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As far as general scents go, I’m sure we’re all familiar with the grocery store aisles. My favorite, next to the cheap incense, is the cleaning and air freshener aisle. You can really get lost in there, trying to find a great room spray (and trust me, I have). I’ve literally spent as much as 30 minutes (maybe a tiny exaggeration), sniffing until I can smell no more, which doesn’t really take that long if you don’t take a break in between.

One issue I have is the label, which usually claims that the process is a 3 in one… not sure what the three is for… and it usually mentions essential oils, but when you turn the can around and read the ingredients, it might say  fragrance..  and a bunch of chemicals… maybe water, and no oil at all.

The second issue I have, is that the cheaper quality ones all fall into 4 basic categories… the fake powder smell, the fake water smell, the really fake floral smell, and my least favorite- the cheap citrus smell that smells like bad bread, to me at least. And there are also the odor eliminating smells.. to cover up the bad pre-existing smells.

Then you have the better quality high end air fresheners. Probably none of them have essential oils either, but the smells and aromas are broader, and some of them are actually very nice. I have one I adore, its a limited edition ‘hawaiian’ spray that smells like coconut, and a bit like pina colada… I love it! It almost smells good enough to eat. Then of course during the holidays they have scents available, and in candles too, such as gingerbread and peppermint / candy cane and apple cinnamon, and pumpkin spice. These are also delightful. It’s one of the things I look forward to for the holiday season. We all know the true purpose of a spray such as these is to cover up not so nice smells, but it’s nice when they can give us a bit of pep too, and help us wind down at the end of the day.  A fter all, a clean-smelling and welcoming home is a happy home.

I think there are certain reactions that fragrances cause. Sometimes a scent can take you back to a memory; like the perfume a mother would wear that would linger as she picked up her child… years later that child will recall that fragrance with fondness- they might not even know what the fragrance is exactly, just that it smells like home. Then there are scents so sweet that it makes your mouth water… scents that smell clean and pure. Smells that are feminine. Scents that embody things found in nature- flowers, trees… Then there are scents that call to you on a deeper level, ones that bring things out in you… a more animalistic and primal side… a scent that is nothing else but pure male arousal… that is what patchouli is to me.  That is what I love about the perfume Pan… it showcases patchouli in a way unlike anything I’ve ever smelled before, but I’ve not really smelled everything there is out there. I’ve only recently found my nose.. so to speak… but patchouli has always been special to me.

How would I describe it otherwise? Someone asked me a while back… if Pan was woody  smelling, what it smelled like. Patchouli is the key note in that fragrance, which is why I love it so much. What it does call to mind is something I mentioned in my scent of a man article… the smell of a man’s perspiration, the scent that is just pure male. It doesn’t really come from anywhere… it is just the natural scent of a man. That is how patchouli smells. It makes me want to put it on my wrists, take a deep sniff.. and just wrap myself around it… maybe curl into a ball on the bed and just let the smell take over

Aer-This is Words Drenched In Scent, although it’s set up like a blog, it is actually a fiction, sometimes not fiction, page, for descriptive writing about scents and Aroma by Liz Grimly. So I am introducing her! This is her first stories, enjoy, and feel free to leave feedback!

Amber Waves
October 24, 2010 – 10:33 pm
Amber is special to me, and it’s hard to explain why. I’ve read that it’s the fossilized sap of a tree, but I’m sure that it, like everything else it may not always be authentic. For instance… I bought a piece of jewelry with amber in it, or so it said. But regardless, one of the main appeals of it to me was, that it looks like something that was once alive.. and it was, many many years ago. It was once the pure life’s blood of a tree. For some reason it almost reminds me of fire, and as some of you may have figured out by now, that’s a plus for me. And it even looks like fire, the rich color that goes by the same name. The same name for some honeys.. so it always brings to mind a richness, but not decadent and frivolous, but earthy and pure.

And I had another piece of amber as well, this one was more natural… it was a cube about an inch wide, and I kept it in a small wooden box that it arrived to me in. I always loved to sniff the amber in its little box… the scent is almost like honey as well… so sweet and fragrant… they really don’t make enough adjectives to describe smells, and amber should have a name all its own. I can totally understand why someone first decided to make it into incense. Aside from the logical connection to trees and burning… I can almost picture someone taking in that sweet fragrance, and saying to themselves… ahhh. wow. now lets light this baby on fire!

Samhain- Halloween

October 19, 2010 – 3:20 pm
Halloween is without a doubt my favorite holiday. As a wiccan, it’s important- the last truly pagan holiday still embraced and celebrated. But aside from that, its easy to dislike everything it stands for. It’s been turned into a marketing cash cow- stores stocked with candy and costumes and ‘props’… a broom and a witches hat… do they even know what they’re for? Do they even realize how difficult they make it for those who truly love this religion? Ok, to be perfectly honest… I have more than my share of halloween candy every year. But what really breaks my heart, is that children can’t even go door to door begging for candy, for fear of their safety… in their own neighborhoods. If things were the idealistic way they are in my head, this holiday would be more about tradition… less about money… and alll about those cutely costumed little ones that are missing out.

Aside from the holiday itself, the whole season holds a certain mystery… allow me to explain.  If I’m out driving in my vehicle, and I leave the city area and move to the residential parts of town… its almost guaranteed that when I roll down my window, I’ll be bombarded by the delicious aroma of smoke.  Maybe it’s because of my wild pyro-maniacal roots, but every time I smell that smoke, which is probably someone burning a pile of lawn brush or leaves… it seems magical, mysterious.  I’ll lean my head out of my window and take as many deep breaths as I possibly can, because usually a few seconds down the road, the smoke is gone. But sometimes, if I’m lucky… I can trace the source of the fire, and watch for a few seconds. What is it about fire? Some ancient promethean sense of taming something wild, something that is the combustible transformation of matter into energy? Or maybe just because it’s just so pretty to look at. Either way, raise your lighters, light your candles and your incense, and if you dare, pay homage to a few little goblins if you get the chance… and enjoy Samhain!

For you, Deer
October 14, 2010
There is no time quite like the autumn… especially in the early morning. That is my favorite time- when the sun is starting to rise, and drops of dew cling to the leaves of the foliage… leaves that are a myriad of beautiful colors. The gentle cool breeze chases the leaves from their branches… scattering them and letting them fly, to finally rest on the forest floor. I love the sound they make when they crunch with every tentative step. I feel the wind pick up slightly, and the scent of the forest is carried along with it. The scent is always warm, with an underlying note of decay… but that is what nature does. The cycle of birth and life and death in all seasons, but the death is not the end… just a turn of the wheel.

I find a small cluster of berries, hidden under a bush… what a wonderful bounty. I tentatively reach out with my tongue to enjoy this feast. As I am doing so, I hear a rustling not far from me. Always on alert, my ears perk up… I stand still and wait for another sound. Then I see a flurry of leaves, and a small gray body jumps ahead of me. Brother rabbit wants a race, well… we’ll see who wins.

I take off with a leap, the wind whipping by… I easily avoid low hanging branches, small trees- I know every inch of this wood, this is my home.. my haven. I leap over a fallen log- we all heard you fall, brother. With ease, I bound past the much smaller rabbit. He never really had a chance. I race to the open meadow, pausing to feel the warmth of the sun… I don’t feel exhausted from the run at all, more invigorated than tired. I arrive at the fast moving spring, brother rabbit has saved a spot for me. I lean over and drink… it looks like a beautiful day.