Moving into a new year always feels like a fresh start. We’re still enjoying the coziness of a crackling fire in the fireplace. But I also appreciate the lightness brought back into my space after packing away the holiday décor. One way to enhance this lighter feeling is with scent. Spicy, woodsy blends are still warm and relaxing this time of year and I do keep their undertones as my midwinter fragrance base. But, for a lighter twist, I brighten them up with traces of citrus, floral or fruit. The fresh notes in this Valentine’s Day Fragrance Simmer hint that spring is not far away.
I thought it might be fun to experiment with a romantic fragrance simmer in the month of February. Something heavy and exotic blended with a flirty splash of citrus. I like that tension between smoldering and innocence. Hope it hits your sweet spot as well!
Valentine’s Day Fragrance Simmer Ingredients:
As a backdrop for Valentine’s Day, these culinary ingredients have a bit of luxury/sophistication attached to them. Pomegranate, orange, cardamom, vanilla and cinnamon are all steeped in a hibiscus tea base.
You can save and reuse this fragrance simmer for several days. The ingredients are all food-grade. They are a clean aromatherapy choice and safe for the compost pile. (If you are a true composter, not to worry; citrus peels in small amounts are fine to add to your mix).
Measured amounts are in the Valentine’s Day Fragrance Simmer recipe below. I’ve also included a small narrative on each ingredient’s association with romance.
Pomegranate
Association With Romance:
The pomegranate appears quite often in literature. The fruit symbolizes innocence, beauty, and purity as well as seduction and temptation. The crimson color embodies passion.
The nightingale in Romeo and Juliet sings in a pomegranate tree. According to mythology, Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love planted the first pomegranate tree. Persephone, Greek goddess of agriculture, returned to the underworld for a third of each year as penance for eating a pomegranate. Her return to earth signaled the beginning of spring.
Fragrance Profile:
Green, Woody, Earthy, Fruity, Floral, Sweet, Musty.
Fun Facts:
The pomegranate is indigenous to Iran and its neighboring countries. An aril is a small seed pod inside the fruit. Pomegranates are antioxidant-rich and a healthy addition to a nutritious diet. Historically, the pomegranate is a symbol of marriage and fertility.
Orange
Association With Romance:
Oranges symbolize opulence. Before the 19th century, the fruit was very expensive and hard to ship. Oranges were a commodity for the wealthy and elite. It was a luxury to receive an orange as a Christmas gift. From that point on, oranges became a part of the Season of Giving. The color orange embodies flame and fire. The fruit is a symbol of love, marriage, and fertility.
Fragrance Profile:
Citrusy, clean, fresh, tangy, upbeat, cheerful, flirty.
Fun Facts:
The Mayo Clinic reports citrus aromas are often useful in curbing stress and anxiety. The word orange does not come from its color. Research links it to a Tamil word meaning “fragrant.” BBC News reports that 8 million years ago, oranges were only found in foothills of the Himalayas.
Cardamom
Association With Romance:
Cardamom is another ingredient attached to luxury. It is one of the most expensive spices in the world. Cardamom enhances Indian, Scandinavian, and Middle Eastern cuisine. The Greeks and Romans expanded its use from cooking into aromatic oil for perfume. The spice symbolizes passion, love, ceremony and aphrodesia. It is also associated with concentration, calming, and soothing.
Fragrance Profile:
Complex, Smoky, Sweet, Spicy, Woodsy, Herbal, Citrusy.
Fun Facts:
Cardamom is a member of the ginger family. It originated in India and is also grown in Guatemala. Purchase it as a whole pod, shelled or as a ground powder. Green cardamom is the common variety and found in sweeter dishes. Black cardamom pods are larger and smokier and usually reserved for savory meals. Grinding the hard black seeds inside the pods make the spice powder. Ground seeds, however, lose flavor quickly.
Vanilla
Association With Romance:
Vanilla is a scent related to warmth, softness, caring, purity, simplicity, pastries and baking. The Perfume Chronicles ties vanilla not only to love, but lust. A 2018 article notes “The orchid, which gives us the vanilla pod, comes from the Greek “orchis,” whilst the word “vanilla” itself probably comes from the Latin “vaina.” Both reference male and female reproductive organs. Bet you didn’t know your bottle of vanilla was that “saucy!”
Fragrance Profile:
Floral, Toasty, Smoky, Warm
Fun Facts:
The vanilla orchid originated in Mexico. It is not a bean, but rather the fruit of the orchid. Vanilla is grown in small sections of the world, with Madagascar producing 80% of the fruit. Vanilla is also rated as one of the most expensive spices to purchase. Synthetic vanilla essence is a key note in many famous perfumes, from Cartier’s Must to Chanel’s Coco.
Cinnamon
Association With Romance:
Cinnamon is an age-old spice symbolizing fertility, love, spirituality, protection, good luck and health. It is also associated with abundance and prosperity. Homes and Gardens explains that “Cinnamon is used in wealth-attracting rituals, (such as blowing cinnamon through the front door for abundance), so it has a lot of historical backing in this respect.”
Fragrance Profile:
Spicy, Warm, Enticing, Comforting, Sweet.
Fun Facts:
Cinnamon receives praise for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It comes from the dried inner bark of a tree native to Sri Lanka and Malabar coast of India. The average cinnamon tree grows to about 60 feet in height. Cinnamon sticks are also called “quills.”
Hibiscus Tea
Association With Romance:
Hibiscus embodies youth, beauty, and femininity. Depending on the color, the flower of the hibiscus illustrates sunshine, happiness, good luck, passion, love, royalty and friendship. The seeds, flowers, leaves and stems of the plant are ingredients in culinary recipes and traditional medicine. Hibiscus is popular in jams, jellies, syrups and teas.
Fragrance Profile:
Floral, Fruity, Tart, Light, Sweet.
Fun Facts:
Hibiscus is an edible, flowering plant native to Africa and Asia. It belongs to the mallow family and may grow as a perennial, annual shrub, or tree. The edible part are the calyxes, not the petals. Hibiscus is sour, refreshing, and high in antioxidants. It has many health benefits, but can be toxic at very high levels.
Valentine’s Day Fragrance Simmer Recipe:
(Disclosure: Late Bloomer in Bakerville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a way for websites to earn advertising revenues by advertising and linking to Amazon.com )
1 Medium Pomegranate (cut into 4 slices)
1 Medium Orange (cut into 4 slices)
2 Teaspoons Ground Cardamom
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
1 Hibiscus Tea Bag (I used this one – it has hibiscus in it)
Place all ingredients in a dutch oven.
Fill with water.
Place on stovetop to simmer.
Links Related to Valentine’s Day Fragrance Simmer:
If you’re interested in other seasonal home simmers or green fragrance options, you can also access these: