When life and work get a little too overwhelming for Christa Tobey, she takes a deep breath—in her own home. 

The Powder Springs mom of four kids (and four dogs) has a scent warmer constantly heated, pumping out a fragrance that she finds calming.

“It gives me the illusion of clean, even if my house isn’t,” she laughs.  “Takes the stress right out.”

Aromatherapy is credited with doing that for lots of moms. It’s been touted as an aid for easing stress, anxiety and insomnia. 

“I know it makes moms feel good,” Terri Mackey asserts. Mackey peddles “wickless scented wax” in the Powder Springs area through her company, Scentsy.

“We go into businesses, sometimes do parties for individuals,” she adds. As a mom of three, she also finds the aroma waxes relaxing. “My friends introduced me to them, and I loved them, and I thought, ‘I could sell this.’”

Tobey says she’s one of many of Mackey’s repeat customers. “I love it, my mom loves it, my sister does, too, and so does my niece.”

She prefers the wax warmers to candles because there’s no danger from flames, and to potpourri because it’s “too messy,” she says. “And it’s way too floral. I use the lighter, cleaner scents in my bedroom and bathroom.”

Mackey likes the cinnamon. “It puts you in a good mood. And they say cinnamon heightens your awareness.”

Jan Turner makes scented candles by hand at Dixie Delight Candles on Highway 92 in Hiram. She says many moms come in to scout up aromatherapy scents.

“We have 150 fragrances for them to choose from,” Turner explains.

So how does a mom know what to choose?

“I tell them to take a whiff,” Turner replies. “Choose whatever triggers a happy time, a happy thought.”

Or possibly a humorous one. “Our number one seller is called ‘Monkey Farts,’” she states emphatically, holding back a snicker. “Honestly, that’s what the fragrance designer called it. It’s a tropical blend.”

When Turner is looking for her own relaxation, she reaches for the scent called “Rain.”

“It’s light, clean, refreshing. It always takes out the stress for me,” she describes.

Some moms like to mix their aromatherapy with reflexology to unwind at Well Spa Suites on Thornton Road in Lithia Springs. “We get a lot of moms coming back again and again," Manager Paul Martinez says. "Doing aromatherapy with reflexology massage decompresses them."

Mackey says a lot of massage and chiropractic centers like to use her products in their business. “It’s aroma for the senses. It sets the mood.”

Mackey’s personal mood is “apple pie," which she says is "very welcoming.”