I was thinking back to what was on my Christmas list when I was 10…not a Barbie or roller skates but a long list of fragrances. Nothing else. So we are talking late ’70s fragrances like Love’s Baby Soft, Babe, Enjoli and Wind Song. Anyone remember those? I was in heaven because, yes, my indulgent parents got every one of them for me!
Just looking at the bottles, smelling them, and then, of course, applying them liberally was an endless source of fun for me. I have always been in love with fragrance—fascinated by it, really. So… flash forward 30+ years to when I finally decided (or should I say remembered?) to become an aromatherapist. I began to realize that synthetic fragrances were not in fact therapeutic in any way, unlike their natural counterparts. So, slowly but surely, I made the turn away from my fragrances that had been such a soulful part of my life. The Chanel No. 5 that always reminded me of my grandmother. The Shalimar that brought me back to freshman year in college. The Chanel No. 19 that always took me to Mackinac Island. The Love’s Baby Soft that would have smelled like the Christmas of 1977.
I realized that synthetic fragrances were not in fact therapeutic in any way, unlike their natural counterparts. So, slowly but surely I made the turn away.
So, as I used little to no fragrance and started integrating essential oils into my life, I noticed that any interaction with the 
synthetic gave me a headache. This is a very common reaction, in fact. I say it is our brain “re-learning” what is real and genuine vs. synthetic, as well as what is good for us vs. what is not. Boy did that make me sad. So the bottles sat there on my tray, untouched. I couldn’t bear to get rid of them. They were memories in a bottle. Then recently I realized that I can use just a bit every once in a while! It almost feels like cheating, I must admit. But the adage “everything in moderation” is at play here.
So, go ahead and keep that favorite bottle of perfume filled with memories. Use it if it brings you joy. This is, in fact, one of the main purposes of our sense of smell—to connect us to our emotions and memories. Then, go back to your natural body products and deodorants and essential oil blends to keep the healthy flowing!
