Using Fragrance at Work

It's fairly common knowledge that you can use fragrance to change your mood. But did you know it can also help with performance and memory?

Studies have shown that scented rooms can have a positive effect on such things as proofreading, computer programming and other "sustained attention tasks." Tasks were completed with greater accuracy in the scented rooms as compared with the non-scented rooms. Grapefruit, jasmine and lemon all help to reduce drowsiness and sustain attention.

Peppermint is piped into the Tokyo Stock Exchange in the afternoons to help re-invigorate the brokers.

College students can use mint and sage during finals week to fight exhaustion and boost memory and concentration while they study.

Geranium and bergamot have been used to relieve stress and tension in a variety of situations.

Tip of the Day: Take your UB Warmer and your favorite oils to work with you. You'll love it (and so will your co-workers).


*Aromatherapy and Performance from Prolitec.com

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Using Fragrance to Change Your Mood

Scent is a powerful thing. Breathe in the fragrance of a summer rose and life just feels a little better. The right scent at the right time can change your entire outlook in a matter of moments.

Fragrances have been used for centuries to manipulate mood. Here are a few of my favorite mood lifters.

• Stressed out and can't sleep? Try a little lavender or chamomile to help settle your nerves and calm you down.


• Feeling overworked and overwhelmed? Vanilla can ease the pressure.


• A little sluggish and run down? Green tea or grapefruit is the answer, or try a little lemon and lime.


• Totally exhausted? There's nothing like peppermint or eucalyptus to perk you up again.
  


• Got a big date and want to feel more womanly? Try a musk or sandalwood.


• When I'm feeling down, nothing makes me happy faster than a mix of pomegranate and cinnamon.
  

Scent is a powerful thing. What do you use as a pick-me-up?

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How Big is Your Scent Circle?

Did you know...

• Everyone has a personal "scent circle": approximately an arm's length from the body. No one should be aware of your fragrance unless he or she steps inside your "circle." Fragrance should be one of the most subtle, personal messages you send to those with whom you come in contact.


• For a long-lasting effect, fragrance should be layered all over the body, starting with a shower gel or bubble bath, then adding lotion and parfum spray. Because fragrance rises, spray or smooth fragrance onto skin from the feet to the shoulders. If fragrance is applied only behind the ears, it will eventually rise and disappear.


• The wearer's diet can affect the way a fragrance smells and lasts on the skin. If the wearer is on a high fat, spicy diet, for example, fragrances will be more intense. A dramatic change in diet can alter skin chemistry, causing fragrances to smell differently.


• Skin type will also affect the way a fragrance smells on a person. Fragrance wearers with oilier skin should remember that fragrances interact withthe oils in their skin to create a more intense scent. Dry skin does not retain fragrance as long as oily skin, requiring the wearer to re-apply the fragrance more often.

Copyright ©1996-2004 The Fragrance Foundation®, Inc.

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My Dog Doesn't Stink!

With all that hair, my dog comes inside from a hot and sweaty romp just reeking. Sometimes I can hardly stand to be in the same room with him. And I just don't have the energy to bathe him every other day.

But I do have a solution.

Puppy Parfum Spray.

I mix a little lemon, lime, coconut and cinnamon into the Urban Botanic parfum spray, give the dog a few generous spritzes and voilá! I can actually stand to have him around.

He doesn't seem to mind the fragrance. UB doesn't use alcohol, butane, formaldehyde or any of the other harsh preservatives that would irritate his sensitive skin. And the oils are very natural and easy on the nostrils, both his and mine.

Now, if I could just find a toothpaste that would cover up doggie breath...

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My Laundry Smells Spring!

I've had to use unscented laundry soap for years. I know my clothes get clean, but they just don't have that fresh scent that clean laundry is supposed to have.

The other day I was washing sheets and decided to add a little Garden Mint to my wash water. When I pulled them out of the dryer, the sheets smelled so yummy. Not a heavy perfumy scent, but just a light whiff of heaven. I can still smell that fresh light minty fragrance, ever so slightly, when I crawl into bed.

I add Garden Mint to every single wash load now. I do 3 drops for clothing; and 5 drops for towels and sheets. Now all my laundry smells like spring!

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Plumeria and Frangipani—The Story

Once Upon A Time...

During the 16th century there was an Italian nobleman named Marquis Frangipani. He was a perfumer who created a fragrance just for scenting glove boxes. So when women wore their new gloves, they would smell like the perfume. He named this perfume after himself, "Frangipani."

A century later, a French botanist, Charles Plumier, discovered or created/cross-bred? (not sure which) the Plumeria flower... which he named after himself.

The smell of the Plumeria flower reminded people of the popular Frangipani perfume that had been around for about 100 years, so they nick-named the Plumeria plant "Frangipani."

Now that we are able to extract so many more fragrances than in the 16th and 17th centuries, and because our olfactory senses are much more developed, it's easy to detect differences between the popular Frangipani perfume and the Plumeria flower smell. But the name association remains the same.

So... in short, Frangipani and Plumeria were people before they were smells. Frangipani is a perfume, Plumeria is a plant. The names got crossed along the way, but the two scents provided a lovely contrast to each other and lived happily ever after in the world of U.B.

The End!

(Courtesy of McKenna Gordon, founder of Urban Botanic.)

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I Wonder If It Smelled Like Cake

According to legend, at the height of the French Revolution in 1791, the French royal family attempted to flee France disguised as commoners. They may have made it were it not for Marie Antoinette's signature fragrance, designed by Charles Francois Houbigant.

When the family's coach was stopped in Verennes, Marie Antoinette was recognized as royalty because of her Houbigant perfume, which only royalty could afford. They were immediately returned to Paris, and we all know the rest of the story.

While it didn't turn out so well for Marie Antoinette, having a signature fragrance is a great idea for us regular gals!

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Signature Collection Recommendations

Listed below are just a few ideas for fragrance groupings. We suggest you decide first which family type appeals to you most. Then purchase the recommended oils in that grouping.

You might notice that not all the oils in the groupings are from the same family. For example, not all six oils in the Floral family are Floral notes. If you'll check our posted recipes, you'll notice that rarely does a recipe consist of oils from one family alone. The six oils in each family listed below have been tried and tested by many, many people to find oils that go well together and that will make a wonderful variety of fragrances. We've never had anyone unable to create a fragrance they love using these groupings.

If some of the oils in a grouping do not appeal to you or we are sold out of a particular oil, simply mix & match as desired.

Floral

• Freesia
• Jasmine
• Mimosa
• Naked
• Sandalwood
• White Musk

Fruity

• Green Apple
• Honeysuckle
• Naked
• Pomegranate
• Sandalwood
• Violet

Leafy

• Bergamot
• Freesia
• Green Tea
• Hawaiian Rain
• Sandalwood
• White Tea

Herby

• Almond
• Coconut
• Garden Mint
• Lavender
• Rose
• White Musk

Spicy

• Bergamot
• Brown Sugar
• Coconut
• Fig
• Maple Spice
• Water Lily

Woodsy

• Jasmine
• Pine
• Oakmoss
• Sandalwood
• Water Lily
• White Musk

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