How to have a scented house To relax within the four walls of the home
The designer Ilse Crawford once said: "Home is our emotional heartland". This is true, because within our own four walls we are often completely ourselves and can let go of the masks we wear at work or in public in order to cope with everyday life. In recent years, we have rediscovered its importance through the experience of lockdown. We've learned to make the most of every inch, coordinating colours, choosing furniture and accessories, turning our tiny bathroom into a spa and the kitchen into a chef's realm, but have we ever thought about olfactory decor?
The power of aromatherapy
The environment we live in should evoke pleasant odours. Not only because it makes it more inviting, but also because scents are able to trigger positive feelings in us, emphasise moods and evoke memories that can help us relax and feel safe. This makes perfect sense when you consider that the sense of smell is more closely linked to emotions and feelings than any other sense. Olfactory stimuli have a direct influence on the limbic system, where the amygdala, the gland responsible for emotions, and the hippocampus, the gland responsible for forming memories, are located. When we smell, it triggers an emotional response that allows us to virtually travel between moments in the past and can also determine our perception of the present. The scent of vanilla, for example, has an antidepressant and anxiety-relieving effect, probably because its sweet notes are reminiscent of the scent of breast milk, and that of cinnamon, with its wintery note that smells of Christmas, combats fatigue and warms the heart, puts you in a good mood and dispels stress.
Every room should have its own scent
Candles, incense sticks, wooden sticks, diffusers and scented sprays should be selected and distributed in each room according to the function of the room and the taste and sensitivity of the person occupying the room. For the entrance area, it is best to choose something not too intrusive, such as diffusers with citrusy and fresh sticks. For the kitchen, clove, cinnamon, leafy green, jasmine, apple and orange blossom candles are suitable, but if you're using it as a study, opt for eucalyptus and mint scents to channel creative energy. The bathroom needs to cover unpleasant odours and smell fresh, but you can also turn it into a little spa with gourmand candles and sprays of vanilla, coconut, rose, ylang-ylang or icing sugar. Finally, the bedroom should be relaxing and you can make it sleep-inducing with lavender, rose and geranium scents.
How to fragrance your home with Aesop
Aesop offers a range of practical and pleasant fragrance formulas that are perfect for olfactorising any room in the house. The fragrances are varied, as is the format of their diffusion. There are wooden incense sticks, complete with designer incense holders that wouldn't disfigure even the coolest house in the world, as well as intoxicating candles and sprays.
Aesop Aromatique Candles
Each of the three Aesop Aromatique room sprays is named after a place in ancient Greece. The collection includes the Cythera Aromatique Room Spray with notes of geranium, incense and patchouli, the Olous Aromatique Room Spray, a fresh scent with galbanum, grapefruit and jasmine, and the Istros Aromatique Room Spray with a blend of pink pepper, lavender and a hint of tobacco.
