It should surprise no one that, according to a recent study published in Current Biology, the number one scent chosen across most of the world to evoke feelings of warmth and comfort is vanilla. After all, vanilla is the base-note of the cookie, and Americans love their cookies! Smelling something with real vanilla included into its perfume is a way of transporting yourself to the time when Grandma made us cookies, fed them to us with a glass of milk and a cuddle. Is it too much to say that allowing a sumptuously sweet yet complex candle like Sanari’s Biscotti to cushion our senses with vanilla bean, nutmeg, and cinnamon reminds us of what it feels like to be safe and loved? Maybe, but scent is a powerful memory inducer-and when times are tough, having a simple way to access those memories.
Baked goods aside, since not all cultures enjoy the same sweet treats, the scientists who conducted this study chose individuals from all walks of life-including city dwellers, indigenous hunter-gatherers, and people from traditional rural farming and fishing communities from places like Mexico and Thailand, but also within the US. Unequivocally, the team found the scent found to be most pleasant was vanillin, the main component in vanilla bean extract. The study concluded that there is a universal odor perception that goes beyond cultural influences! Other scents were rated to various results, but vanilla was one that all participants from all cultures could agree on!
Granted, we are in the August of a summer that has been oppressively hot, and one might not want to think to imagine hot ovens and warm hugs but consider that on any given day we are confronted with all manner of ugliness and stressors. We are still being urged to socially distance ourselves! To seek the comfort and clarity provided by Biscotti. Also, most ice-cream flavors use vanilla as a base note before adding any other ingredients. What is more summery than ice-cream cones on a hot day? The lure of that vanilla scent wafting out of the ice cream parlor is half of the reason you enter in the first place!
You can get all that comfort and peace without a single calorie by lighting one of Sanari’s vanilla-based candles. For the more traditional sweet scent of we recommend the Biscotti scented candle, but for a tropical twist, try Sanari’s Sorbetto scent, which combines vanilla with Blood Orange, and Coconut-this is the scent to light on a porch with a swing or for a beach-side massage.