Marilyn Monroe’s famous declaration that she wore nothing to bed except a few drops of Chanel no. 5 made the idea of wearing perfume to bed indulgent and desirable. Some may feel that wearing perfume to bed is perhaps a waste of expensive fragrance, however this seems not to be the case.
Should You Wear Perfume To Bed? Our sense of smell is a powerful tool. Wearing perfume to bed can bring us feelings of relaxation, well-being, and overall contentment. These complimenting restful feelings are incredibly beneficial for achieving a good nights sleep.
If you enjoy wearing perfume for yourself during the day, then wearing perfume to bed is a natural way to extend this pleasure and can lead to more restful sleep. How amazing would it be to wake up to the gentle scent of your favourite bed-time fragrance on your sheets?
Can Wearing Perfume To Bed Help You Sleep?
Feeling calm and relaxed is important if you aim to get a good night’s sleep. Certain fragrances can certainly endorse those feelings of relaxation to ensure you wake up refreshed and happy. On the other hand, if you choose a scent that is too overpowering or heady it might have the opposite effect and keep you awake.
Wearing perfume to bed can certainly improve your sleep if you choose the right one. Light floral scents and calming vanilla can gently brush away any stress or worry so you calmly drift off to sleep thinking of beautiful fragrance and beautiful thoughts rather than letting your worries spin round endlessly in your head.
Applying perfume before going to bed can be part of a calming ritual that can help you gently drift off to sleep.
When To Apply Your Bedtime Scent
You can apply your bedtime scent whenever suits you best. Some people like to wait until they are about to slip under the covers to get the full boost of scent as they drift off to sleep. Applying your perfume can be part of a relaxing bedtime routine that helps you achieve a restful and reviving night’s sleep.
A bath before bed can improve your sleep by helping you feel calm and tranquil and applying your perfume straight after the bath when your skin is warm and your pores are open can be one of the best times to apply your scent. You need to allow it to dry for a moment before dressing in your night clothes so that your skin fully absorbs your perfume, allowing it to last even longer.
Can Certain Scents Help You Feel Relaxed?
If wearing perfume is part of your regular bedtime routine, just the scent of that perfume will begin to help you feel relaxed and ready to drift off to sleep. This is because you will ass=associate that fragrance with bed-time.
Research has shown that some fragrances help you to relax even more, with lavender noted as one of the best scents to help you achieve an inner calm that can even improve your sleep.
A perfume with lavender notes can make a perfect bedtime scent as it will help you to feel peaceful and able to sleep to the point where it has even been used to help people with insomnia manage to sleep better.
Can Perfume Improve Overall Sleep Quality?
Is it simply the routine that includes fragrance that improves your ability to sleep, or can the choice of scent actually help you to achieve a better quality sleep that can improve your well-being?
Aromatherapists have been using fragrances to improve sleep for centuries with the ancient Egyptians burning frankincense and myrrh to improve sleep and the Romans using chamomile in a similar way.
Some key fragrances have been found to help you fall asleep more quickly and sleep for longer with people commenting on feeling more energised after a sleep enhanced by fragrance.
Key fragrances include lavender but also valerian extract, soothing sandalwood and juniper. Each of these has a physiological effect on the body by lowering blood pressure and reducing cortisol levels that can lead to better sleep. Calming scents can also reduce stress levels to help you fall asleep more quickly and make you feel truly relaxed.
As well as improving sleep by helping you to feel calm, some fragrances can help us clear our airways and improve our breathing which helps us to gain a better night’s sleep. This can lead to better sleep for people who suffer from snoring or anyone who has allergies or the symptoms of a cold.
Is It Worth Considering A Signature Bedtime Scent?
It might seem indulgent to purchase perfume that you only wear to bed but keeping a signature bedtime scent can induce better quality sleep that can make you feel revived and ready to get the most out of your day.
As well as making perfume part of your nightly routine, wearing the same perfume will help your body prepare for sleep and help you to mentally transition from day to night as you create a bedtime pattern that includes all of your senses in helping you to fall asleep.
Just as dimming the lights works with your circadian rhythm to help your body induce sleep, wearing the same perfume helps your body associate that scent with the relaxation needed to promote better sleep.
As soon as you smell that signature scent, your body will be preparing for sleep, slowing down the heart rate and your breathing as you let your mind and body relax. Gentle, deep breaths of your favourite bedtime perfume will help you drift calmly off to sleep more quickly than ever before.
What Perfume Notes Are Best For Bedtime?
While wearing the same to perfume to bed each night will help your body realise it is time to sleep, some notes are better than others at helping you to relax fully and fall asleep more quickly.
A heady or sickly scent could have the opposite effect and might even distract you from sleep. Aromatherapists identify certain fragrances as more suitable for relaxing and including some of these in the perfumes you choose will help you achieve an even better sleep quality.
1. Vanilla
Vanilla has long been held up as a soothing and calming scent which is one of the reasons it is often use as a room fragrance as well as a perfume. It has a positive effect on your mood and can lower stress which is perfect for helping you achieve a better night’s sleep.
Vanilla is also a warming scent that can help trigger happy memories which can again have a relaxing effect on your whole body to help you prepare for sleep. Research shows that vanilla can also lower our startle reflex which will help avoid that falling feeling that can suddenly make us feel wide awake with a jerk.
It can also be a gourmet fragrance in that it also appeals to our sense of taste meaning more of our senses are contributing to a calming, soothing effect that can bring about relaxation for our whole bodies.
