Smells like home…

The smell of books, freshly ironed linen, parquet wax, soap, cut flowers or houseplants – this complex cocktail of aromatic notes, subtle or stronger, paints an individual portrait of our home.

“I love the way we smell,” admits 42-year-old Mikhail. “When I come home from work, I am immediately enveloped in the smell of coffee and the perfume that my wife wears. It’s like a switch is being triggered in me. I feel: I’m at home – and instantly relax.

“My friends said that there was a special smell in my house,” says 28-year-old Olga. “I didn’t understand. And when I moved from my parents, it turned out that the smell moved with me: I opened the box with things and realized: this is a faint incense smell from the icon given to me by my grandmother.

“I am very sensitive to the smells of someone else’s house. Especially when it smells like some kind of pets – I feel it very keenly, says 26-year-old Oksana. – And when two of my friends suddenly gave birth to children at the same time, it became very difficult for me to visit them at home. The smell of babies is very strong (many women find it pleasant, but for me it is not), I just constantly smell it, it’s like an obsessive sound on one note, it’s impossible to think about anything else.

Home smells are very significant for us, and we also perceive them very individually.

Animal instinct

Since the smell ceased to play an important role for survival (well, except for the smell of smoke or spoiled food), we, as a rule, do not realize and do not analyze the subtleties of the smell picture around us. Home and smell – the relationship of these two concepts is far beyond our rational perception.

But when we are surrounded by the native smell of the house, archaic mechanisms turn on in the depths of our being, a feeling of security and comfort comes. The fact is that it is with the help of smell that animals mark their territory.

Surrounded by a familiar smell, they feel at home, safe, and the smell of a stranger indicates an intrusion. Therefore, sometimes it is the smell that makes us feel uncomfortable in someone else’s territory or annoying, being brought into our house.

In your space

The creation of special fragrances for rooms is a tradition, perhaps even older than the creation of perfumes. First of all, these are fragrant incense – perfume (English) or profumo (It.) literally means “smoke agent”.

Since ancient times, incense has been used by clergy – both for “energetic cleaning” of premises, and for creating a special psycho-emotional state.

Now, when buying scented candles, aroma lamps or incense sticks, we hardly think about what effect they will have to produce. We just want to smell good around us. Meanwhile, we can fill the “aromatic ritual” with meaning and test its invisible effect on our mood.

Separate holiday from weekdays

The smell of pine needles and tangerines, familiar from childhood, always means the New Year. This is joyful excitement and anticipation of gifts. “Holiday atmosphere” means that something that creates a festive mood is literally in the air. Even if the house has an artificial Christmas tree (or if for some reason it does not exist at all), the aroma of pine needles and citrus fruits will evoke the spirit of the holiday.

Essential oils with coniferous odors (juniper, cedar, fir) have excellent bactericidal and antiviral properties. This is a wonderful tool for disinfecting rooms, especially in winter, when there are children in the house.

unite people

The aroma helps to tune in to the same wave – for example, if a large and, as they say, motley company gathers under the roof of your house for a holiday.

Or create an intimate setting for a couple. Or a unifying mood for some important work task: imagine, some companies are already using this technique – relieving stress and improving concentration, scented candles.

Take a break from work

A relaxing fragrance that fills you with a feeling of well-being, a sophisticated way to manage your mood, a tool that helps you relax after work, as soon as you cross the threshold of the house.

You can also break the space into “smell zones”: a relaxing aroma (for example, lavender) for the bedroom, tonic (coffee, spices, citrus fruits) – for those rooms where we have to stay awake, be creative or spend time with children.

Take home with you

If we are used to using certain aromatic compositions at home, then this smell will help to adapt, create a feeling of security and comfort, even if we are in someone else’s territory, for example, in a hotel.

The smell associated with home (in the form of a sachet or scented candle) sends a signal to our brain that we are safe. This is a very delicate adaptogen remedy for those sensitive people who feel so out of place when away from home that it is difficult for them to fall asleep at a party or in a hotel bed.