What's That Smell? It's a Holiday Giveaway!

Friday, November 12, 2010

It's a fact: Scent triggers memory. And that's not just a fact in my head. The New York Times says it, so it must be true! That's how facts work, right?

In keeping with yesterday's post, it's funny how a surprise whiff of some unexpected scent can send you hurtling back to some memory you thought was tucked away. How certain smells are inextricably linked to things that technically have no relation, like today when my mom & I walked into a craft store. "It smells like Christmas!" I exclaimed (like a good Jewish girl). "That's cloves," my mom explained. Not Christmas. But my brain begged to differ. Similarly, I loathe the scent of coconut because it reminds me of the time I drank too much rum at a Jimmy Buffet-themed party my freshman year of college. That's similar, right?

Annnyway. My friend & former roommate Cortney recently became an individual consultant for Scentsy, which sells aromatic candles described as "decorative warmers with wax melted by the heat of a light bulb instead of a traditional wick and flame." Basically, candles that aren't at risk of burning your whole house down. Score one for safety!

As the holidays approach, Cortney's store, Defy the Wick, is hitting its stride, & she asked if I'd like to host a giveaway to share the memory-scented love with my readers. (P.S. I recognize that "memory-scented love" sounds awkwardly sexual. Unintentional, I promise.) That means... (drumroll please)...

GIVEAWAY!

The goodies: One reader will win a warmer & scented bar of his or her choice from Defy the Wick, valued at around $40. The warmers, some of which are featured below, come in eleventy billion designs & themes, including holiday (reindeer! snowflakes! menorahs!), universities (Brigham Young but not Ohio State? Seriously?), military branches (sadly, no Coast Guard), sports & your typical year-round decorative variety. The bars (wickless candles, a.k.a. the scented part) last foreverish & come in 41 scents, including a fall & winter collection with scents like gingersnap & pralines. Yes, please. Also, did I mention you won't be at risk of burning your house down?

 

The rules: Leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite memory-related scent. What gets you all misty-eyed & nostalgic? Please enter with a valid email address so that I can contact you should you win.

The bonus entries: Because I dig extra opportunities to score free stuff, you'll get one additional entry for doing each of the following. If you do any of these, please leave a separate comment to let me know.
  • Follow Suburban Sweetheart using Google Friend Connect on the right-hand side of the blog.
  • Follow @defythewick on Twitter.
  • Become a fan of Cortney's Scentsy site, Defy the Wick, on Facebook.
  • Tweet about this giveaway with a mention of me (@heysuburban) and/or @defythewick.
This giveaway will remain open for one week & will close on Saturday, Nov. 20th. Enter away! Tell your friends! Go buy wickless candles! LOVE ME!

54 comments:

  1. Whenever I smell the scent of Polo Sport, it makes me nostalgic for my 8th grade bf!

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  2. the inside of the spice cabinate at my parents house every time i go in there reminds me of how my grandma used to let me "cook" when i was little (and she was still alive) by pouring lots of different spices into water.

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  3. I am also a google friend as heartbreakhairdye (I couldn't figure out how to make that work for my original post

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  4. First of all... I am the biggest scent junky on earth---I will seriously sniff-fight anyone for this title....Secondly...Walking outside during the fall, especially near-evening in the woods, brings back a rush of Trick or Treating memories. The leaves scent, crisp air, and... I can't even describe what else contributes to it. But, some of my best memories from childhood are from Halloween nights, going house to house, staying outside past typical out-side time!

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  5. apple and cinnamon remind me of Thankgiving/fall. I burn it year around to get me through spring/summer!

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  6. my favorite memory-related scent is the homey scent of my house. i think it's really interested that almost every home has a different, unique smell. and mine is the best ;)

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  7. followed you long, long time ago, sister.

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  8. My favorite memory smell- Eric's soap. It's from "urban kitchen" and it's called "green tweed for men." It just sort of smells like him- it's possibly my favorite smell ever.

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  9. There are a lot of scents that get me all misty-eyed but the one that does it to me the most is Old Spice. My grandfather wore it religiously and the day that he passed away I remember smelling it randomly, even though I was about 600+ miles away from where he died. The scent stuck with me through the funeral, final arrangements and etc. To this day when I smell Old Spice I'm convinced that my grandfather is somehow with me...

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  10. There are plenty of scents that trigger my memory, but Very Sexy for Him (cologne) is what really gets me going. My ex boyfriend, who passed away in a car crash, wore this ALL THE TIME! It always makes me smile when I get a woof of it. It brings back so many memories.. good and bad. But, I like to always embrace the good. He was a great person.

    e-mail: wagnerlh@goldmail.etsu.edu

    great giveaway =)

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  11. follow you on Google Friend Connect :)

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  12. anddd follow @defythewick on twitter!

