Nature Makes Perfect Scents

Do you have a favorite scent from nature?  A scent that reminds you of a special occasion, a special place, or person? One of my favorite scents from nature is the smell of Georgia honeysuckle in the springtime.  It’s a little odd to me that one of my favorite scents is actually from an invasive weed but I absolutely love the smell of honeysuckle.

When I was growing up in North Georgia we lived on 5 acres with only two neighbors and lots of woods to play in.  My younger brother and I were always outside exploring the old paths in the woods pretending that they were old roads and looking for hidden treasure.  I don’t think we ever found anything exciting but we always had fun on our expeditions.  I knew it was spring when I would start to smell the honeysuckle on our journeys.  You could smell the honeysuckle before you would actually see it in bloom.  In addition to the sweet smell of honeysuckle I loved the white flowering blooms; did you know they produce a sweet honey nectar that you can actually eat?  We would collect the flowers, remove the stamens, and suck out the ‘honey.’  The blooming season never lasted very long so we indulged ourselves on the honeysuckle while we could.

We moved out of that house right after high school.  My brother moved away not long after he graduated and we both went our separate ways.  We stay in touch but it’s not quite the same as it was when we were little.  When I got married after college my husband and I bought our first house in West Georgia and we had some honeysuckle on our property but not nearly as much as what I grew up with.  Not long after we moved to Florida and I haven’t smelled the scent of honeysuckle in nature for years.  When I find lotions, candles, or cleaning products that smell like honeysuckle I always buy them to bring back those childhood memories.

Memories like this one are exactly why Seventh Generation uses natural fragrances like lavender, mint, citrus, and ginger fresh from the field in their dish soaps.  To celebrate the Nature Makes Perfect Scents sweepstakes, Seventh Generation is offering you a chance to win a trip for two to visit France or Italy.  I would love to visit France and see the lavender fields in bloom.

I wrote this blog post while participating in a SocialMoms and Seventh Generation blogging program, for a gift card worth $50.  For more information about how you can participate click here.

Photo source: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/843115