Relearning the Language of Scent

There was a time in my life when I loved fragrance in every form.

It started with a love of scented markers and scratch and sniff stickers, then quickly became ripping open the glued-down perfume samples in glossy magazines, taking deep whiffs of whatever I could uncap in the shampoo aisle at CVS, burning anthro candles and scented oils from the Body Shop with a little tea light underneath… clipping vanillaroma trees to my rearview mirror… scented body wash, scented lotion… then let’s add a little body spray and perfume.   

Vanilla. Coconut. Amber. Ocean Breeze. Fresh Linen. Apple Blossom. 

I never questioned where any of those smells came from. I never wondered what they were made of… until I got pregnant with my first child, my daughter Grace.

Pregnancy sharpened everything. Heightened instincts, newfound protectiveness over my body, acute awareness of what I was breathing and putting on my skin. I had already begun learning about endocrine-disrupting chemicals and synthetic fragrance blends hiding inside conventional products — you know, those ingredients legally protected and masked behind one vague word on a label: fragrance.

So I started swapping. 

Scented candles went first, or at least most of them. I couldn’t bear to throw out my blue volcano ones from Anthro for a while.  Or my wedding perfume.   I tapered down on scented lotions and sprays. 

Much to Ethan’s dismay, I cleaned the house with lemon juice, vinegar, and baking soda. Then I bought the “cleaner” options and tried more than a few greenwashed brands that promised “pure” and “clean” and delivered disappointment in a pretty bottle. 

If I’m honest, much of these swaps fell flat. They were safer, yes… but uninspired. And I found that I really missed SCENT!  

Back to Smells 

When Grace was about six months old, I was introduced to essential oils. I was actually looking for help with my sleep (see another blog for lots on this topic) but when I opened those pretty little bottles for the first time, they didn’t smell like versions of something. What I smelled came ALIVE! The oils were bright, distinct, layered, and complex. Sometimes sharp. Sometimes grounding. But undeniably botanical. 

I also realized I could enjoy scent again without that underlying question of what I was inhaling.

What I didn’t expect was what happened next.

After months away from synthetic fragrance during pregnancy, and then gradually reintroducing scent through essential oils, my sensitivity toward FAKE smells recalibrated.  

Not because I was trying to become sensitive.. because I started spending more time with real plant “fragrance” – real essential oils in my home … and eventually, experiencing farms, distilleries with real lavender fields and citrus peels and frankincense resin and cistus shrubs that turned into these oils I use every day.  

When you immerse yourself in what’s real… your body remembers, it wakes up… and this is extremely important because of how the sense of smell impacts our internal world.  

Olfaction Matters.. 

Here’s the science part (because it matters and you KNOW I love my science): 

Your sense of smell isn’t just “in your nose.” Olfactory neurons are the only sensory neurons directly exposed to the outside world and directly wired into your brain.  

This system is SUPER unique in that olfactory neurons are the only sensory neurons that take in information from the external environment and send signals straight into the brain without first passing through the frontal cortex – smell connects directly to the limbic system, particularly the amygdala and hippocampus, which govern emotion, memory, stress response, and learning.

Researchers have also found olfactory receptors in organs throughout the body, including the lungs, gut, and skin, where they help regulate inflammation and cellular communication.

ALSO!  Smell isn’t decorative or “extra”. Smell is deeply involved with our body’s basic functions, regulation, cognition and nervous system health… which is exactly why research on essential oils and aromatherapy keeps showing that certain natural compounds can influence alertness, calm, focus, and emotional balance — not magically, but biochemically.  Or maybe they are a bit of the same thing?  

That’s why a smell can transport you instantly, and why certain scents calm you – or trigger tension – before you consciously register them. Smell bypasses logic, it is both instant and ancient and deserves our attention and care.  

But here’s a big problem. When we flood that system with synthetic fragrance (aka mystery cocktails of petroleum-based chemicals engineered to overpower and cling)  we’re not just making things “smell good”,  we are overriding a system that has evolved to help keep us alive.

Recalibrating The Sense of Smell 

So here’s what happened when my sense of smell started waking up again.

I walk into a mall now and feel like I’ve been hit by a wall of department store perfume.

I walk through my neighborhood and can tell exactly which houses just did laundry. That “clean” smell drifting out of dryer vents doesn’t register as fresh to me anymore. It smells like solvents and masking agents and synthetic musks.

I can taste dish soap in a water bottle that’s been washed and air-dried.

Not because I’m dramatic or trying to be annoying… because my body knows the difference now.

Once you relearn the language of real scent, crushed herbs, soil after rain, citrus zest, pine needles, flowers that actually smell like flowers… you can’t unlearn it.

At first, it’s inconvenient. Hotels, stores, public bathrooms, other people’s cars can feel overwhelming. You start noticing how saturated our world is with artificial smell.

At the same time my sensory system was recalibrating, my awareness was expanding.

I learned that the word fragrance or parfum on a label isn’t a single ingredient — it’s a legal loophole. A protected trade secret that can represent dozens, even hundreds or thousands, of undisclosed chemical compounds, many never independently tested in combination for long-term inhalation safety. Companies aren’t required to disclose what’s inside that one word… even if you ask them!  

So when I compare those unknowns to a label that simply reads lavender (lavandula angustifolia) or lemon (citrus limon) — from a single plant, or a unique blend of those pure botanicals…there is no contest. 

One is a proprietary mystery cocktail engineered for performance.  Designed to fabric, cling to surfaces, linger for hours and weeks because its chemical formula resists breakdown. 

The other is… plants.

Great news!  Our olfactory neurons regenerate roughly every 30–60 days. They adapt to what they’re repeatedly exposed to. When the background noise lowers, the contrast increases… so buckle up for the best sensory upgrade of your life!  

For more than a year, my experience with oils was simply personal. I had never laid eyes on a piece of distillation equipment or got my hands in the dirt at an essential oil farm… I was just paying attention to how my body responded.  Eventually, I did go to visit the farms. I saw the soil, the harvest, the distillers, the variability from batch to batch that only happens when something is grown.

It confirmed what my nervous system already knew.

These weren’t laboratory recreations. They were plants — carrying the chemical fingerprint of where they came from. Fingerprints that work so beautifully with our bodies… in this inexplicable mix of art and science and nature and love.  

Choose What You Breathe

In a world (country) where legal protections lean toward companies, not consumers… transparency is integrity. And peace of mind.  And time, money, stress saved.  

After years of imperfect swaps, greenwashing, vinegar experiments, and sensory recalibration, I found something that bridged safety and beauty — oils and products that let me enjoy scent without questioning what I’m breathing.

That’s why I’ve used Young Living in my home for over a decade.

And now, with botanical fine fragrance like Wyld Notes — made entirely from plant extracts and essential oils — I have PERFUME AGAIN!!!  Yes, there are even now ways to wear personal fragrance that align with how our bodies are designed to process aroma: layered, complex, alive.

Have the audacity to hold your standards higher and watch the industry match them.  

So if you’ve ever felt overstimulated by scent in a store…if you’ve ever been bombarded by the exhaust of someone’s dryer sheets pumping through your neighborhood.. or if you’ve cleaned up your cleaning and personal products but you’re quietly missing the good smells…

I GET IT!   I’m here to help… and to remind you that sometimes you just need to let your body breathe long enough to remember what REAL smells like.

If you’re ready to hold your standards higher — and still have beautiful aromas in your life — I’ve made it simple to explore…

If you’re curious about exploring pure essential oils, you can shop through my Young Living link here:

And if you’d like to experience botanical fine fragrance, check out Wyld Notes here: