One of our favourite days of the year is March 21st. Why you may ask, well its International Fragrance Day of course!
A day to celebrate what we truly love here at Lore Perfumery and a day to share in our passion for fragrance with our wonderful community.
Perfume has the power to change your mood in an instant, elevate your confidence, enhance your aesthetic and of course, transport you to another time and place immediately. What else has this kind of power?!
With everything the world is going through right now, it’s even more important to appreciate the smaller things in our day to day life. Diverting our attention to the things that fill us up, bring joy to the day; taking the time to smell the roses, as they say.
Every day should be International Fragrance Day in our books!
Some little things that can brighten your day and lift your mood can be as small as a fresh bunch of flowers, the scent (and gentle, soothing light) from a beautiful candle burning, wearing your favourite red lipstick (even if it is to sit on the couch). And of course, the biggie is wearing perfume. Perfume has the power to instantly transform your mood!
Some examples are natural fragrance house Heretic Parfum who pride themselves on the fact that their fragrances are holistic (given they contain natural oils) and have an emotional impact on us (as well as smelling great too!). Whereas our bath and body range Aspar is designed in the Aurora Day Spa in St Kilda to have an aromatherapy effect. Every time you use a product of theirs such as their hand wash or body cream it smells like you are in their indulgent day spa!
You fragrance is such an extension of yourself. Think about how you want your perfume to make you feel.
Do you want to feel soft and comforted with something almost skin like? Maybe you want something creamy, clean and gentle on the skin such as L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Le Chant De Camargue, Mihan Aromatics’ Sienna Brume, Penhaligon’s Artemesia, Juliette has a Gun’s Not a Perfume, Nasomatto’s Silver Musk and Miller et Bertaux’s Close Your Eyes And…
Or do you feel like you want to bring in feelings of brightness, sparkle and happiness with your scent?
Maybe you want crisp and fresh scents with a happy citrus burst such as Goldfield & Banks’ Bohemian Lime, Heretic Parfumer’s Dirty Grapefruit, Carner Barcelona’s Fig Man, Creed’s Silver Mountain Water and Eight & Bob’s The Original.
Some people crave a dark and bold scent, they want deep, earthy notes to ground them yet also envelope them in rich, decadent warmth.
Fragrances that ooze rich decadence are Orto Parisi’s Terroni, L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Tenebrae, Penahligon’s Halfeti, Nasomatto’s Black Afgano, Map of the Heart’s V2 The Heart of Darkness and Beaufort London’s Tonnerre.
While people after something a little more soft and sensual may be looking for more of a floral scent.
They feel feminine, and love that floral, slightly sweet yet powerful tone in their fragrance choices such as Juliette has a Gun’s Lady Vengeance, Carner Barcelona’s Latin Lover, Nasomatto’s Narcotic V, Grandiflora’s Saskia, Lubin’s Black Jade and Tokyo Milk’s La Vie La Mort.
This is the power of scent – we can be whoever we want to be in fragrance.
We can show a face to the world with one scent and keep something secret for our private moments with another scent. Fragrance helps us recreate ourselves, elevate ourselves and the way we feel. And this is absolutely something worth celebrating!
Did you know that researchers say that somewhere between 75%-95% of the flavours we taste are made up of what we smell? So when you’re reaching for that snack, think about what you are craving for scent wise…maybe you have it already in your perfume wardrobe (not that there’s anything wrong with a little comfort food and the irresistible sweet treat, we’re 100% behind that!).
Are you craving something sweet? Maybe a Vanilla based scent is what you’re after.
Did you know that scientists have discovered that breast milk smells of Vanilla therefore we subconsciously feel a sense of security when we smell it? Some great gourmand Vanilla based fragrance options if this is your vibe are Heretic Parfum’s Dirty Vanilla, Juliette has a Gun’s Vanilla Vibes, Acca Kappa’s Vaniglia fior di Mandorlo, 27 87’s Hamaca and L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Couleur Vanille.
Let me explain the power of scent with the help from a little science (in laymans terms because me + science don’t usually go together!)…
Our olfactory sense is most closely linked to our memory. When you smell something, it starts inside your nose and runs along the bottom of your brain reaching the olfactory bulb. Then, the olfactory bulb connects to the limbic system (which is made up of the hippocampus and amygdala), which is responsible for memory and emotion. Sight and sound do not go through the limbic system, which is why vivid memories are not as easily triggered by these senses. Our sense of scent is our first sense (babies learn to smell before sight, touch or sound) and arguably our most impactful on our emotions.
We can smell something and immediately relive a memory – this is the power of scent!
This is the reason that scent if often used with people suffering from alzheimer’s and dementia. The scent of our past can reconnect us with memories that we may have thought were lost forever. The perfume collection Demeter Fragrances creates singular scented perfumes (light colognes such as Dirt, Baby Powder, Vanilla Ice Cream and Grass) that perfectly recreate the weird and wonderful scents we come across in our day to day life. And remarkably, they are used additionally for the purpose of reconnecting people suffering with memory loss.
Many people walk into our shop to talk fragrance and have a visceral experience with scent. The story of the fragrance sets the scene but the scent connects us in a way that many other things cannot. And of course this is how we know that we’ve done our job properly – by connecting the scent, the story and the person, resulting in that feeling of a full bodied YES!
So right now, think about how scent can impact you. Use fragrance to make yourself feel how you want to feel right now. Whether it’s with a well-loved fragrance you’ve worn for years, or a new scent that will empower you in whatever way that feels right to you.
And on top of wearing fragrance, turn your space into a sanctuary – burn a candle that makes you smile. Take the time to pamper yourself and the people around you. A scented body wash or body cream can sometimes be all you need for a little hint of scent/spark a little hint of joy. Think of the moment in the day when you stop to put some hand cream on and the gorgeous fragrance lightly wafts up for you to enjoy. Appreciating scent can be so easy and incidental with your day-to-day activities.
Make sure you take the time to notice the scents around you; to enjoy the exquisite power of scent! Whether it be this International Fragrance Day or every single day of your life – the gift and power of scent is undeniable and a true joy to embrace.
