Feminine scent (September 31 2008)

My best memories are tied to scents: coming home on a cold and wet day in autumn to the scent of fresh baked waffles, the powder on my grandmothers cheeks on a cold winter day. I smelled it again last christmas when I saw my grandmother for the first time again in more than five years. It made me smile, despite the difficulties of this meeting.
Filling the house with a scent is one of the ways to add that little extra touch to your home: the scent of chilli in the crockpot is a wonderful, robust scent to come home to. The air spiced with cinamon from cookies in the oven breaths welcome, and that little wiff of perfume that you put on just before your husband came home, adds a little something, even if you have not had the time to change after the baby wiped his fingers on your skirt. Brushing your teeth and using mouth wash before you go to bed adds that wonderful tingly freshness to a goodnight kiss.... who does not love that?
Quite often, scent is one of the things we can add to our days without spending much time. Open the windows and letting the outside air in, maybe catch a whiff of camelias or confederate Jasmine if you are lucky enough to have a garden, use an airfreshener in rooms that you do not use that often, and don't forget to air now and again.
Every time I wash my hands in the bathroom it is a tiny pinprick of luxury to smell the scent of grapefruit from the inexpensive handsoap. I love the scent of figs and pears that is added to our dishwasher soap, or the raspberry scent of my shampoo. Take a moment while you read this to think of the scents in your every day life... do they make you smile?
I have several scents for myself as well: a few body spritzers for day to day use, a few cheaper day to day perfumes for day to day use, and one or two that are just a bit of a luxury. I favour lily of the valley and softer, clearer perfumes to more sweet ones, tough sometimes when I pass a woman by on the street and I just catch that hint of vanilla, it makes me smile. And it reminds me again of those waffles on a wet autumn day...