I love the sense of scent

I'm not about to rank my five senses.  I am blessed and grateful to have them all, but I'd like to single out the sense of smell today.

I love scents.  It's why I have a closet shelf brimming with all sorts of candles.  Anytime I see candles on sale I buy some.  I love the back room at Root Candle down in Medina.  I usually have a candle burning in my office everyday.  The same goes for the kitchen.  At night I'll light multiple candles in the living room.  In the summer my gazebo glows with flickering candle light and I'm soothed by the scent.

I also enjoy incense, usally burning a stick or cone a couple of times a day.  My favorite is Nag Champa from India.  It's probably the most highly rated insense out there.  

Then there's perfume.  Ah the scent of a woman, right Al Pacino?  Some people can't stand those perfume and cologne ads in magazines.  Not me.  I tear them out and collect them.  

As for my personal choice of cologne, I like to mix it up but presently don't use one.  Instead I've found an alternative.

I first came upon a Lush store in San Fransisco.  The scents wafted onto the street and, like a cartoon character, I felt myself lifted and floating into the establishment.  So many cool soaps, shampoos, body washes, bath bombs and oh those smells.  I was hooked.  

My favorite is their shower gels.  For the last couple of years I stuck with Tramp, a patchouli scented concoction that's no longer available.  I did stock up on it, still having one bottle left.  But last month I felt I needed a change up for the summer as I perused the Beachwood Place store, the only one in Cleveland.  I settled on Dirty, a refreshing minty smell.

A large bottle of these shower gels isn't cheap, running around $25.  Here's the trick though.  You just need a dab of it after you've washed your hair and body with regular soap and shampoo. It's very concentrated and leaves a lasting scent.  A pleasant scent that's not overpowering and takes the place of cologne. So in the end I'm actually saving money by not having to buy expensive colognes.  

Of course I also love the scent of foods, a wood fire, a freshly mowed lawn, and on and on.  It's the little things in life, after all, isn't it?