it’s going to be difficult to keep this on the straight and narrow, or rather the relevant.

I suppose I could title this “The Ooga-booga of Scent and Smell” except only part of it is ooga-booga but then again not, or maybe. I don’t know.

Where to start…

How about we start with our sense of smell.  Smell is our fifth sense and closely tied to memory and emotions, perhaps more than any other sense. So perhaps it makes sense that aromatherapy is a real thing. But how much of a real thing? (Careful now Grace don’t go ping-ponging off in another direction).

I use eucalyptus oil diffusers throughout the apartment. I have no idea whether we have experienced any of its highly touted effects but I like the way it smells, so there you go.  During the past year I have gifted several friends with lavender candles and sachets because they mentioned trouble sleeping and stress and anxiety reduction are some of the benefits of lavender as well as alleviating insomnia. I have not heard back whether the lavender helped.

My crazy ping-pong brain, as well as my husband’s snoring/breathing problems keeps me from sleep. In an effort to cure my husband’s problems I bought wedge pillows, and as long as I can keep him sleeping on his side his problem is solved. But what about me?

I’ve been wearing Obsession eau de parfum since it came on the market in 1985.  Oh, there have been occasional dalliances with Magie Noire  but my signature scent was Obsession. And always the eau de parfum, never the cologne or eau de toilette. Yes, there is a difference, and I’m not going to ping-pong onto that subject. (Lordy, it’s not easy staying on point here.)

A few weeks ago I decided changes were needed and I decided I needed the magical properties of lavender (I’m all about the magic, dontcha know, and anything in the purple family). As I am wont to do, research first. Oh my goodness there are so many lavender body scents, and they are hardly inexpensive. Plus of course you can’t get a proper whiff through a computer screen.

After many hours of deliberation I went with Lavende (Lavender cologne) by L’Occitane and I am well pleased but it took some getting used to. My husband, on the other hand, voiced instant approval.

Because it is cologne, and not parfum, it doesn’t have, or it’s not supposed to have, staying power but I make sure it gets spritzed on my undies as well as my skin and hair and, on me, it lasts all day through to the next. Which means when I put my little keppie down for the night with my ping-pong brain, the scent lingers still. And ya know what?

I’ve been drifting right off to sleep! Almost as soon as my head hits the pillow!

(With the exception of Sunday night of course when I couldn’t get my husband to roll over on his side and the noise would have waked the dead and kept those of us who were alive, awake. Even the cats couldn’t take it and they decamped for the living room.)

Now I can’t really say that the scent of lavender is the reason I am enjoying sleepfulness. But – cause and effect? Or – expectations met? Because I believed it, it was so? Even tho I truly had no expectation that it would?

I changed perfumes because I wanted a change (after all these years). The new scent is pleasing to everyone who sniffs it. Not really all that expensive considering how large the bottle is. But P.S. and by-the-way, I’ve never had so many consistent good nights of (almost instant) sleep.

Whatever the reason, it’s a win-win all the way around. So may I suggest – trouble getting to sleep? Try lavender. (And if your husband snores, try a wedge pillow and lavender or – well, I’ll leave the other possibilities to your imagination and discretion.)