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Saturday, January 15, 2011

Diffusing It! – The Most User Friendly Way To Scent The Home

By Olfactoria

After last week's Candle Post, we are going to take a look at Diffusers today.

Using Diffusers is a very practical and low-maintenance way to scent a room. Just put it up and the rest is great smell.

A Diffuser is a (hopefully pretty) vessel holding a liquid room fragrance, essentially the same as contained in a room spray. You stick in reeds, made from bamboo in most cases, and the scent diffuses along the reeds into the air, evaporating slowly. The practice allegedly comes from Italy, where spices and herbs where put in olive oil and spaghetti were put in as diffusing sticks.

A 100ml sized diffuser lets you enjoy the scent for at least two or three months, depending on the temperature in a room as well as its size. Funnily enough (I am certain there is a perfectly logical explanation for this, but I always abhorred physics, so don’t ask me!) the diffuser in the smallest room in my house, the bathroom, has to be replaced the most often. In large rooms evaporation seems to take longer.

I love that I only need to select a scent I like, assemble it (takes under 10 seconds, even for clumsy people) and need not think about it any more. I am only reminded of their existence when I get a whiff of great fragrance in passing, or when a guest comments or inquires after the good scent.

This is a good thing when you have children, who love to explore, are fascinated by fire or distract you at any given moment, all of which makes open fire (as in candles) a bit of a hazard. I just make sure to put the diffusers high up, then all is safe (except when you have a cat, tune in next week for scent solutions for cat owners).

I have a signature scent for each room of my house. I vary a little according to season or curiosity, but only in the living room. The other rooms tend to keep their assigned smell. My bathroom smells of fig leaves. The kitchen of Vanilla. The hallway always smells woody. The bedroom has Lavender. The boy’s room White Musk. My office smells of Bergamot or a similarly uplifting citrus blend, to keep me awake. The dining room gets Cinnamon or other spicy blends. In the living room I use the fancy stuff, meaning more complicated perfume-like scents, it is the only room where I like variety (and where that is tolerated - if not actively encouraged - by my husband.)

Anthousa (meaning “the perfect bloom”) is a very interesting brand specializing in Home Scents. I love many of their different fragrances, especially Sweet Basil and Heirloom Tomatoes, Fig Leaves and Bitter Almonds and Pomelo and Kumquat are scrumptious. No need to describe them their names say it all.

Italian perfumer Lorenzo Villoresi makes great perfumes, but he excels at making diffusers too. I love that I can scent my living room with perfumes I love to wear myself. Teint de Neige, Yerbamaté and Piper Nigrum are my favorites, each one catering to a very different mood.

A more affordable range of diffusers can be found at L´Occitane. They offer glass and reeds separately, to be filled with the scent of your choice, available in practical refill bottles. Their Fig Tree Leaf Home Perfume is what makes our toilet the best smelling one in the city Your browser may not support display of this image.

Diffusers are my best friends for providing an easy way to keep the home well scented, even if one doesn’t have a lot of time to devote to the topic.

Fragrant Greetings from Vienna, see you next week!

Availability of Anthousa and Lorenzo Villoresi through their websites or on First in Fragrance. In the US, Candles Off Main also carry Anthousa diffusers.

Image courtesy of Photo8.com

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29 Comments:

Blogger Carrie Meredith said...

I'm hearing lots of raves about the Anthousa line. I haven't used a diffuser in awhile, I've become a major candle huffer over the years. But I'm always open to the next thing I may fall in love with!

1:52 AM EST  
Blogger Tama said...

I got a Saint Perfume diffuser from Barney's as a gift in Amber - very lovely scent. Starting to fade, but still wafts around now and again. I'm going to add diffusers to my repertoire of home scenting.

Wow my verification word is almost my name, and a way many people spell it: tamma

2:45 AM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think bathrooms (being smallest rooms) have a better ventilation/cubic feet ratio than other spaces in a house.

Thank you for the interesting post.

2:47 AM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love that each room has a signature scent, what a great idea! And I agree with you on the L Villoresi, he makes some wonderful potions for the home, his Incenso is a favorite of ours for winter.
-Marla

4:55 AM EST  
Blogger Tara said...

Thanks for a really enlightening article, I was very ignorant about diffusers. Now I really like the idea and will start investigating L'Occitane's. Also like your signature scent concept for each room. Your home smells lovely!

8:28 AM EST  
Blogger Ines said...

