Led by the nose

Those who know me are aware that I am driven by my sense of smell – pretty much why I became an aromatherapist I guess! 

 I can still vividly remember one of my very first aromatherapy treatments when the therapist was about to work on my head. She poured a few drops of frankincense into her hands and then worked her fingers through my hair.

 I lay there absolutely entranced. I decided there and then that I wanted to work with essential oils, if only for their ability to transport you to an entirely different place and time.

 Now, years on, I still love the way patchouli takes me to a deep mossy forest, basil to green fields, geranium to a warm, sunny clearing and frankincense, straight to a high-altered church with sunlight streaming through stain-glass windows.

 So when I read that there is an app that can wake you up to the smell of bacon I was more than a little intrigued. Not that I’m particularly enamoured by the smell of bacon, but I thought that if they can broadcast this aroma, then virtually any fragrance could be sent down the wireless networks.

 Oscar Mayer, of Kraft Foods Group, says his organisation has created a bacon-scented app for the iPhone. Now, I have yet to experience the smell of cooking bacon wafting through my cell phone but it will only be a matter of time before technology can transmit aromas to our mobile phones. Take a look at the following BBC link: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26526916.

 At Special Little People we are doing our own research into favourite smells. What I would like to know is what smell makes you feel really good, comforted, happy, grumpy, brings back good memories etc. I just need two or three lines describing how your chosen smell makes you feel.

 In recognition of your valued participation in our highly scientific research project ;-} we have six Stars Pillowmist up for grabs for the six most innovative answers! I would like to include some of your responses in one of my newsletters (just first name and city followed by your response) but please let me know if you would rather I didn’t include your details. E-mail me at talk2us@speciallittlepeople.co.uk.

 

The magic of Neroli

 

This might seem like my ‘oil of the month’ rant but I really do feel each season has its own special essential oil, well they do for me at any rate. Whilst in Summer I go for fresh mints and lemons, the grey, damp January weather makes me hanker for orange blossom flowers – that’s when Neroli comes into its own…

Dabbing a few drops on each wrist and climbing into a warm bed is a truly blissful experience in the middle of Winter. No surprise that Neroli helps with insomnia, it happens to be one of the most sedative essential oils around and is perfect for unwinding. It is known to help in cases of shock, alleviates anxiety, soothes and is a general tonic which this time of the year calls for.

I also put a couple of drops in my wheat germ oil for a luxurious facial treat, great for regenerating skin cells and preventing scarring – try it sometime, might be a little expensive but as treats go it is well worth it!!

 

 

What does Christmas smell like?

I know, I bang on about the smell of Christmas every year…. mainly because smell is so evocative and so too is Christmas so it is an obvious link to make really, getting all tousled about how it smells!

Anyway, as I live in Italy I thought it might be a good idea to see if the Italians have the same smell triggers we have in the UK. Well, apparently not quite! My sample group of mum’s over a coffee were a bit surprised by my question. Then they nodded and agreed, in no particular order, that the sweet loftiness of panettone, the cloves in the vin brulee (mulled wine), the sharp tang of blood red oranges…. no one mentioned the pine of their Christmas tree but then most have fake trees. I asked a German friend and she said those soft ginger biscuits you get at Christmas. My kiwi friends said the smell of surf, yep so not too helpful there!

The point is that we all have our own individual bundle of smell association for Christmas. They depend on where we grew up, what we ate, the climate we lived in, our childhood memories of that magical day…

So my Christmas Spirit – lovingly blended and bottled with frankincense and bay, pine and bitter orange, is of course my take on what Christmas should smell like…. my Swiss friends seem to like it lots although one mentioned it needed some extra snow flakes in it, oh and someone said candle wax… that’s what happens when you try to take a poll and make sense of the results!

Wherever you are I hope you are enjoying the run up to Christmas, and may your homes be filled with wonderful scents and lots of love!

Taking a photograph of smell

As those of you who follow this blog will know, I am a total addict to great smells – I use them to cheer me up, clear my head and I love using scent to revive old cherished memories. Some time ago I found myself standing next to a total stranger whose smell reminded me of a long lost friend. I could feel my nostrils flaring as I stood nearby – weird but true!

So you can imagine how intrigued I am by the innovation of a camera that captures scent – am definitely going to have a go at this – although this first version sounds a little clunky it is that whole concept that you can capture smell and re-create it – wow!

All sorts of genius things could be achieved. Here are a few off the top of my head…

Imagine capturing the scent of your baby, a unique mixture which disappears once they are trotting about.

Sealing the scent of different seasons…. imagine the smell of sun-kissed hay on a freezing cold night, wood smoke and chestnuts in the blazing heat….

My kids have grown up nabbing various items of my clothes as ‘smell mementos’ and as a kid myself the smell of my favourite soft toy was always erased after being washed – it took ages to get it back… I could have sealed it for posterity!!

Releasing our inner youth

 No doubt many of you have already watched this film, Evian’s ad which reminds us all of our inner child, or in this case baby. If you haven’t, go watch it now, it will bring out a great big grin I assure you!

And if a great big grin is what you are after might I suggest checking this guy out – not for a  laugh mind you, much more for great insights.

OK so this blog is more about links than about me but I have been hard at work blending my formulas for a whole bunch of new countries – yes we are now in Switzerland (St Moritz to be precise which is quite different from being in Dudley I can assure you!!!) and our next moves are the US and Hong Kong…. travel and essential oils – a perfect combination – all the more so because I am also working on blends to take on long haul flights, one to soothe and relax and one to revive you when you get to the other side – so back off to blend, enjoy those films!

