For many of us, creating the perfect sanctuary and escape at home often leads us to long, nightly Internet searches narrowing down the cosiest, plushiest looking couch, researching which air-purifying plants go best with our spaces colour palette, and even which trinkets will be sure to leave a joyful finish to your coffee table. But so often, we overlook the overwhelming sense of calm and tranquillity that comes with finding the perfect scent to fill our homes. “Aside from the amazing scent, adding fragrance to your home is an incredible way to create a sanctuary and assist in a more mindful practice,” says Janelle Palibrk, founder of Myles Gray, a crystal-infused candle company.
As Palibrk explains, the Melbourne-based candle company specialises in creating fragrances around crystals and their specific healing properties. “We have an idea of where every candle or room spray is going to go in the home before we launch a product,” she says. “Fragrance has a huge impact on our olfactory senses and can have a big impact on our overall state of wellbeing. Studies have shown, just like music, fragrance can affect your mood in significant ways.”
Not just a satisfying way to create a completely personalised and soothing finish to your personal space, fragrance can in fact, as Palibrk notes, create a shift in energy and mood — which is why paying close attention to what scent, and where, becomes crucially important.
“Just like our taste buds are individual to each person, so is our sense of smell. So what I love in my home, another might hate in theirs, so I like to categorise specific fragrances into how they make you feel. If you have a strong memory associated with a fragrance that makes you sad (for instance, I lost my dad and whenever I smell his favourite cologne I burst into tears) I would keep that fragrance somewhere only you can access when you feel like it."
“I change the scents in my home for the season, so in summer I have really strong vibrant tropical scents in my living areas, think pineapple and coconut," Palibrk adds. "In winter, more hearty gourmand fragrances like vanilla and salted caramel.”
Some fragrances can even assist in workflow and productivity, which is what Myles Gray’s Esprit Clair candle was designed for, which Palibrk describes as “clean and fresh, but also a little sweet.”
“I structure the fragrances in my day around my workload and schedule, if I know I have a busy day ahead I will spray a really strong vibrant room spray to wake myself up, then in my office, I will burn our Esprit Clair candle to help with workflow, when I am cooking dinner I like to use a more gourmand fragrance (strong fragrance) from vanilla to pineapple depending on the weather and then in the evening I go for a more perfume based candle to set the mood and relax a little. When I have guests over I always spray a floral room spray as it brings a vibrant, clean and welcoming scent.”
Candles also aren’t the only scent-fillers to bring the benefits of fragrance into your home, but “room sprays to reed diffusers, essential oil sprays and droppers" providing even more fragrant opportunities, all of which are available at Myles Gray.
There's also some unexpected ways you can utilise scent, says Palibrk. “We love adding our essential oil mixes to our mop bucket, it keeps the space scented for longer and is so fresh and clean at the same time.”
