Sensory Snacks: Five Things Delighting Katie's Senses This Week

I have to say, being the Marketing Manager at Mabelle O’Rama is truly a dream job. Whenever I go into the studio, I’m immediately greeted by the beautiful veil of the peachy, frangipani fragrance notes that are hallmark to Forbidden Bloom. After a few hours (okay 30 minutes of work), Mabelle then asks me to test out whatever new perfume she’s working on and give feedback. Following the smell session, she usually has an array of snacks from me to choose from: pistachio chocolates, jewel-like fruits, or Baklava drenched in honey. We sit and strategise over treats while the leaves shuffle against the old church window in the office. 

All that is to say that Mabelle and I bond over our love for sensory delights. So much so that I personally have started keeping tabs on what each of my senses has revelled in throughout the week. I call these my sensory snacks: they’re the little hits of wonder that my eyes, nose, ears, skin, and tastebuds have absorbed. I find that when I name them, it helps guide my brain towards more feel-good input as the practice continues. So with that being said, here are the five sensory snacks that I’ve enjoyed this week:

 

I have trick for sleeping in the heat: use peppermint oil. I mix 2-3 drops of it with a couple of teaspoons of a carrier oil (I use coconut) and apply it on skin, which is particularly effective if you have a cool shower right beforehand. (Make sure you do a patch test before you try this and always dilute your essential oils with a carrier oil). I’ve fallen in love with the smell of peppermint oil because of the relief it provides me on a muggy evening. The cooling sensation pierces my skin and I no longer feel the need to toss, turn, and flail my limbs until I end up finally sleeping out of exhaustion hours past when I intended. 

As an Aries, I will always be grateful to have Mariah Carey as a representative of my star sign. Her vocal abilities are genuinely astonishing and her 1995 album, Daydream, has some of her most beloved songs (Fantasy, Always be My Baby) as well as some underrated gems (When I Saw You, Underneath the Stars). The dreamy, synth power-ballads pair perfectly with a summer sunset and a spritz of Lunar Dust as the hazy moon comes out in the evening. 

4. Skin: Linen Drawstring Trousers

The drawstring piece is really key here. I lived in NYC before coming to London and a crucial difference between the two cities is that the former deems sweatpants as socially acceptable attire for leaving the house and the latter does not. This has been very difficult for my lower body to cope with. My only way to circumvent this unsaid social rule is by buying the next best possible things; linen drawstring pants. Mine are light blue and yes I’ve been told they look like hospital scrubs. Whatever, I’m comfy. 

 

For context, my current go-to breakfast is this: scrambled eggs (mixed with chilli pepper) in a blue corn tortilla with melted cheese. It is delicious and it has a lot of protein, which moisturises my brain in the morning. But there’s something about the blue corn tortillas in particular that make it extra incredible. It adds a light, nutty, faintly sweet flavour to the breakfast which makes it that much more delicious. Also they are blue which means they are a sensory snack for my eyes as well. So many wins here. 

I hope you enjoyed reading about my sensory snacks and get inspired to find yours! With the slightly slower pace during the summer, it’s the best time of the year to take in all the good sensations and distract yourself from the heat!

Until next time,

Katie 

About the Author: Katie Moore-Gillon is the Marketing Manager at Mabelle O’Rama. She is also a content creator on TikTok and Instagram (@smellyaries) and enjoys combining olfactory delights with surreal storytelling. If she were a fragrance note, she would be a strawberry!