Why Do Some Scents Evoke Memories?Have you ever caught a whiff of a scent that unexpectedly took you back to a moment in time from your childhood? For me, when I smell chlorine it takes me back to carefree days at the local pool. I love the fragrance even today for that reason. I was talking with a friend who said that the smell of rubbing alcohol was reminiscent of pleasant visits to the pediatrician as a child. Many dislike the scent, but for her it evokes memories of nurses in clean white dresses and a peaceful feeling of everything being clean and in order. Isn't it interesting how our sense of smell is so closely connected with our memories? Last month we chatted about the fragrance pyramid and how fragrances are layered based on the type and size of the scent molecules. This month I thought we could continue our chat about fragrances and how they can evoke memories and affect our moods. The answer to our question lies in how our brains process fragrances, and this is part of the limbic system in the brain. There's some really interesting tidbits on how this process works! Our sensory input (including our sense of smell), our memories, and our emotions are all processed in the part of our brain called the limbic system, which sits on top of the brain stem. Scientists are still discussing exactly what structures are included in this system, but they generally agree that it includes at least the hypothalamus, the amygdala, the thalamus, the hippocampus, and the olfactory bulb (scent receptors). Honestly, I'm not going to explain all those terms to you because the details are beyond my comprehension. But here's the interesting part. Our sense of smell is processed differently than all our other senses. All of our senses except for smell are processed through the thalamus; so sight, sound, touch, and taste are all relayed through the thalamus. But input from our sense of smell bypasses the thalamus. Scents have a private relay system straight from the olfactory bulb to other parts of the brain! No wonder the connection between scents and memories is so strong! Here's an over-simplified diagram of how this works. Often, when you have a childhood memory associated with a scent, it was formed before you were ten years old. Usually it is a perceptive memory, not a specific memory. In other words, the scent is linked to a general feeling more than a detailed account of an specific event. This memory is deeply embedded in your long-term memory and connected to your emotions, due to how scents are processed by the limbic system. Because our sense of smell is so strongly connected with our memories, emotions, and even our hormones, we can use the power of scent to boost our moods when we need a pick-me-up, thanks to our limbic system! Even though we have different memories associated with certain fragrances, there are some generalities that can be made about scents and our moods. For example, we've all heard about how lavender is calming and promotes rest. Here's a chart of some common fragrances, and how they can positively affect our moods. Next time you need some added energy for a task, try adding some grapefruit, orange, or lemon scents to your environment. Or if you'd like to uplift your mood and increase your confidence, try a floral fragrance! And you don't need to save a woodsy pine scent for Christmas. It can bring you joy all year! Also, did you know that the limbic system is supported partly by zinc and thiamine (vitamin B1)? If we lack these essential nutrients it can affect how our limbic system functions. Maybe you've heard about the connection between losing your sense of smell and a zinc deficiency. Zinc is an important part of building our immune system as well. Not only is zinc necessary for our immune system, but it also strengthens our limbic system! Eating foods rich in thiamine and zinc can help boost your immune system and your limbic system -- this is a win-win!
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Have you ever noticed when you are in a room where someone slices or peels an orange, you can smell it almost immediately? There's a reason why the citrus scent travels through the air so quickly, and that reason also relates to creating fragrances that we love. When an orange is sliced, the orange molecules are released into the air, and they diffuse, or spread out, throughout the space. The size of the molecules affects how quickly they spread. Since citrus molecules are relatively small compared to other scents, they can travel quickly through the room. Just as a musician creates beautiful and complex chords with notes of varying wavelengths, fragrance designers create alluring and rich fragrance combinations with scents composed of various sized molecules. This creates sophisticated and lasting scents that we enjoy. In the fragrance world, individual scents are called notes, and they are broadly categorized as top notes, middle notes and base notes. The top notes, also called head notes, are the first scents we detect in a fragrance. These include the uplifting citrus notes and the fresh herbal aromatics. Because they are the smallest molecules, they are also the first to begin to evaporate or dissipate. Next we have the middle notes, or the heart notes. This is the heart of the fragrance, and it often includes soft floral notes, sweet fruity notes, fresh green notes, and warm spicy notes. The middle notes impart body and fullness to the ensemble. Finally we have the base notes. These are the earthy, woody and musky scents. Since these molecules are the largest, they have the most staying power, and they provide the deep richness that is foundational to the fragrance combination. This fragrance pyramid is one tool we use to describe fragrances. For example, here's our description of our Pineapple Papaya fragrance.
