer much predation. That's one of the reasons that they are so invasive: no one wants to eat them. The pesticides that they exude can explain some of that. I've also noticed that my hands get itchy and sometimes get a rash when I've been too exuberant in my mint attacks. The allergens in the oxidized form might explain that.