Kids and Social Media

 

I know – a bit of a step away from ‘kids and aromatherapy’ however this is an interesting debate – how kids need to be made aware of their digital brand or footprint – check this out http://www.fastcompany.com/3010034/the-truth-about-kids-and-social-media

Because theirs will indeed be the first generation which will have an established digital footprint even before they consider how to put together a CV… in fact it begs the question, will a CV even be necessary?

Some might argue that this is a stretch too far – let them be kids – but the impact on their future could be very positive (if properly managed) and pretty dire if ignored. By the time they have kids of their own they will of course be able to guide the younger generation as how best to manage their online profile, in fact they may even run this as part of the school curriculum, maths, geography, French and Digital Footprint. But for now they have to learn the hard way or hope for a social media guru-like adult who takes them under their wing.

Which takes me to yet another issue I believe the school system needs to address – re-shuffling what is taught to add emphasis on strategising and problem solving instead of learning battle dates… after all they can look those up on Google if need be. They now need to learn how to best utilise all this information they have at their fingertips, that and manage their fledgling brands!!

The smell of things to come….

I love this article, I read and re-read it, because, effectively I could have written it – or more to the point what Mark Signorin is doing by creating emotions for brands via smells is exactly what I do but for therapeutic reasons.

Since I first became an aromatherapist I have been intrigued and not a little awed by how our sense of smell can transport us to all sorts of different places emotionally.

No need for a time machine, an evocative smell can zip you back in time with one whiff. Feeling a tad blue? reach for the lemon oil.  A little anxious? how about some geranium.

According to one study, as humans we remember 35% of what we smell, whereas we memorise only 5% of what we see, 2% of what we hear and a mere 1% of what we touch. Our brain can distinguish 300 colours, recognise 10,000 scents and actually reach some 200,000 scents with a little practice.

So there is no doubt that if brands have personalities, followers and fans they should also have a smell, otherwise they are not fully dimentional. You can pick up a beautiful pack, run your fingers over a satin finished bottle and admire a vibrant lime green, but if there is no smell something is lacking, even if you don’t quite realise it. Until you can actually smell it you can’t quite tell how gorgeous, provocative, sensuous or edgy this brand is.

I am that person who loves the smell of new books – my Kindle just does not deliver on that front. I hate the smell of cheap clothes shops, burnt rubber. I love the smell of airports, yes there is a smell to travel – although train stations haven’t quite got the same exciting smell.

So I agree, if a hotel lobby smells stale I won’t linger. I can’t stand working out in gyms because of the smell of sweat and I wrote a blog once about the smelliest hotel I ever had the misfortune of staying at in Dudley – now that really was NOT a pleasant sensory experience!!

 

Caring for the carers

I recently came across a really wonderful project which I found very inspiring – the impossible orchestra is an Australian project which was set up to highlight the great, often unsung work the carers.

Watching this makes you realise the amazing care and dedication, not to mention non stop pressure some people have to face on a daily basis. No looking forward to a weekend off, or a holiday and all in the name of love.

Caring is something which may fall upon us to undertake, occasionally during our lives, but  if we had to become a full-time carer, mostly through no choice of our own, must put everything into a whole new context. A fitting tribute to what they do!

 

 

Hay Fever Season get’s up your nose!

Finally, finally we have left Winter far behind, its long cold white fingers can’t reach us now – ha – but just when I thought we might have escaped from the seasonal misery of hay fever – due to Spring being so late – both George and I were struck sidewise – sneezing like mad, eyes running, wheezing and coughing – dang!

We seem to be reflections of each other when it comes to what they call over here ‘allergia’ – what triggers it off, some random grass is early in the season and thankfully leaves us alone by mid May but in the meantime, we suffer.

However we have a whole range of natural remedies which offer relief – for a start, local raw honey helps with everything but especially the coughing fits. Fresh thyme tea – great clumps of this wonderful herb grow in our garden – is soothing and ribes nigrum – tincture of blackcurrant – is a natural antihistamine which instantly perks you up.

I use my Snuffles blend everywhere, it clears the airways.  The peppermint seems to cut through that cloying pollen overload and the rosewood is one of my favourites at this time of the year, it lifts the mood which can feel a tad foggy due to the body fighting the allergies and is a mild analgesic and antiseptic as well as a stimulant.

Whilst we have an entire cupboard dedicated to all our remedies and they certainly help, we can’t wait until the day we don’t need to dose ourselves up to the eyeballs and then thoroughly get into enjoying ‘la Bella Stagione’!

Lemon fresh

As I contemplated the pile of clothes on my bed yesterday (I was clearing my wardrobe – Spring being in the air) it brought to mind an article I wrote years ago about revitalising ones wardrobe.

I stood admiring my handywork – all neat and tidy but as I explained in my article, the real trick to re-energise the space is to lavishly splash some fresh essential oils in the clothes.  It is like throwing in a great gust of fresh mountain air and lasts for days…

As I stood there deciding which oil would fit the bill, I reached out for the lemon – pure essence of sunshine. If ever there was an oil that works for any season it is lemon. Vibrant, zingy, fresh and sparkling it is the perfect oil to bring cheer and give your tidied wardrobe a lift!