Dealing With Heightened Sense Of Smell {Pregnancy}

My sense of smell isn't strong at all. Even when the food burns when left on the gas for long, I can barely smell it from the next room. But during pregnancy, my nose all of sudden started working and was out of my control. Yes, one of the biggest disadvantages is heightened sense of smell. 
Its not always same with everyone. The strength varies from person to person but for me, it used to result in nausea and vomiting. Doctors say estrogen is responsible for this. When your estrogen rises, your smell sense also rises. So, I followed some things to manage this issue:

• Well I tried to stay away from cooking and ate those foods I can stand to smell. Even if I used to cook at times, I made sure that I kept the chimney on and the windows open to banish musty odours.

• Smells tend to cling to the body and nose sometimes. So, I used to carry a perfume or any scent with me all the time. This was helpful especially at some public places. Even the body odours of other people affect me a lot so I tend to stay away from closed spaces like lifts.  

• Mint and lemon fragrance used to be my favourite, explore yours :)

• Similarly, if you are going to gym, prefer timings when there are less people otherwise you will have to bear that sweaty odour.

• Wash your clothes regularly with good fragrant detergents but always use light soothing scented products and toiletries. There are so many options available in the market these days.

• Keep your home open and airy so that it feels fresh all round. Even good room freshener of your choice will help (make sure its not very strong).  Fragrant Candles or diffusers are also very helpful.

• I always loved to sit in my garden and smell the flowers. It helped reduce nausea as well.

• Cigarette smoking is injurious to health. Passive Smoking also affects pregnant women. I used to feel puckish if I smell its smoke.

• Don’t keep your veggies and fruits or any other food in plastic bags. The smell of plastic can make the products also very smelly.

• Clean your refrigerator frequently so that food kept in it doesn’t smell. My maid used to clean it with baking soda. She said this will banish the odour. Thanks to you, Shanta (no its not Shanta Bai from Kal Ho Na Ho, its actually her name :D). [Editor's Note: Vinegar helps as well :)]

And, most important thing during pregnancy is to be happy and calm. Hope the post was helpful. Do let me know your views on the post :) 

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As I notified a few days back, Punam is on board as an occasional contributor to Perfect Skin Care for you. Hope you enjoy her posts. And, I also hope she becomes a regular contributor :)

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How do Essential Oils affect our Health? {Health}

I have been interested in Essential Oils since quite a while though I had not an idea how could I lay my hands on good quality essential oils. More about that in some other post but I wanted to discuss today about how Essential Oils affect our health. 

What are Essential Oils? 

I have already discussed a bit about Essential Oils in one of my previous posts. So, when we think about EO's, the thing which automatically comes into our minds is fragrance or the aroma and its therapeutic effects on our health.

Essential Oils have a huge amount of impact on the health of a person not only the skin and hair. So, one can use essential oils for simple problems ranging from insomnia and migraines to beating cough and cold and bronchitis and some other respiratory problems. 

How Essential Oils affect our EQ?

Whatever else EO's may be good for, the main usage of essential oils comes to help you with your emotional quotient. Some EO's are great to relive stress, anxiety, some are great for improving confidence in person, some improve the energy levels in the body and some are great for depression treatment and many more. Why is this so?

It has more to do with the sense of "smell". Human beings have five senses - smells, taste, see, feel and hear. But, only one of these senses links to the brain directly and that is the "Smell". The sense of "Smell" directly goes to the emotional center of our brain and controls our emotions. The other side effects of this "Smell" are that the brains sends signal to another part of the brain which controls the heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, memory, stress levels and all those physiological needs of the body. So, consequently, when you "Smell", not only it affects your emotions but also the physiological needs of the body. That is one of the main uses of perfumes as far as I can garner - to uplift the senses and the spirits.

So, I hope, I did clear out certain things about why Aromatherapy works? Looking forward o your opinions!!! And, yes, I am gonna bug you on the DIY Thursdays in February with some DIY's using Essential Oils. You have been forewarned :)