Scents Trigger Memories:
What is your favorite smell ever, your comfort scent that sends you back to a fond memory, can you say off the top of your head what that is? I remember as a kid the scent of freshly washed towels right out of the dryer, the ones that smelled like warm buttered toast. If I could recreate that smell I would in a heartbeat. The smell of homemade pancakes also sends me straight back to the childhood cocoon of safety and anticipation of my father’s amazing breakfasts, way back in the days when my biggest concern was whether to use blueberry or raspberry syrup on those pancakes. Same with certain flower scents. Fast forward to present day, many experiences and favorite smells later. You do know that the sense of smell is the strongest link to emotions and memory, right? It is all about the area of the brain that processes information for the sense of smell. I wrote about this in an earlier post.
Create Your Own Spa Environment at Home
I have a new favorite smell. It is relaxing, it is soothing, it is a comfort smell, found in my all time favorite candle and now my new favorite soap. The scent is Chamomile Lavender by LAFCO, and the comfort this candle induces is intoxicating.
It is the go-to candle on my desk for when I really need to focus or be creative, because it puts me right into that zone. Friends who smell the candle when they come over agree. There is just something flat-out amazing about it! I feel quite certain that the other Lafco scents are as good, but I can’t bring myself to step away from this one. I should own stock in this company because I am responsible for a lot of sales… just saying.
Above is the Dallas Lafco Store, a great place to shop for gifts. My Lafco Chamomile Lavender obsession started with the gift of a candle and has since branched out to include the soap bars….
Which brings me back to the point of this post:
Did you happen to read Lynne Knowlton’s post on DIY laundry detergent? I was so intrigued by this, especially because you can create your own custom scent by grating a bar of soap into the mix ….hello…. How purely heavenly!! Laundry just got a lot less annoying. So here goes. You’ll never guess which soap I will use. Ha.
I highly recommend trying this.
Homemade Laundry Soap Recipe :
4 cups Borax
4 cups Super Washing Soda (made by Arm & Hammer)
4 cups oxiclean (optional & great for extra cleaning power)
1 container Downy unstopables (optional for extra scent)
1-2 bars of Fels Naptha or grated soap. You can use any soap that turns your crank.
Store in sealed container.
Use 2 tablespoons per load. (I totally cheat and use more).
and order some Lafco soap STAT! You will be forever spoiled after sleeping in dreamy scented sheets, I promise. Make your home as unique as you are; it is all in the details. A quick, easy and luxurious way to surround yourself with your favorite soap fragrance! Because… in the case of a great scent, more is better. Thank you Lafco, and thank you Lynne for the inspiration.
A Post Publishing note from the Editor:
FYI, The President of LAFCO read this article and Called Me Out:
…which I detail in another article I wrote on the quality of Lafco soaps. For a split second, I could have been embarrassed, but that would have been lame. I was thrilled that this impressive, intellectual president of a major company was reading my online publication. I had written an article about making your own customized scented laundry detergent. My scent of choice was a LAFCO soap (still is, btw), so the article was as much about LAFCO as it was the laundry detergent. Bresler informed me that while my scent choice was excellent, the very homeopathic things that make his soaps healing and nourishing for the skin might make them a less wise choice for the longevity of the fibers of our clothes. He kindly advised that a Marseille soap would be the better choice for that DIY Detergent. I thought that was pretty cool of him. So, the take-home message is STILL BUY THE SOAPS FOR YOU and buy Marseille soap for your custom scented detergent.
I am actually headed to NYC in December, with our friend Lynne Knowlton, and will definitely pick it up!!!
At the moment my favourite smell is the Commune de Paris Candle by Astier De Villatte.
Wonderful post Courtney! xo
Thanks Norma, idea originally brought to us by Lynne! I will have to keep an eye open for your candle, don’t know of it…
Scents have so much influence in my life. This I’m going to have to try though we have to get Lynne to come up with a liquid version, not all washers like dry soap. Thanks for the head’s up on Lafco, have to put this on the Dallas tour list. 🙂
on the list!!!
Ok this sounds positively delightful.
Except I feel guilty about avoiding the piles of laundry that are waiting for me right now…
Might just have to make some of this!
it all goes back to Lynne!
Personally I’m a vanilla or lavender girl. I’ll have to give this a try with lavender. I’m not familiar with Lafco – I’ll have to check it out. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Anita, let’s have another retreat soon and I will bring you some!
I really enjoyed this article Courtney! thanks for the info. Hope you are making time for your art!
Thanks, Maureen! Hope all is going well with you~