Follow Your Nose and Enjoy The Ride

Smell the smells

An experience that's often overlooked and taken for granted. Our nose is built in and is always there. But when you dive in deeper, focus on it and fine tune it, it opens up a whole new world.

Smells are what connects us with the present moment, our environment, our food and our preferred aromas in soap and cologne. At the same time, it can also surface up old memories. Either way, it's a very grounding experience. Situations, places and people in life often come with a smell. These smells can be pleasant, nasty, invigorating, captivating or even neutral.

Smells themselves, are what they are. It's a physical experience, yet it can't be seen, it can only be traced with the senses of your nose which is then connected to thought.

"This smell smells like so and so or this and that"...and that's when the nose-brain-soul connection ignites.

Follow your nose

Smells originate from just about anything and everything. Humans, plants, animals, fire, smoke, rain, wind and also lab-created synthetic smells. We make special connections with things that we smell with our noses, see with our eyes, taste with our tongues, touch with our skin and even feel with our spirit or intuition.

Sometimes you only get hit with a smell without actually seeing it. "Where is that smell coming from?" And you might follow your nose until you find it. 

Or "It smells like Grandpa's house." and you make the connection only through smell, which then can send you on a visual nostalgic journey.

Smells alone can bring back memories from 20 years ago when you were a teenager riding your bike and smelling a combination of fresh cut lawn grass, a charcoal BBQ, the lake-scented wind and the lemon drop in your mouth.

Enjoy the ride

It's important to stop and smell the roses, the fresh air, your favorite natural dude soap. Taking in a big whiff can be a conscious choice you make throughout the day, or, a random smell will stop you right in your tracks and purposely bring you into the present moment.

When I take walks through the woods, I like to pick various plants, roll it up between my fingers and smell them. Pine, fir, spruce, cedar, barks, green walnuts hulls, catnip, chamomile, and more. It's a reminder to enjoy the walk, the ride, the present, the now.

This is what inspired the aroma-blend and overall theme of our Wilderness Repair restorative body & hair soap. I smelled and documented the various aromatic layers out in nature to then combine them all into one restorative blend and experience that would carry over in the shower.

Speaking of smells

Recently at our Self-Care For Dudes booth at the farmers market, I had a unique couple stop by to smell the soap bars. They were smell-a-holics! They immediately dove in, nose first and began to call out the individual essential oils, herbs and extracts in our crafted aroma-blends inside our soaps. It was incredible! The dude said it was like smelling wine to him, as he shook the box of soap before he took another whiff. His lady was just as involved, smelling each bar as she closed her eyes and went on a aromatic journey. After smelling each bar for several minutes, they loved the blends and picked up the M.V.D. Bundle (Most Valuable Dude).

In conclusion

It's crucial to stop and actually smell the roses, the pine needles, your soap bars, your food, the wind, the works. It's a great way to enjoy the ride and ground in to the present.

See you out there!

JR // Creator of Self-Care For Dudes