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The definition accepted in most aromatherapy schools is, "Aromatherapy is the therapeutic use of essential oils." Essential oils are defined as volatile parts of aromatic plants extracted by steam distillation or expression.

Although one of the lesser-known complementary therapies in the United States, aromatherapy has been accepted as part of nursing care in the United Kingdom. British nurses are insured by the Royal College of Nurses to use essential oils (both topically and inhaled) for improved patient care, provided their hospital approves and without a doctor's specific instructions. Further, some hospitals also allow non-nursing personnel to use essential oils. Aromatherapy is also used by nurses in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, and Switzerland, and is becoming popular in the United States. More than 30 states allow the use of some complementary therapies (including aromatherapy) as a part of holistic nursing care.

Some essential oils were listed for oral use by the American Medical Association in Useful Drugs, published in 1930.Although Price and Price suggest that aromatherapy first made its appearance in the United States in the 1980s, aromatherapy massage oils were produced and sold nationwide from 1967 and early aromatherapy courses were established during the mid-1970s. However, since the 1980s, the popularity of aromatherapy as a complementary therapy has escalated. Aromatherapy products have become big business, as a trip to natural foods and herb products stores will confirm.

The perfume and the food and drink industries funded much of the research into natural essential oils. Essential oils were originally used in the perfumery before they were deemed too expensive and replaced with synthetic aromatic compounds. Essential oils were also used to add taste and smell to consumables until they, too, were replaced with synthetic compounds. The vast array of low-cost aromatherapy products on the market usually contains inexpensive synthetic fragrances, as a glance at the label will verify. It must be emphasized that most aromatherapists contend that synthetic aromatic compounds are not part of aromatherapy, and such compounds have been linked to the growing emergence of fragrance sensitivity.