Among the shared - and theoretically shareable - principles there is evidence that all our best decisions are taken with the complicity of reasoning and of logic. Faced with a need or an obstacle, on average, most of us try to focus on the problem and to solve it with common sense and rationality.

But how do our senses, even unconsciously, come into play? Even when we are convinced that we have acted in the name of reason alone, be assured that a part of us will have followed the siren calls of our sensory needs, without, however, noticing their equal importance in relation to many other decision-making levers.

The subject is incredibly multifaceted, so let's proceed step by step: in this article the protagonist will be the sense of smell, the most ancestral, enigmatic and powerful of our senses.

Discovering the olfactory universe

As if they were our windows onto the world, the unconscious translation of our perceptions or, if you want, the database of emotions tried and stored over the years, perfumes can improve our daily experience, giving a touch of personality to the world that hosts us and colouring it with our most vibrant feelings.

Increasingly capable of gaining space in the vast universe of fragrances on the market, spices, essential oils and aromatic herbs represent out and out natural allies of well-being, which not only release very pleasant fragrances, but which at the same time fulfil our congenital need to obtain benefits for the health of body and mind.

Can we consider them remedies? Not entirely, it is obvious, but adjuvants certainly. There is no better cure to soothe respiratory fatigue, calm the mind, reorganise thoughts and purify the air.

Home and smells: our memory palace

So, for all the fans, let’s talk about furnishings. If the connection does not appear to be intuitive, try to answer this question: have you ever entered any space - a friend's home, a company meeting room, the store where you buy your clothes, a beauty salon, just to name a few - and detected an incredible and enveloping scent?

The reason why deep down this habit cannot be said to be recent may be found in the history of our brain: the part of it which processes the signals sent by the sense of smell is in fact one of those which formed first.

The use of aromatic herbs to revitalise inside spaces is therefore a practice known since ancient times: just think of the widespread use among the ancient Romans of crowning the statues of their Lares (spirits of the ancestors and gods of the house) with rosemary or of the typically feminine habit of obtaining primitive scents from resins and barks. It is often forgotten, but the Egyptians were the first to use essential oils for aromatic lamps, inhalation and therapeutic massages. 

The result? Now we know endless ways to scent an environment.

Room fragrances are nothing other than one of the sincerest forms of showing our true nature, with the gift of restoring the right importance to our emotional nature and sensuousness.

Among the five senses, the sense of smell is the only one which has its receptors connected to the memory area, the only one to viscerally interact with the brain. We all have an olfactory memory, a sort of emotional register linked to the decisive moments of our own great little history. To reproduce those scents is a bit like going back there, to that crystal of fossilized time, to find the same shelter we once had, reinterpreted through modern lenses.

To each personality (and environment) its indoor scent diffuser

To match a perfume with our home castle or place of beauty is a sign of care for others and towards oneself. It is a sign of welcome and, at the same time, of thoughtfulness for those who live there.

There are infinite natural (and ecological) solutions for as many preferences.

Our home is a universe with several small independent microcosms inside it: where the entrance requires a perfume which instinctively communicates our "welcome", it is in the living room that the goal of well-being is concentrated. The kitchen, by necessity or virtue, is the temple of aromas, while the bedroom is the place dedicated to rest, which can be helped by fragrances with relaxing properties.

One thing is certain: whether it is the fulfilment of the senses, olfactory ambience or attention towards our guests, diffusers can choose between various natural habitats and be inspired by the most sought-after blends of essential oils.

Each of us has a personal way of interpreting its purposes and effectiveness: with Segno we decided to write our own paraphrase, enclosing within it the values of elegance, design, material, naturalness, sustainability, locally-sourced product, aromatherapy, style and balance.

All that’s left is curiosity... which “Nota” best fits your way of life?