"Sweet, juicy and tropical! A tantalizing blend of citrus top notes, and sweet fruits and sugared base notes. At first sniff, mandarin, pineapple and coconut palms open this bright fragrance. Mid notes of papaya guava and pomegranate are rounded out with a base of sugarcane, sandalwood and cypress. This fragrance will be a favorite for any fruit lover." See how the top, middle and base notes are described and balanced for an exotic and tropical fragrance combination? Also, the fragrance pyramid explains why fragrances will sometimes change. When a fragrance is first applied, the top notes are stronger. As the smallest molecules evaporate over time, the balance changes, allowing the mid and base notes to come through more. So what are some of your favorite fragrance notes? And just like that, the longest, coldest, grayest month of February transforms into a few delectably sunny days, enticing us with their intermittent warmth and reminding us of the freshness and newness of life! We are excited for the promise of a new season and the hope we feel as we see nature come to life again. Freshness in a BottleSpeaking of fresh and new, we thought March would be a good time to feature a classic scent that is perfect for spring and St. Patrick's Day... Emerald Agave! If you haven't tried this fragrance yet, you are missing out! Clean and fresh with subtly sweet herbaceous notes, it's a sweet mix of sea moss, melon, agave, passionflower, acai, aloe, coconut bark, teakwood, grass, and amber. We can't get enough of this one! Here's what one sweet customer has to say about the Emerald Agave scent. We thought it would be fun to offer a discount on Emerald Agave products for the month of March as a nod to St. Patrick's Day. You can find Emerald Agave lotion, scrub, foaming soap, body oil, bar soap, body wash, shampoo and conditioner on our website here. Use the code EMERALD20 for 20% off Emerald Agave products through the month of March. (This does not include gift sets.) This is the perfect time to try it for the first time or to stock up! Since so many people love this scent, it's a great one to share with a friend.
If you are looking for a particular product on our website, don't forget that there's a search bar on our home page that makes it easy to find what you need! If you live in a cold and grey climate like Ohio, February can be a struggle. Here's three things I (Polly) am doing not just to survive, but to thrive during this time.
Have you heard of this one? It's a key ingredient in our lip balm. It's similar to coconut oil, but it absorbs better and is more lightweight. It comes from the nut of the babassu tree (in the palm tree family) indigenous to the forests of northeast Brazil. Here's three reasons we love using organic babassu oil for lip care. Babassu Palm Trees (wirestock photo attribution)
Our lip balm is made with organic shea butter, organic babassu oil, and organic beeswax. The shea butter is a rich moisturizer while the babassu oil is easily absorbed by your lips. The beeswax creates a protective barrier while still allowing your lips to breathe. It also provides the firmness necessary for the balm to be in stick form. Did you know that many lip balm manufacturers use petroleum-based ingredients? Our lip balms (and any of our products) do NOT contain any petroleum-based ingredients, like petroleum jelly, which can block pores and introduce unwanted chemicals. We also don't add any colors or dyes. We wanted to create a balm that is nourishing and full of goodness! The scent we add to our lip balms are called flavor oils, but they actually are an unsweetened scent, not a flavor at all. This is a higher-quality scent that is specifically lip-safe. If a lip balm has a taste, it often has an added sweetener that entices you to lick your lips. Although that can be fun, licking your lips actually causes a cycle of more dryness, so the added flavors and sweeteners are not helpful. In addition, these sweeteners can make the product less stable. We have a HUGE variety of lip balms here, including scents such as Iced Pineapple and Tangerine, Salted Caramel, Hazelnut Latte, and Mango Lassi. If you're looking for an all-natural scent, try our Peppermint Lip Balm, which uses peppermint essential oil. (Essential oils will have the scent and an all-natural flavor.) We also have a Menthol Eucalyptus Lip Balm with eucalyptus essential oil. We even have a Fragrance Free Lip Balm for an ultra-pure choice. To try any of our lip balms, you can use the code LIPS25 to get 25% off any of our lip balms on our website for the month of February. Babassu Leaves (wirestock photo attribution)
Cold and blustery weather paired with dry indoor air can really do a number on our lips. Take a look at this diagram of lip skin to see how different it is from the rest of our skin.
