It’s 15 degrees outside, and no matter where the thermostat is set inside the house, this kind of cold gets into your bones.
My lips are painfully chapped and swollen from yesterday’s hiking adventure. I’m groggy and tired from staying up too late last night (shopping for, and purchasing, a treadmill). It’s a chilly, grumpy beginning to what is going to be a long week; it’s day one, week one of Winter Term classes (I run a college bookstore), so I’ll be relying on the mood-altering aspect of perfume to get me through… I’m not sure yet which direction to take: Greens to put Spring in my step, or Cashmere Sweater Scents to keep me cozy and warm? Is there something in my vault that is both energizing and comforting? Off to investigate.
What fragrance do you rely on when you’ve got a challenge to face?
‘Pleasant smells lower the heart rate and reduce stress, and that in itself makes you feel better,’ says Dr Spence.
—Mail Online
In the Blogosphere:
For Joan Elaine’s take on mood-altering fragrances, check out “Scents that Soothe My Soul”
Birgit is ushering in Spring by reviewing a series of Green scents this week: check out the first in the series over at Olfactoria’s Travels.
beauty on the outside 
Energizing and comforting? Do you have any tea/coffee-based fargrances? I would love to know what you eventually chose to wear.
Thank you for mentioning my blog post. It’s timely, as last night, I couldn’t sleep…I felt overheated and itchy, so I sprayed myself liberally with Roger & Gallet Thé Vert. It certainly helped!!
I discovered yesterday the local department stores that were carrying Roger & Gallet have stopped stocking their products! (I also discovered that Estee Lauder Azuree is not available at thier Lauder counter, nor is it available anywhere in this silly province!)
Have a great first day back. I’m back at work today too, and fragrance is forbidden, so no comfort scents for me 😦
The only tea scent I own is the dregs of Elizabeth Arden Green Tea (from a previous life, which I still enjoy) and as for coffee scents… no, but I want to add a good coffee based fragrance to my collection—can you recommend one???
What a bummer that you have to suffer through the work-days scent free. It it were me, there would be no end to the subterfuge: have you tried solid perfumes w/o sillage? Then you could covertly enact wrist-to-nose when no one was peeking…
🙂
Bummer about Roger & Gallet and Azuree! 😦
Sometimes I bring solids to work with me and smell them from the container (on the sly) but never apply them. Scent is a sensitive political issue where I live, so I generally only wear fragrance at home or to places I know it won’t be an issue.
I haven’t tried any coffee fragrances myself, but I understand L’Artisan L’eau de Navigateur and Bond No.9 New Haarlem have coffee notes, and are well-loved. Maybe give them both a try!
You are a much more socially responsible person than I am; I would have a really hard time giving up scent in public and at work, so Bravo to you for your strength of will!
I tend to life L’Artisan’s so I think I’ll add a sample of LdN to the cart I have going at LS… got to talk to them again about bulk discounts 🙂
Well, one of them you already know…Chêne! But also – if we’re talking challenges and the need to focus…Chanel no 19 does wonders – so smooth, it goes anywhere. (I suspect it landed me not one but two very good jobs!). And finally another favorite this time of year – Encens et Lavande. Calm. Collected. And cool as a cucumber raita! 😉
Back to the madness that is quotidian life…but we have our secret selves, awaiting in the blogosphere where the truth will out…
I though of No. 19 this morning, but since I just wore it a couple days ago, it didn’t seem right to let it cut in line!
Encens et Lavande I do not know, but look forward to meeting 🙂
Tarleisio, you crack me up at least once per day. Kudos, and thanks.
I feel for you, Dee! the cold, having to go back to work, it is not easy!
Comforting and energizing? Hmm, not easy. Maybe a fig scent? I always find fig soothing and uplifting, Premier Figuier, Philosykos, Jardins de Kerylos or Ninfeo Mio come to mind.
I want to know with what you went in the end.
Chin up, it’ll get warmer again in every respect 🙂
Fig! I wish that I had thought of it; Philosykos would have probably done the job nicely—I think I’ll wear it tomorrow to face the looming nightmare. Premier Figuier is a terrible scrubber for me, but I really (really, really) want to try both JdK and NM soon.
When I opened my perfume cabinet, Bois Blond called my name. Who am I to refuse? It’s my stand-by for instantaneous happiness. That fragrance takes me to the happy place. 🙂
Chin up she says! LOL!
🙂
Love your insights! Will be back!
Thanks Cowgirl! I look forward to hearing more from you 🙂