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  13. Every year for every holiday, my Grandpa made Ambrosia salad. He would always wait until he was at our house to make it, because I liked so much how everything smelled as it was added. First the pears, then bananas, peaches, etc..everything smelled so distinct & then different once it was added to the salad. He died a few years ago & I tried to make it myself after he died but it wasn't the same. But, every time I get a whiff of one of the ingredients (which is obviously a lot & especially coconuts), I turn into an 8 year old again, begging my grandpa to let me stir it together.

    xoxo
    sammi.roberts@gmail.com

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  14. Also, I followed @defythewick on both twitter & fbook & i tweeted about it!

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  15. My favorite nostalgic scent is a cologne that this hometown friend/secret crush for forever wears. I was once walking across my college campus, 800 miles away from him, thinking about all the drama of being newly in college and adjusting to my new life when I smelled it on someone else and BAM, transported back three months to that time we were watching a movie and he sat as close to me as possible without actually being on top of me... I almost cried from the nostalgia, in all honesty, which was crazy for me since I was usually so stoic about love-stuff and worked so hard to keep that crush a secret.

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  16. 1. I bought sunscreen last winter because the scent of it reminds me of summer and I was suffering a seriously bout of seasonal depression.

    2. Softsoap original scent reminds me of my daughter's first days at home. I swear, I was chasing people around with whips making sure they washed their hands.

    3. The scent of burning wood on a cold, crisp day just makes me wish I was 10-years old again. I grew up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and childhood was flippin' sweet back then.

    4. The aroma of a Starbucks (any street, any town, any state) gives me a sense of comfort. My anxiety about being away from home seems to dissipate when I'm taking in the familiar scent of a Starbucks.

    5. Peaches. I love peaches. Having adapted to life in Florida, peaches remind me of being outside in the sunshine. I like sunshine.

    Granted, I've given you more than one memory - but I so love the fact that memories can be triggered just by a scent. I actually tried to get my daughter to try it out as a science fair project but we went another route. Next time...

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  17. That's funny - Aspen was what my high school boyfriend wore. I'll never forget that stuff!

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  18. Is it bad that favorite memory scents are food related? Baking, mom's cooking, lunch...yeah.

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  19. My favorite memory related to a smell is kind of weird ... so don't laugh at me. Sometimes, when I get a whiff of soda cans, I am kicked back to when I was younger and my mom, brother, and I used to go around collecting cans and taking them to the can recycling plant where we got some money. Is that weird? The smell is odd, but it's a beautiful memory. Those were some happy times.

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  20. AND ... lastly ... I've been following you since, like, forever.

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  21. I am now liking/a fan of Defy the Wick on Facebook!

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  22. Followed @defythewick!

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  23. Following you using Google Friend Connect!

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  24. I love the scent of apple pie. It always reminds me of my grandmother's house during Thanksgiving. This is such a great giveaway idea!

    -Delilah

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  25. Every time I smell icy hot, it reminds me of trying out for danceline in middle school. Even though I was fat and pimply and frizzy perm haired, they were still fun times. :)

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  26. I already follow you on Google Friend Connect. That counts, right?

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  27. I "liked" the Defy the Wick facebook page. :)

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  28. I tweeted and mentioned both you AND @defythewick. Because I'm good like that.

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  29. Aaaaand I followed @defythewick on Twitter.

    That's how it's done, SON!

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  30. Fav scent-related memory: My nani's pasta sauce. When she stopped making it -- Alzheimer's, it's a bitch -- I asked my mom to learn. On one trip home from college, I walked in my parents', and all I smelled was Nani. Not only did I start to drool, but I started to cry. Still one of my favorite scents -- that spaghetti sauce is good enough to drink.

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  31. I follow Defy the Wick on Twitter.

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  32. I tweeted about the giveaway. Good luck!!

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  33. lady grey tea reminds me of my nana. I really can't put my finger on it, but something about that tea smells like her house, or her, or the blanket I use when I stay there.

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  34. S'mores! I am instantly transported back to Higgins Lake, Michigan, at my uncle's cottage that we visited every summer. It's my happy place :)

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  35. I follow @defythewick !

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  36. I tweeted about this giveaway! https://twitter.com/toriwoods/status/4210854165741568

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  37. Rum and cigarettes. And I think you can figure out why.

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  38. the smell of my dad's cologne, hands down.

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  39. Cement right when it starts to rain.

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  40. Following via Google FriendConnect

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  41. tweeted. That was like a comment explosion.

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  42. although it is not my favorite scent, the smell of rose water or rose syrup reminds me of the mid eastern deserts I grew up eating and times in my grandma's kitchen as a kid. I really found it overwhelming at the time, but I guess that same passion translated to nostalgia twenty years later.

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  43. OH & I follow you on twitter, but duh...right?

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  44. Uh, cigarette smoke and coffee reminds me of my mom, but that probably wouldn't make for a good scent.
    And totally unrelated, but kind of related, my 4 yr old and I both thought at the same time how our minivan's air vent-blower thingie smelled like a hotel room. Damn, that girl is smart. I know she was thinking of a hotel room at Disney World. Also, probably not a bestseller scent.

    For realz, though... I love an apple cider smell. It reminds me of fall and winter, which was my mom's favorite time of year.

    And I'm totally going to go tweet and follow now.

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