What We Can DoHere's a few things we can do to combat dry lips.
We hope that this information can help you better take care of those lips this winter!
Even though this time of year is known for magic and happiness, we all know it can be especially stressful. Here's some things we are doing to try to keep our balance.
We wish you all the best as you navigate through this season. May your days be filled with peace and joy. ~Ben and Polly If you're looking for a reprieve from the cold temps and from the hurried pace of December, make some time for a relaxing soak in the tub. We will often get questions about our bath bombs, so we thought this would be a good time to chat about all things bath related. Why a Bath Bomb?If you haven't used a bath bomb before, you might be wondering why they've become so popular. With lots of fizz and aroma, they leave your skin feeling silky-smooth. Here's why so many people love them. A bath bomb...
How Does It Work?The two main ingredients of a bath bomb are citric acid and baking soda. These two components produce a chemical reaction that creates fizzy bubbles. The fizz is actually the release of carbon dioxide gas which causes the effervescence that releases the aroma and moisturizing effects of the bath bomb. Here's a break down of the ingredients.
What Makes Martha's Bath Bombs Unique?If you haven't seen one of our bath bombs in real life, you may not realize how huge they are! Measuring three inches in diameter, these oversized bath bombs provide long-lasting effervescence and plenty of moisturizing power and scent. The extra-large size allows us to load these up with so much scented goodness! For example, each of our Lavender Bath Bombs contain about 1 teaspoon or 5 mL of lavender essential oil. For perspective, a 5 mL amber glass bottle is a common size for selling small bottles of essential oil. Are Your Bath Bombs More Natural?Yes. Here's what's NOT in our bath bombs!
Why Give a Bath Bomb?A bath bomb is one of those little luxuries that people might be hesitant to buy for themselves, but thrilled to use and enjoy. It's a great pampering gift for yourself or for a loved one. Especially in our current times, doing those small actions to care for our mental health is so important. Taking time to unwind and relax is just the thing so many of us need right now. So for the month of December, we're offering a 20% off coupon code for all bath bombs ordered from website. Use the code BATHBOMB20 at checkout to get this deal. You can shop our selection of bath bombs here.
If you're in Johnstown, stop by Malone's 740 Shoppe on Main Street for some holiday cheer. We decided to decorate our display with our Engagement Christmas Tree! We call it our Engagement Tree because on Christmas Eve of 1996, Ben proposed to me (Polly) right after he gave me this Christmas tree and set it up -- complete with lights, garland, and ornaments! This little tree will always hold a special place in our hearts, and we hope you can enjoy it to this Christmas.
Wow! We can't believe the holidays are so quickly approaching! We are excited to share some seasonal scents and gift ideas with you. Here are some fragrances we are loving this December! Winter ForestWith the classic scent of a fresh cut Christmas tree, Winter Forest is a brisk and nostalgic aroma, reminiscent of a vast piney forest. It's a timeless and complex pine fragrance with unisex appeal. Gingerbread CookieOur Gingerbread Cookie scent is the perfect mix of sweet and spicy. You'll love the notes of orange, cardamom, raisin, clove, cinnamon, rum, vanilla extract, gingerbread, and tonka. This is a fabulously festive fragrance! We created a new Gingerbread Cookie Gift Set in this adorable gift box! The set includes a Gingerbread Cookie scented lotion, sugar scrub and fragrance mist. Who wouldn't love to receive this charming collection? You can find it here on our website. Just choose the Gingerbread Cookie option in the drop-down menu. Here are two more gift sets for December. They feature the Essential Lavender scent (left) and the Tobacco and Bay Leaf scent (right). Each gift set includes a lotion, a foaming soap, and a fragrance mist. You can find them with the other holiday gift sets on our website here. Just use the drop-down menu to choose these scent options. Other scent options include Sugar Plum Fairy, Lingonberry Spice, Sleigh Ride, Essential Peppermint, Winter Forest, Fresh Snow and Frankincense & Myrrh.
We hope you love giving these gift sets as much as we enjoyed creating them. Merry Everything!!! |
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