If you haven’t thought about scent before, consider the sensory properties of a tea you enjoy before it is fully steeped. Its aroma floats in the air and draws you in.

Aromatherapy candles and other scent diffusers do much the same.

They add the sense of smell to that of the sight, touch and hearing already engaged through contrast of dark and light, comfort of cool versus warm, and sound of soothing notes.

Foreign Cargo has a nice selection of sniffable scents suitable for sleep.

Gaylynne Cannonier, the owner of Foreign Cargo said:  “All of our aromatherapy line comes in the form of pillar candles, jars, essential oils — which can be used for oil burners or refreshing pot pourri — home fragrance electric plug-ins and reed diffusers.”

Calming

The therapeutic qualities of the Yankee Candle brand will lull you. Look for pillar candles, for example, with blended aromas like ‘Lavender, Ylang Ylang & Geranium’ and ‘Lotus Flower & Sea Salt’.

‘Sage & White Tea’ and ‘Cinnamon & Frankincense’ are some more of the fragrances, but the lavender combination is the most popular, according to Ms Cannonier.

“You have the relaxing properties of the lavender, the uplifting properties of the ylang ylang and… the geranium balance. They package it and call it ‘Relax’.”

This mix of scents reduces anxiety and irritability, according to Ms Cannonier, who noted that the word ‘lavender’ is Latin for ‘lavare’, meaning ‘to bathe’.

“The Romans used to put lavender in their bath water for a calming, soothing scent.”

Breathing the ‘Lavender, Ylang Ylang & Geranium’, then, should diminish the tension that prevents restful sleep.

Another Yankee Candle product, called ‘Stress Relief’ contains ‘Shea Butter & Cedarwood’, while Yankee’s ‘Tangerine & Vanilla’ fusion has been christened ‘True Bliss’.

The pillar candles provide 80 to 100 hours of scent for the 3x6in $24-size and 40 to 60 hours for the 3x4in $18-size.

Essential oils, on the other hand, can be warmed over an unscented tea-light for similar effect.

Just three drops of Yankee’s 33 ounce jar suffices. The oils, which retail for $12, can also be used to refresh your pot pourri.

You might prefer a non-burning reed diffuser. The $38 starter kit comes with a jar, oil and about 10 rattan reeds.

“You saturate the reeds in the oil for at least 24 hours, then expose the saturated end… The reeds naturally absorb the oil and then the fragrance disperses into the air.”

Foreign Cargo recommends inverting the reeds every two to three days.

“We estimate that reed diffusers last approximately two months.”

By comparison, the $18.50 home fragrance electric plug-ins maintain their scent for between six to eight weeks.

“Yankee has proven itself over the years to be cost effective, a good quality line of home fragrance. It’s the quality of their essential oils that give their aromatherapy spa line popularity… For the value and the quality, this is an excellent line of home fragrances.”

If you’re looking ahead to Christmas, and gifts that might serve other sleep-deprived relatives or friends, Foreign Cargo will also be offering attractively packaged soy candles.

“This line includes mineral bath salts, which will help to calm you, ready for sleep.”

For more information, visit Foreign Cargo at 15 Burnaby Street, Hamilton. Website http://www.foreigncargobermuda.com/ or call 296-3054.