July was the best month to experience the wonderful world of lavender firsthand, with plants being in full bloom. I had the opportunity to visit Laveanne, a renown lavender farm in Campbellcroft, Ontario that is well worth the trip, with daily “Passion of Lavender” seminars, an amazing gift shop, and over 4 acres of the largest selection of lavender varieties in Canada! Although the peak of the season is over, you can still visit their gift shop until the end of October and stock up on dried lavender, essential oils, soaps and other products.
Lavender is by far one of the most loved fragrances, and walking through the rows at Laveanne it isn’t hard to imagine why. The scent is incredibly soothing. Lavender is helpful for those with insomnia and depression, relaxing the nervous system and promoting sleep. For some people it can help relieve nausea and headaches. It is one of my favorite essential oils to use in my oil diffuser, filling the room with heaven.
If you haven’t delved into the world of essential oils be sure to educate yourself. Essential oils can have amazing benefits for your personal well being, with different oils helping to purify the air, promote relaxation, relieve sinus congestion- you name it. Unfortunately there are a lot of products diluted with synthetics, with some containing no essential oils at all- ‘lavender oil,’ for example, often has no lavender in it! A good friend of mine does consultations for Young Living Essential Oils and would be happy to answer all your questions, let me know if you’d like to get in touch!
What does Your Home Smell Like?
What is the first thing you notice when you walk into someone’s home? It might be the paint and décor, but even if you are not fully conscious of it the first thing you probably notice is how it smells. There are good smells (apple pie, chamomile!) and bad (pets, musty carpets), changing the mood of the space. If your home has a lingering bad smell baking soda might be all you need to absorb the odor. Sprinkle it on carpets, couches and mattresses, let sit for 20 minutes or so, and vacuum it up. If you smell a musty, moldy scent try washing surfaces with vinegar. Baking soda and vinegar are the old school cleaning supplies to get your home back to that ‘neutral clean’ smell! Some more great cleaning tips can be found here: https://earth911.com/living-well-being/health/cleaning-vinegar-baking-soda-lemon/
Your Favourite Scents
Where to go from there? The choice is yours! Another universally-loved scent is coffee- so rich and energizing! If you’d like to keep the scent of coffee wafting through your home after a morning brew, light tea lights in a bowl of your favourite coffee beans. Coffee also happens to have deodorizing properties like baking soda and can be used in many of the same ways for household cleaning- although I wouldn’t recommend sprinkling it on your carpets!
Another idea you can try for a zesty, spicy scent is creating your own pomander balls. Traditionally made around Christmas (dare I type that word at the end of summer?) but beautiful to keep year-round, they involve smaller sized oranges being pierced in patterns of whole cloves which then preserves the orange (or other citrus, like lemon or lime) for enjoyment of their scent for up to a few years. Tie a ribbon to your pomander and place them in closets to freshen an often musty space of the house.
Fresh flowers, cut herbs, boiling slices of lemons and rosemary on the stove- there are so many ways to bring scents into your home. I hope you enjoy these last days of summer and are inspired to fill your home with scents that you love the same as you would with your favourite colours and artwork.