Wherever you are right now, I want you to shut your eyes and whisk yourself away to this scene in your mind for a few seconds. You’re somewhere warm — the sort of warm that means breeze carries no chill whatsoever, but rather comes laced with scent. Flowers, usually. Possibly some herbs and a whisper of that inimitable oceanic metallic edge, too. Ahead of you shimmers an enticing body of blue water, inviting you in. You’ll go once the sun has baked just a little more heat into you, you decide. No hurry anyway; you know no interruptions are due so you can really ease into a day of absolutely nothing bar breaking for food. Speaking of which, someone’s just handed you a fig. It’s perfect; velvety skin firm, innards juicy and ripe. You bite into it and the sensation and flavour burst alive in your mouth.
If you’re anything like me, that will all feel like something you’re craving deeply in your bones right now — and if you’re also currently sitting in grey old England at a desk, maybe you too want to parlay a little bit of that joy into your every day life rather than wait it out. To get us from bleak to heavenly holidays. The answer: perfume. It’s well-established that the olfactory bulb does more than just smell; it affects mood and conjures up memories, and is therefore the perfect way to evoke a sense of being on distant shores.
