Home fragrances

In the beginning was the Home. Well before subtly formulated body fragrances were first created, apothecaries and perfumers applied their alchemist skills to developing home fragrances. Spell-binding mists, delicate petals and waxes burning into a fragrant cloud are many ways of decorating your home sweet home.

By Justine Hossano

While spritzing and splashing are typically modern habits, scenting the different rooms of a home is a tradition that dates back to several centuries. It was observed during religious rites as well as in a host of body care routines. For a very long time, doctors deemed the use of a great many odoriferous vapors crucial to ward off diseases and other pestilences. Nowadays, while used for much more profane purposes, those fragrant home products are becoming increasingly popular.

Home Fragrant Mists

Burning incense, myrrh or olibanum was a ritual observed rigorously in most ancient religions. It was a homage to the gods who received man's message in the form of a scented cloud. On a more mundane note, burning fragrances provides a unique way of creating a cozy and refined ambience, as long as they are used in a family room, a living room, a study or a den. Though, they are to be used in moderation in the kitchen and the bedrooms, as they can quickly become very overpowering.
Incense, subtly sweet sandalwood and myrrh are timeless fragrances still very much in use today. But less traditional scents such as rose or iris can now be found. Generally speaking, sticks composed of finely ground powder burn more slowly and give off a finer fragrance: two features that are an indication of superior quality.

Heat-seaking Flavors

Just like the sun, which increases the fragrant power of plants tenfold by warming their corollas and foliage, the heat from a flame releases a cloud of scented molecules, which are trapped in an oil macerate or an essence obtained through distillation. Best results are obtained with plants used in food recipes and medicinal remedies, such as cypress, oregano, coriander or marjoram. The technique has actually been used for a long time to sanitize a sickbed area or to purify a strong-smelling kitchen.
There is an alternative to decorative oil burners, which can always tip over accidentally. The method is safer and easier, and is especially recommended for use by a bed: a felt ring sprinkled with a few drops of essential oils to be placed around an unlit light bulb to avoid explosion. Use sleep-inducing fragrances like cinnamon, cloves, orange blossoms, verbena or eucalyptus.

Some Potpourri for a very British Touch

The English tradition of covering the floors of noble mansions or sacred sites with rose petals gave birth, over the centuries, to a more discreet but no less refined blend: potpourri, a name given by the English who were fond of it as early as the 18th century! The original potpourri was essentially composed of rose but was later enriched with other ingredients such as sweet-smelling flowers (jasmine), aromatic plants and spices, nutmeg, vanilla, cardamom, etc.
Concocting a potpourri is easy as pie. Just let the ingredients dry, then mix them in a closed container and add a few drops of rose, geranium or lavender essence, depending on the dominant note you wish to have.
Potpourris can be used in any room of the home including the kitchen where you can concoct a blend made of citrus peel, mint, rosemary and resinous wood shavings, in total harmony with your delicate food.

For A Few Drops of Wax

Candles are the fad of the moment. For the longest time, they were the only source of light in the home, and it was only since the sixties that candles were used for their fragrance-releasing power. Today, any kind of scent can be captured inside wax, and selecting the right fragrance for each room has become an art. But such selection is not due to chance, according to Alberto Morillas, the creator of many best-selling perfumes (Must by Cartier, Flower by Kenzo, Oxygene by Lanvin, Miracle by Lancôme...), and whose little secret is precisely the creation of a collection of scented candles called "Mizensir". Alberto Morillas recommends Lilas Noir (black lilac) for the living room, Bois de Cèdre (cedarwood) for the study or the den, Héliotrope Bleue (blue heliotrope) or the more sensual Ambre du Maroc (Moroccan amber) et Tubéreuse Blanche (white tuberose) for the bedroom.
Here's a last recipe for a pleasant dinner atmosphere: light the candle an hour before dinner then put it out to let the scent diffuse and avoid the slightly pungent odor of hot wax.