Beauty Swellness: The power of scent

September 15, 2016

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to visit Terre Bleu Lavender Farm thanks to Pine-Sol, and it was all to learn about the power of scent. Fragrance is, of course, a big industry not just when it comes to the perfume you wear but also in products you use, including your household cleaners like Pine-Sol.

I learned from Lauren Otis (of Pine-Sol R&D) and David Ballingall (of International Flavours and Fragrance) that they take inspiration from a range of categories, including fashion, food and beverage and home care. Clorox (the maker of Pine-Sol) works with the 3Ds in mind, that is desire, decide, delight when developing a product’s scent: they work to understand a consumer’s needs, and aim to surpass expectations when it comes to that need, which results in delight, which leads to desire for the product and, if all goes well, the consumer will decide to buy that product once again.

Lavender Pine-Sol, which has been on the market for a few years, came about because lavender exudes a clean freshness, and there is much research about its aromatherapy benefits. Otis and Ballingal spoke about how scent helps us interpret the world around us, and how it can evoke memories and transport us to another time and place. We all know how true that can be; a scent that always takes me back to my childhood is the scent of lilacs because we used to have lilac trees in our backyard.

If you’ve wondered how developing fragrance for bath and body differs from that of a  household cleaner, Otis and Ballingal said factors such as strength, bloom and substantivity come into consideration. What’s that mean? Well, this will help paint the picture a little better: while you might want some lingering scent from your body wash, it is possible you don’t want the lasting fragrance to be too strong since you may also be applying body lotion, perfume and hairspray and any number of other products after your shower. For your household cleaner, on the other hand, a longer lasting fragrance is what many of us want since that fresh scent will come to denote a clean bathroom, for example, for you and your family and any visitors.

Learning about the power of scent was all that much more lovely since we were doing it while dining on a delicious citrus and lavender-infused lunch at the pretty Terre Bleu farm (where I’m definitely returning next summer before the lavender has been harvested!). Lunch complete, we toured the farm and were sent home with lovely lavender goodies, including of course, Pine-Sol to get our homes clean and fresh.

 

 

Filed under: Beauty Swellness

Tags: fragrance, lavendar farm, lavender, scent, Terre Bleu