002. Wild Sage + Co
A story of getting back to ancestral roots and the healing power of plants.
One thing we’ve learned, since trading city for country and moving to a little farm in Wales, is how the best things in life usually are the simplest. The same tried and tested truth applies to our wellbeing.
The amount of books on wellness, conflicting Instagram accounts and complicated advice can make you feel like nourishing yourself is an art form. Whereas it’s actually more instinct than knowledge.
We’re sharing a few easy ways that scent can transform your well-being. These tips are simple and steeped in age-old wisdom.
First, though, does scent even play a role in your well-being? The answer is a resounding yes, and here’s why.
Most of our senses, sight and sound for example, send messages to one part of our brain which acts as a sort of switchboard, then relaying information to the rest of the brain. Scent however is wired differently. Scent travels straight to our limbic system which houses the crucial parts of our brain that process our emotions and is where we store memories.
This is just one of the reasons there are extensive studies around the science of scent and how it impacts how we feel. Our sense of smell, even more so than what we taste, see or hear, has the ability to change what we’re feeling.
Naturally, candle makers and perfumers have been tapping into the power of scent for hundreds of years now. Here at Great House Farm Stores our seasonally inspired refillable candles are all made with an Original Scent Recipe that harnesses the power of scent to change how you feel.
While lighting a scented candle is one simple and effective way to transform your wellbeing, there are a myriad of other techniques you can use day-to-day.
One little known way to use scent day-to-day is to pause and take a big sniff of your own wrist. This is a trick of the trade in the perfume world, also in wine and drink tasting. Sniffing your wrist helps resist an overwhelmed nose by flooding it with a familiar smell. We’ve found it works wonders when you’re feeling overwhelmed, stressed and a bit all over the place.
Where possible, one of the oldest tricks in the book is incredibly effective: throw open a window! Even if it’s a little on the chilly side it’s worth layering up and spending an hour with the windows wide open at home. It’s great for the overall feel of your home, a fresh breeze almost acting like a Spring clean, but it also sends deeply calming, restorative signals to your brain.
All scents have a direct impact on how we feel but nature scents are the most effective at sharpening cognitive function and helping us de-stress.
When life has taken more than it’s given and you need to really unwind, a scented candle is your best choice. With a carefully layered fragrance designed to help you unwind and feel restored we consider our refillable candles to be fragrant prescriptions.
It’s not just the scent either, the tactile act of striking a match and the soothing flicker of candlelight all contribute to your de-stressing. Try our Rest, Calm or Restore scents for the ultimate in wellness-boosting burns.
Whether you need to focus on your work or you’re craving creative ideas scent can be a brilliant ally in fostering inspiration. Bringing scent inside your home, in the form of fresh flowers or foliage, is one of our go-to methods for sparking inspiration.
You don’t need to spend a fortune at a florist (though that’s an indulgence we’re firmly in favour of), gathering greenery from the garden is therapeutic in itself and can still add a lovely background fragrance to your home.
One thing to keep in mind, when selecting your scents, is to choose based on how you’re feeling, and how you are, rather than just your scent preferences. This applies to everything from your scented candles to your perfume, body products and even what flowers your fill your home and garden with.
We can easily get stuck into scent ruts. Some people fall in love with the smell of lavender and then seek that out in every product for example. For others it may be rose, oud or iris. But while it’s good to know what scents you like, you can miss the opportunity scent has to support your wellbeing if you only go for your old favourites.
There’s a lot of guidance out there, teaching you about what impact different scents can have. For example, lavender and chamomile are well known for their relaxing properties. But, in truth, as scent is so connected to memory each person will be affected by scent differently. The best option is to smell a wide range of fragrances but do it with intention, pausing and take a deep, slow inhale. As the scent settles in you take a moment to notice how it makes you feel.
We designed our Discovery Tealight Pack to help you on this journey of scent discovery. It contains six of our Original Scent Recipes so you can work your way through a wide range of scents, learning as you go which ones to turn to in which moment.
Just as what you eat, how you sleep and how you move can have a radical impact on how you’re feeling, so too can scent.
Successfully tapping into the power of scent can play a huge part in boosting your wellbeing. Whether it’s helping you to unwind after a stressful day, or to energise you during an afternoon slump. Start considering, alongside your other daily rhythms, how to introduce moments of scent to change how you feel.
Great House Farm Stores was founded by sisters, Roanna Day and Abbie Price. Both have a lifelong belief in the value of authentic living, in making their lives into offerings of love, creativity and truth.
Great House Farm Stores candles were born out of the sisters’ passion to transform every moment with original candle recipes that harness the incredible power of scent.
A story of getting back to ancestral roots and the healing power of plants.
A story of creativity and connection, from the hills of South Wales.
and then