I was looking forward to this. I have to check what is available here but I'm sure I can find some diffusers in our niche shops here.
I love easily maintainable solutions that also look nice.

P.S. I abhorred physics as well. :)

8:59 AM EST  
Anonymous Victoria said...

I have never used a diffuser at home, but I have used these at the office (to compare to some other room scents,) and I must say that Anthousia line is very impressive. The scents are also very nice.
Now, of course, I desperately want LV Yerbamaté diffuser! :)

9:39 AM EST  
Blogger Tammy said...

I am a total candle whore, but I do have several diffusers, and I enjoy them, too!

My favorites include Saint Parfum Fresh Cut Bouquet, Agraria's Santa Barbara PetiteEssence Collection, and DL&Co's Art Nouveau Set. (The bottles are exquisite!)

Thanks for another great post; I am very much enjoying your contributions and look forward to more reviews of home fragrances.

10:50 AM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi, Carrie Meredith, Anthousa is really a line worthy of falling in love with, the scents are great!

11:50 AM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Tama, I love that diffusers are so low maintenance, but deliver so nicely. My word verification just now was pashapoop, I kid you not! ;)

11:52 AM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love diffusers! I've been a long time fan, and aside from actual room sprays, I like them best for scenting the home.
Having a curious cat makes candles a rare (and well watched) treat that we don't indulge in much in my house.
Thanks for the review B!

11:53 AM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Undinaba,hello! Thank you for your explanation, even my scientist husband couldn't come up with anything useful!

11:53 AM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh, yes, Villoresi Incenso is great, should have added that. :)

11:56 AM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tara, thank you for the compliment! I'm glad to be of help! :)

11:57 AM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ines, if you ever need anything you cannot find in Zagreb I can easily mail it from here, it is not that far after all :)
Physics was my nemesis, I just never got it ;)

12:00 PM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ah, Victoria, I'm so glad I could inspire a desire in you. ;) Yerbamate is gorgeous.

12:02 PM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tammy, thank you very much!
The brands you mention sound interesting, have to look into them!

12:03 PM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dee, hi!
Next weeks post is dedicated to you and your cat then ;)

12:06 PM EST  
Blogger Marina said...

Your posts will be detrimental to my bank account, Birgit! :))

1:17 PM EST  
Blogger Carol said...

I use a diffuser in my office at work - since we cannot burn candles. Gosh that Basil and Tomato one is something I HAVE to sniff.

At home we're big incense-burning fans.

2:18 PM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm sorry, Marina! It is a little getting even for years of PST-induced perfume buys. ;)

2:41 PM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You know, Bloody Frida, I never tried burning incense yet, although I love the it as a note in perfumes. I guess it is too reminiscent of church for me. That is an association worth getting rid of probably. :)

2:44 PM EST  
Anonymous Marian said...

Because the diffuser in my bathroom is so (relatively) short-lived I always assumed it would be even hard to scent my larger rooms. Thanks for correcting me! Now I'm going to try :-)

8:42 AM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Marian, I was surprised too, but in my large rooms a diffuser is a very longlasting option, certainly more cost-effective than a room spray, I'd say.

1:45 PM EST  
Blogger David Adams said...

I love diffusers! We have them in every room of our house. We use mostly Anthousa and K. Hall. In our house, walking by a diffuser is like walking by a bouquet of flowers. A nice treat to awaken then senses.

If you have cats, you can use a diffuser hook to hang a diffuser on a wall to keep out of trouble. http://www.candlesoffmain.com/khalldiffuserhook.aspx

Thanks for the great post and for the mention!

5:48 PM EST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello Susan, thanks for the tip with the diffuser hook, great idea.
"Like walking past a bouquet of flowers" is a beautiful way to put it ! :)

6:43 AM EST  
Blogger http://www.webine.it said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

9:29 AM EST  
Blogger Maria said...

I also like diffuesers very much. Moreover, I turned to scientific point and learned about couple inventions, which are very helpful in diffusing certaqin scents. In particular, I didn't knew that their mechanic versions are so widely spread According to http://patentsbase.com/items/US-6144801-A, they are known since 1999! Did you know that?

6:57 AM EST  
Blogger Maria said...

That is a great idea about perfume diffusers, they are very-very-very helpful. I have read about their invention earlier
http://patentsbase.com/items/US-6877674-B2

2:54 AM EST  

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