The Power of Scents
With so many scents to choose from, discovering the ones that match your vibe can be a life changing endeavour. Smells ranging from florals to musk, vanilla to ocean breeze, even more earthy tones like amberwood and sage, are used depending on the occasion, time of day, one's sensitivity levels and scent preferences (what agrees with your nose and brain chemistry).
Adding scents to your daily ritual or morning routine can add a refreshing boost to your day and release endorphins. Scents have the ability to activate memory, calm our nervous system and pull us into the present moment. Smelling good can also have you feeling good, leading to higher levels of self-confidence, and social activity.
To get a better sense of how to understand scents (ha!), referring to the widely used Fragrance Wheel can break down exactly what you're smelling and which category the scent belongs to. Created by fragrance expert Michael Edwards, the wheel organizes scents into four major categories: floral, oriental, woody, and fresh. Each category is then broken down into subcategories that further breaks down scent characteristics and more specifically the notes within it.
Exploring different scents and learning the ones that you're drawn to, is a fun activity to do solo or with the people you love. Lancome Paris provides a helpful guide on fragrance shopping, and how to find your signature scent. First, included is to start by testing different types of fragrances. In practice, force yourself beyond your comfort zone, don't shy away from scents you don't think you'll like, and explore a wide-range of scent profiles beyond what you're used to. Next, pay close attention to the ones that do appeal to you. If you find a scent you like, compare it against the fragrance wheel to see what other scents fall underneath the category. This can expand your preferences beyond what is solely in front of you and potentially force you out your comfort zone. You'll also want to make sure that you don't try too many scents at one time (recommended no more than 3), to avoid overwhelming your nose and mixing different profiles which can cause the scents to dillute. And most importantly test fragrances on your skin! Skip the paper provided, this will allow you to better gauge how the scent matches your body chemistry.
For a practical use of scents beyond everyday wear, scents are also a great tool to integrate into a wellness practice like a mindfulness and/or mediation session, a wind-down routine or even your bath/shower routine. For a meditation practice, a commonly used scent is incense, a scent stick that includes material that's activated when burnt or lit, causing a steady release of smoke into the air. Incenses also have spiritual and religious associations, with many world religions and cultures using it during times of prayer or during healing and/or cleansing rituals. You can often find incenses categorized by its ingredient properties, instructing users to spark certain sticks depending on the mood or feeling they'd like to create within themselves. For example, if you would like to gain greater clarity, plants such as sandlewood and rosemary are thought to help improve mental concentration. In the case of a bath routine, scented washes can produce a similar effect, by activating different neurological pathways in the brain to help you create a desired feeling. Lastly, a wind-down routine that may include candles, drinking tea, or a stretch routine can benefit from incorporating scents and even food and beverages that contain chamomile, peppermint and lavender.
Whether it my be adding scents directly to your skin or clothing that allows you to carry the smell with you, or including it in your wellness routines, discovering their therapeutic benefits can open up a world of possibilities.