Wow that smell reminds me of...

Many scents have a story. For me it’s on warm summer days when the honeysuckle is in bloom. The scent transports my brain to when I was a kid, playing in the backyard on summer break. When it happens, it’s like your eyes un-focus and you start looking inward, trying to access the memory at particular smell is bringing forward in your brain. Honeysuckle… I remember my dad teaching me how to suck the nectar out of a honeysuckle flower. You grab the end, pull it off while at the same time pulling out the insides. Then you suck the nectar out of the open end. My love of honeysuckles is what inspired Luke to make a Wild Honeysuckle candle.

What we love most about the power of scent is the stories people share with us when they smell our candles. We had someone tell us Tobacco Black Pepper reminded them of their grandpa’s pipe. For our friend Pam, the smell of our Blue Ridge Campfire flooded her brain with memories of their family camping trips. Why do our brains make this jump? What’s the science behind scent and memory association?

According to Psychology Today “The answer is likely due to brain anatomy. Incoming smells are first processed by the olfactory bulb, which starts inside the nose and runs along the bottom of the brain. The olfactory bulb has direct connections to two brain areas that are strongly implicated in emotion and memory:  the amygdala and hippocampus. Interestingly, visual, auditory (sound), and tactile (touch) information do not pass through these brain areas. This may be why olfaction, more than any other sense, is so successful at triggering emotions and memories.”

Well there you have it! Our anatomy is perfectly designed to associate smells with memories. So pick up a candle… smell it and let the fragrance transport you.