As a Christmas present my daughter received a beautiful selection of body products from Germany, all made from organic ingredients (and they don't cost an arm and a leg and are available in mainstream drugstores). They smell sooooooo good! There is a hand creme that smells of oranges (all essential oil fragrances), a body lotion that smells of roses, a shower gel that also smells of oranges, and a roll-on deodorant that smells of baby powder. Every time she uses them I go "ahhhhhh" and "mmhhhhhh." Meanwhile, I am using a natural fragrance free face cream, a natural fragrance free body lotion, and a fragrance free crystal deodorant.

I am tired of the guilt ridden attitude - of puritanical origin in my mind - that it's better for you and your body if it's denuded of fragrance, and if it smells good it must be bad for you. I am not advocating synthetic fragrances (I wrote a blog post on those), their smell is offensive and aggressive. But I mixed rose essential oil into that puritanical face cream and will buy a different one next time.

The little pleasures in life add quality and depth, they make us feel alive. It is good to indulge in them and feel good about yourself and the world - guilt be gone. We always have a choice, and I am going for the (natural) fragrance next time I buy a body product.