Vanilla essence.

I love vanilla as a scent. I remember Nan told me that when she was young they had no money for perfume and that she dabbed vanilla essence behind her ears for years.

My very favourite room scents are from Glass House, their candles and diffusers are divine.  If asked what I want as a gift I will sometimes say a Glass House candle in vanilla or caramel or diffuser.... the house smells so good then.

But my main stay is to use vanilla lots in the house and in my cleaning. I wipe the fridge out with a damp cloth with vanilla, countertops and I boil vanilla in water inside the microwave then wipe that out. This steams it up and scents the house at the same time!

I made vanilla the first time last year. All you do is run a knife along vanilla pods to open them up and drop them into a bottle of vodka. I used a whole bottle and about 12 vanilla pods. Then you shake that once a day. Thats it! You keep this up for at least 6 weeks. I think the longer the better. ie if you would like to do this as Christmas presents start it now and it will be amazing for Christmas. If you have vodka lurking in a cupboard this is a great way to use it up. I have a collection of little bottles and decant it into these. 

Now last time I had a disaster. After about 4 months I was digging around in my cupboard and something fell over. A domino effect had my vanilla essence fall on the floor and smash. I was so upset. All that time....  I cleaned it up and as you can imagine it was a big mess! Well.... it turned out to be the best accident ever! The house smelled gorgeous! And it lasted and lasted. People visited and said "your house smells beautiful" and Lucy came over and asked how I got it to smell so good!

So this happy accident made me realise that this stuff is my dream home fragrance and now I use it in a diffuser as well. So easy to make. Diffusers can be made several ways but one is to use scent in vodka and that is what this is anyway. So you just need bamboo skewers and a vase or whatever you like....

Using vodka or oils you can add any fragrance you love and then you have the liquid for a diffuser. So you could use essential oils or even a favourite perfume. I rotate the "reeds" as I go past once a day or so, just a couple of them.

I love scents as long as they are my favourites. That is very personal but our true loves make us feel beautiful, happy, comforted...

A little scent can go a long way and a good thing as most as very expensive. I love body powder. I buy the plainest unscented one I can find and pour it into a round box with a lid, that will just fit a powder puff. Then into that I spray a few sprays of Chanel No 5. After a day or so that whole batch of powder smells of Chanel no 5. It transforms it and it is just perfect, delicate and lovely. 

My friend loves to scent her whole house this way and it can be done with a real or "fake" fragrance and only a tiny amount is needed. Very luxurious!