DISCOVER SCENT MEMORIES
How scent, emotions and memory are deliciously intertwined…
I make candles and as I’m sure that you can imagine, it’s a teeny, tiny hop, skip and jump to scent. As I learnt to master the craft of candle making (or Chandler if you are so inclined!) I started to take a journey in scent. The more that I learnt the more that I’ve come to realise that this is a whole new world, mixed in psychology, the senses, our history and so much more. I am unapologetically hooked!
I’m not the only one either, with 3.6M posts on #scent, 9.7M posts on #fragrance it would seem that there are a lot of us out there with it on our mind.
THE HISTORY OF FRAGRANCE
In fact, our obsession goes back to our earliest of societies, it is thought to have originated around 4,000 years ago with the Mesopotamians with incense. In fact the name perfume comes from the Latin “per fumum,” meaning ‘through smoke.’ You need only to step foot into any museum to see our early tributes to scent with ornate incense burners, the craftmanship is exquisite and showcases our reverence. The reverence has been so strong that there was even a god of perfume in Ancient Egypt, Nefertum. I could go on about the history but for now, I’ll leave it here. You can see that we are utterly in love with scent. But why have we got scent on the mind? Perhaps because it is quite literally tied to our brain. Us humans can quite cleverly distinguish anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000 scents from the molecules that enter through our nose and tap into our limbic system the very seat of emotion, and where our memories are formed.
You see, scent has one of the most magical of abilities, this sense that we so often take for granted, it has the ability to trigger an emotion and memory. You’ve probably experienced this many, many times.
Our limbic system is sor receptive that a sent can immediately take you back to an exact time and location. I know that the minute that I smell a particularly fragrant tomato, I’m taking back to my nana’s garden hot house in England. The smell of the sea with it’s deliciously aquatic notes will have me stood on the shore beside the red sea (bizarrely mortadella and pickled cocktail onions will do the same, best not to ask with this one). Perhaps you’ve passed someone on the street that has worn a perfume that you associate with a loved one. Scent is so intrinsically linked to memory, whether that be conjuring up emotional links to our own past or even the potential for creating an imagined future… In a 2003 study on women’s psychology of fragrance, it showed that we would pick a fragrance based on our mood, how we feel about ourselves and the situation that we would be wearing our fragrance (a date, a job interview) and how it would make us feel. I absolutely fall into this with different fragrances for different days / moments.
MAKING SCENT YOUR OWN
So how can you harness this power, because a power is exactly what it is. Take some time to think about the scents that mean the most to you. Write them down, as many as you can and where they take you. List the good, the bad and the ugly. Then have fun with it. Take those that are most potently linked with wonderful memories and try to get some of these to sample. It could be fragrant fruit, food and spices. Maybe it is perfume, flowers or is it a place that you can go to. If you can do that, let yourself get lost in that scent. Let it take you on this scent memory and then write down where it takes you, how it makes you feel, where you may travel to.
What about using scent to move you into a specific mindset? As I mentioned before, us humans have been using scent for hundreds and thousands of years. We have used it in rituals to get us in the mood for a spiritual or reflective mindset. We used it to boost confidence in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, to get closer to gods and to prepare for battle. To show how powerful and wealthy we were (Cleopatra and her ships with scented sails…) we have a long and rather wonderful history with fragrance and scent and it’s showing no sign of going anywhere. You may have noticed the impact that fragrance has on you. Do you have a fragrance that the minute that you wear it, it changes the way that you feel? Think about scents that make you feel brave, confident, authentically you. Also consider scents that put you into a specific mood:
Lavender - can soothe our nerves and relax us.
Vanilla - traditionally an aphrodisiac, it can help relax us and feels like a warm hug or even bring out a sensual vibe.
Sandalwood - one of my favourites, it’s been traditionally used with incense, it has a seductive woody scent and can be used calm the nervous, bring in focus and connect us with our more spiritual side.
Jasmine - like vanilla is expensive and highly prized within the fragrance world. One of the oldest used ingredients it is fresh, opulent and gives us energy and confidence.
Pink Pepper - is from trees in Brazil and Peru. Another fragrance that calls in confidence, with an ocean spray like scent that is both spicy and floral.
Almond - As you can imagine, it is a comforting smell that can bring to mind the cosiest of kitchens and the most loving of memories. A confidence boost and lifting of the spirits.
Bergamont - this incredible scent is a complex citrus with freshness to give you a pep and energy to face even the hardest of days.
Lemon - again, this is a citrus so there is a freshness here. It can give you the full body feels (feel your mouth water at the mere thought of a lemon) and can take you back to childhood memories.
Coffee - this is another of those scents that often has a ton of memories attached to it. It is fabulous to awaken the senses and get you into the zone. A warm scent that pulls you into the moment.
These are just a few scents but it gives you an idea of just how scent can be used. Whether you are looking to shape your mood and your mindset or you are wanting to call in particular memories. Exploring scent is a journey that once you start on, you may never leave!