Would You Like To Experience My Aromatherapy Necklace?

Is there any feeling quite so confidence-boosting as knowing you smell good? You breeze past a stranger, or a friend leans in to divulge a secret, and you just know they’re thinking, "Wow. She’s really got it together. She bathes regularly and has the taste and creativity to curate a signature scent.”

This is supposed to be a story about aromatherapy, which is the use of essential oils for improving (your own) psychological and physical well-being, but from the start of my first experience with aromatherapy, all I could think about was how fucking amazing I smelled. It’s also all I could talk about.

Here’s what happened: The kind folks at Cor Pendant, a Connecticut-based aromatherapy necklace manufacturer, offered to send me a sample in the metal hue of my choice (gold, rose gold, or silver). I figured I’d give it a go — if nothing else, the pendants were kind of pretty — but my expectations were very low. I get pitched a lot of wacky health products, and most of them are, well, just wacky.

But from the moment my Cor necklace ($125, corpendant.com) arrived, I was obsessed. Not only was the necklace stylish, I loved how the aromatherapy wicks smelled. And from my highly scientific two-days-and-counting experiment so far, they honestly really seem to work. (Research on aromatherapy is limited, btw, but some small studies suggest the practice may have some legit benefits.)

On the first afternoon, I needed to do some editing, so I popped in the “Focus” wick: a combination of sweet basil, cardamom, grapefruit, and sweet orange. And I actually managed to get a couple of hours of truly focused work done — no small feat in our bustling, email-and-Slack-crazed office. Then, when I started dragging in the afternoon, I switched in the “Energy” wick (peppermint, rosemary, green mandarin, and lemon), and it seriously felt like I’d had an extra cup of coffee. I swapped in “Calm” (lavender, Roman chamomile, neroli, rosalina, and linaloe berry) at the end of the day and felt a smoother-than-normal transition out of work mode. I’m not actually joking. It could all be the power of suggestion, or placebo, or whatever, but the combination of feeling better (calmer, more focused, or more energetic) and smelling delicious was incredibly pleasant. I was super, super into it. 

I was so obsessed, in fact, that I could not stop myself from talking about it — and demonstrating it — to anyone who would cooperate. And even those who wouldn’t. “Would you like to experience my aromatherapy necklace?” I asked everyone. The first few responses were positive; jealous, even. Then, I asked my friend Ly if she’d like to experience it. “No!” she exclaimed. “I get car sick!” I had no idea what she was talking about — we were not in a car — and was not prepared to take no for an answer, so I insisted. “Ohh, that is nice,” she admitted, upon taking a whiff.

Others had questions. “Is that a rape whistle?” asked Amanda. “Is that a vibrator?” asked Rebecca.

Then, I offered my friend Evan the opportunity to experience my aromatherapy necklace. “No, thank you,” he said. When I insisted, he took a whiff and said, “Oh, that’s actually nice. Rosemary?” “YES, AND MINT!” I practically screamed. (I was wearing the Energy wick at the time, obviously.)

“Does it get all over your clothes, though?” he asked. “I guess that’s what laundry is for,” my husband “helpfully” responded. I refrained from explaining that the scent comes from a dry wick infused with essential oils (replacement wicks $10, corpendant.com), and it’s separated from your clothing by the lovely metal case, and even if the essential oils somehow got on your clothes, it would simply make them smell ridiculously good. Why would you want to wash that out?

I guess what I’m trying to say is, if you’re interested in purchasing your own aromatherapy necklace — and if I haven’t made this clear, you absolutely should — be prepared to be unable to contain your own enthusiasm, and for some people to just not understand it. The good news is, you have a useful tool for handling this potentially upsetting situation: Simply insert the Calm wick into your aromatherapy necklace, and breathe.