Playing with Scent and Finding Your Bliss

Playing with Scent and Finding Your Bliss

I always have my own homemade essential oil room spray on hand to keep in the bathroom and for all around room deodorant spray.  And I often gear it to the seasons.  This past winter, I became obsessed with the scent mixture of sweet orange and clove bud essential oil.  It was refreshing and spicy and I love spicy any time of year.  This was good for the winter as this scent mixture just reminded me of winter and the holidays, and of cuddling in cozy.  This week, I finally got to the end of the bottle right at the point where I'm thinking of spring cleaning and the coming summer.

Now it is dead simple to make your own deodorant sprays.  The main thing is to have an opaque spray bottle.  You can get 2-ounce or 4-ounce and once you have that, you can use them over and over again.  Just be sure to clean good between uses and dry thoroughly before your new mix.  Next, fill the bottle half-way with distilled water and the other half with witch hazel, alcohol or vodka, leaving a bit of room for the essential oils.  For 2 ounces, you will want to add a mix of essential oils that add up to 30 drops and with the 4-ounce size you will want to add 60 drops.  Shake well before each use.   I usually go with a two-scent mix.  The one that I want to be dominant I will use more drops than the secondary scent.  You can experiment with the scents using strips of paper.  Drop the essential oils onto the papers.  Perhaps 2 drops of one, 1 drop of the other on top.  Wave it under your nose.  Is it delicious to you?  Is it a pass?  That way you don't waste your efforts or ingredients, and you find what works and what doesn't. Go on to the next until you hit the jackpot with a scent that really resonates with you.  Yes, play around with scent!  What are the usual players for spring/summer?  Essential oils to try for this time of year are usually the florals, citrus and herbaceous scented ones.

There are many, many essential oils to choose from but here are some examples. Florals would include lavender, rose geranium or ylang, ylang.  The citrus includes lemon, orange, grapefruit.  The herbaceous would include rosemary, thyme and oregano.  Most of the essential oils are disinfecting, but rosemary, thyme and oregano as well as lavender top the list, so keep that in mind when making up your mist.  I'm finding lemon to be a strong draw.  And adding lavender to that is a soothing, yet uplifting mix.  And then again, lemon with peppermint is refreshing and crisp and can help bring focus and concentration.  What fun to hunt out my very favorite at this particular moment.  So, what did I go with?  I went with lemon and eucalyptus.  It is a fresh and invigorating scent.  It smells clean.  The lemon brings a bright aroma to eucalyptus, softening it and bringing out its minty qualities.  Another bonus is that eucalyptus can chase away insects so you can take it with you on outings to spray yourself and clothing, and repel mosquitoes.  The lemon helps ease stress, so it is a powerful combo.

What is your bliss?  What scents are you drawn to?  Take some time to mix up a combo that will have you happy and satisfied while serving the purpose of freshening and deodorizing your home.  And remember to play, life is too short to miss out on some fun.