LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – For 17 years, Terri Arthur, owner of Fragrance of Heaven, has helped people relive their memories by helping them make their own custom scents.
Making a custom scent
Arthur walked us through the process of creating a custom scent. Customers pick the scents and the color, measure the oils, and mix the wax and oils. The mixture is then poured into a container and given a name.
During one session, Arthur and a customer named a scent “Memories Behind the Scents.” Arthur said, “I love that! And that’s what I always tell everybody. Scent is the closest thing to memory. So you can smell something and it’s going to take you right back to 6th grade. That’s what’s beautiful about scent.”
The science behind scent and memory
Arthur said smell is the closest thing to memory. Dr. Ashish Sarangi, M.D., a psychiatrist with Texas Tech Health Science Center, said memories are triggered instantly because of a direct pathway from the nose to the amygdala, the part of the brain that processes emotions, and the hippocampus, which stores memories.
“For example, the smell of soil like when it rains or pumpkins can remind you of like festivals when you used to get together with family members when you were younger,” Sarangi said. “So certain smells can trigger happy memories when you’re with family and…can also trigger some traumatic memories as well.”
Scents tied to emotion
Arthur said custom scents can range from baby showers to seasonal blends to memorials for lost loved ones.
“And then like when you’ve lost someone, yeah, it can be a definite emotional tie,” Arthur said. “My dad died in 1980, and that tie of dirt always reminds me of when we were on the tractor with him and stuff like that. And it takes me right back to when he was alive. And so it’s very emotional.”
Arthur said her box of custom scent recipes is priceless, not just for the formulas, but for the memories each one holds.
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