The wonderous and multiuse grass known as Khus or Vetiver has been a boon to humankind for many centuries and is proving equally useful today as it was in the past. There are several organizations devoted to promoting, propagating and planting this precious gift of nature in many parts of the world, first and foremost as an excellent means of erosion control but for many other reasons as well. Did you know it was Napoleon's favorite scent?

Vetiver has been known in India from the ancient times. It has been considered an aristocratic perfume. Copper plate inscriptions listing the perfume as one of the articles used by royalty have been discovered. In Ayurvedic literature it is called 'Suganti-mulaka' (means Sweet swelling) and 'Sita-mulaka' (having cool roots). All over India, the roots are made into scented mats, fans,ornamental baskets and many other small articles. Khus Vetiveris also burnt as a fumigatory.

About Vetiver, my good friend and EO Savant Christopher writes me: "I had the good fortune to travel in the company of Dr. Mohan Mashewari, one of the foremost researchers in the aromatic components, several years ago in the state of Uttar Pradesh. As we traveled along a small country road, he instructed the driver to pull off to the side where wild vetiver was growing in great abundance near a railroad track. There he proceeded to pull out of the ground a small clump of wild vetiver grass with roots intact as it grows in North India. It was my first introduction with the living plant.

"Looking at this humble denizen of the plant world one could hardly conceive that in its roots was to be found an aromatic elixir that is the very essence of mystery and depth. Hundreds of tiny fibrous rootlets radiate off the main stalk and thread their way through the soil in which it lives. These tiny rootlets somehow absorb from the soil in which they dwell components which they then convert into the molecules producing the volatile oil which is dearly loved by people in India and many other parts of the world. Because of the intimate contact between the earth and these fibrous rootlets, one will find that at every place this plant grows oils distilled from them will be unique and special. The plants take on the fragrance of the earth in which they grow. It is such a complex material that those who have devoted their lives to quality control analysis are sometimes baffled as to what to say about it. The list of components that have been identified exceed 200 and there are many trace ones that have yet to be discovered.

"And of greatest importance is the emotional and psychological effect the essence has upon the heart and mind. It is so complex in its profile that one cannot properly explore it in a session of 1 hour. The attention needs to be brought into the sphere of its redolent radiation again and again for the full effect to penetrate into ones being.

"This oil contains within itself the mysteries of the earth and while drawing ones attention to that zone, also has a unique exhilaring effect that points one towards the stars."

Our woody Khus Vetiver Shower Bar with 33% Nourishing Shea and its companion Extra Shot of Moisture Body Balm would make the perfect Father's Day Duo for the man who enjoys scent ...