You might remember that last fall we did a survey of 1,000 men and women to determine how scents play a role in our daily lives. 

According to the survey, men and women expect citrus scent to convey them as active and cheerful when worn, and when used in the home, men and women view citrus scents as energizing. 

We also teamed up with Mindy Green, expert aromatherapist and co-author of Aromatherapy: A Complete Guide to the Healing Art. She informed us that, “when scent is pleasant, you naturally breathe deeper. This can lower your blood pressure and slow down your heart rate, which triggers full body relaxation and reduces stress, a key component in maintaining optimal health.” 

                           Image found at http://bit.ly/xNPWu0

Now that we are one month into our New Year’s resolutions, this is the perfect time to reward yourself for sticking to your commitments for the first month and motivate yourself to continue to do so for the next 11. Why not treat yourself to an energizing scent like grapefruit to motivate yourself to maintain your goals? 

Whether you clean your home with the scent or apply it daily to keep skin moisturized, the grapefruit scent can do wonders for releasing stress and energizing your life.

Look for J.R. Watkins Grapefruit personal care and home care items and treat yourself to a small indulgence next time you’re shopping at Target!

This year we’ve been focused on scent—how it ties into who you are, the memories you have and understanding how it affects our daily rituals. One of our recent highlights was working with an aromatherapist, Mindy Green, who helped us learn more about how scent plays a role in our lives. 

Below are a few fun facts we learned throughout the entire process!

               [Photo used under Creative Commons from NedraI/Flickr]

• In a survey of 1,000 adults, most women described vanilla as a nurturing scent and men described it as exciting.


• Woodsy scents like sandalwood and cedar have base notes rooted to nature, triggering grounded and relaxed feelings.


• Taste is 80% aroma!


• Pleasant aromas help you breathe slower and deeply, lowering your heart rate and blood pressure to naturally calm you.


• In a survey of 1,000 adults, respondents described spicy scents as festive.


• When asked to choose one “scent personality” for their home, a majority of women chose lavender (35%), and men chose vanilla (25%). 


• Vanilla is considered an “exciting” scent for men, and a “nurturing” scent for women. Green says, “For men, this may be because of the unconscious recognition that vanilla is often used in aphrodisiac perfumes for women. For women, it may be the association with feeding the family with comfort foods such as cookies and puddings.”


• Floral scents are seen as elegant and welcoming when used in the home, but when worn, convey them as feminine, traditional and nurturing.

Is there a certain scent that ties directly to a memory for you?

Scent is a huge part of life whether you realize it or not, central to our lives, memories and mood. That’s why we work so hard at Watkins to make products with scents for different moments and personalities—from Calming Lavender Bath Soak to Rejuvenating Peppermint Foot Cream, and so much more! 

We’re excited to offer a new, fun Scent Personality quiz on our Facebook page to provide personal product recommendations for our fans.  Have you seen it?

If not, all you have to do are two simple things. First, “like” us on Facebook to take the quiz, and second, take the quiz! 

             Visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/JRWNaturals

Bonus!

Not only will you find out what scent best fits with your personality and lifestyle, you will also be entered in a drawing to win a fabulous gift basket full of our finest J.R. Watkins natural products! What could be better? 

Happy discovering! Let us know: what is your scent personality?

Welcome to our second blog post that goes behind the scenes with Watkins product experts. This week’s question is:

How do you decide which scent goes with which product?

Jessica Looman, Associate Product Manager:

When a product already exists and JR Watkins is looking to expand the product line with a new fragrance, we often consult sales data, talk to fragrance vendors about the latest up-and-coming fragrances and research trends. The process is very similar for new product launches as well. We choose fragrances based on both data and inspiration. Sometimes customers will call with suggestions and, now that we’re on Facebook and Twitter, customers have the opportunity to share their opinions through polls and suggestions.

Readers, do you have a suggestion for a new JR Watkins scent? Let us know in the comments!

Welcome to a new series on the JR Watkins Naturals Clear Conscience Blog! We’re going behind the scenes with Watkins product experts, picking their brains on how the products are made. Each week we’ll ask the pros a new question. This week’s question is:

How do you choose new scents?

Amy Ospeth, Associate Product Manager – Apothecary, says:

We generally choose the fragrance of a new product based on market research. We monitor fragrance trends in the marketplace, and our fragrance vendors also help by identifying up-and-coming trends. Once direction is determined, we receive submissions from fragrance houses, narrow them down to a handful and then panel test them against one another. Generally, the fragrance with the most votes in the panel test is what we move forward with.

Readers, do you have a favorite JR Watkins scent? Let us know in the comments!