2. Lavender
This herb is well known for its relaxing qualities and research has shown it can actually lower blood pressure as well as our heart rates, helping us to fall into a deeper and more rewarding sleep.
Lavender has been used to treat patients suffering from insomnia with some impressive success rates, helping patients avoid or reduce having to use sleep medications. It also slows down the nervous system to help us feel less stressed.
Sleep patients using lavender have reported feeling more energised when they wake after smelling lavender while they sleep.
3. Sandalwood
Soothing sandalwood is a warm fragrance that encourages calmness and helps the soul feel at ease. Research shows it actually helps sleep by increasing theta activity in the brain that makes you feel more drowsy.
Its clean and gentle fragrance creates a sense of inner warmth and comfort which helps the body feel relaxed and sleepy. It has been used historically to relieve anxiety and research suggests it can increase the amount of deep sleep by reducing REM sleep and helping you to wake up feeling more refreshed.
4. Juniper
Juniper has many benefits for the body and has been used by aromatherapists to treat issues concerned with menstruation as well as to treat fatigue or mental exhaustion.
Like sandalwood, it can help to clear the respiratory tract leading to better sleep if you have a cold or breathing problems. For this reason, it is also used to treat heavy snoring and can help stop sufferers from being woken up by their own snoring.
It can also help anyone prone to sleep apnea and can lower production of mucus to keep your airways clear for better quality sleep.
5. Bergamot
Citrus-scented bergamot is a great fragrance for clearing your mind and helping you shake off any worries or stress that could be keeping you awake.
It is known for its uplifting qualities and has been used to treat patients suffering from depression. It can aid sleep as it has been known to have a physiological effect on the body in lowering heart rate and blood pressure as well as reducing levels of cortisol that can help us fall asleep more easily.
6. Lemon
It is natural to associate lemon with feeling wide awake as it is a refreshing and revitalising fragrance often used in shower gels to promote a sense of cleanliness and energy for the day ahead. However, lemon fragrances can also help you get a better night’s sleep as they promote a sense of calm by reducing anxiety and helping you feel more content.
Citrus fragrances can also release serotonin which makes you feel happier and more positive, ready to enjoy a restful night’s sleep. Another feature of lemon that makes it a great bedtime fragrance is that it helps soothe allergy symptoms, reducing mucus and opening the airways for a deeper night’s sleep.
Research also shows that lemons can reduce your heart rate very quickly which helps your body lower blood pressure as your body prepares for sleep.
7. Ylang-Ylang
This sweet smelling fragrance is common in Thailand where a study involving Thai students seemed to prove that it was beneficial in helping improve sleep. Ylang-ylang has also been used successfully to treat people suffering from nightmares.
It helps to calm the nervous system and can be used to treat shock as it enables the body to slow down. Its sweet fragrance is soothing and calming which is one of the reasons it helps to promote deep sleep.
8. Neroli
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The oil of neroli is another well-known treatment for insomnia especially when related to anxiety as it helps to lower stress and soothe the brain into a state of calm that is ready for sleep.
It has been used to cure tension and treat depression as it helps the body to relax by lowering heart rate and blood pressure. Neroli fragrances can also promote positivity and well-being by lifting the spirits and helping you feel calm.
8 Benefits Of Wearing Perfume To Bed
There are a number of benefits of wearing perfume to bed to ensure you get a good nights sleep.
1. Waking Up Feeling Well Rested
Just as there is nothing worse than waking up feeling like you haven’t had enough sleep, waking up feeling well-rested can energise you and fill you with enthusiasm for the day ahead.
A good night’s sleep is essential if you want to wake up feeling energised, refreshed, and ready for anything. This can have less to do with the number of hours of sleep we have as the amount of truly beneficial sleep we manage within those sleeping hours.
Some people can sleep for ten hours a night and never feel as refreshed as someone with only five or six hours of quality sleep. As we sleep, we shift through cycles of light sleep, REM sleep, and deep sleep.
The best quality sleep that helps our bodies rest and recharge includes longer time in deep sleep which helps with physical recovery and makes us feel more refreshed when we wake.
2. Feel More Positive
Poor quality sleep can affect our mood and lead to negativity and depression. Feeling positive not only helps us to fall asleep, which is where smelling beautiful fragrance can help, but quality sleep also helps us feel even more positive when we wake.
Lack of sleep can increase our stress hormones, making us feel less enthusiastic and less positive as a result. Regular good quality sleep has the effect of lowering our stress levels, making us feel more content and happier.
3. Improves Your Mood
Feeling refreshed and energised after a good night’s sleep instantly improves your mood as well as your cognitive functions. Just as good quality sleep helps lower stress levels and reduces mental fatigue.
Sleep deprivation can lead to anger, irritability and anxiety which can cause long term problems over time. A good night’s sleep can help your mood return to normal and waking up feeling good can lift your spirits and your mood for the entire day.
4. Decreases the Risk of Depression
Over time, sleep depression can affect our mood to the point where fatigue, stress and anxiety can lead to long term problems such as depression. Regular sleep helps to improve our mental health and lower the risk of depression even when we are going through difficult periods in our lives.
When we are feeling stressed, it can be harder for us to fall asleep and spend long enough in quality, deep sleep which is needed to repair our brains and bodies. This is exacerbated when lack of sleep releases even more stress hormones. It is harder to think clearly and stay positive when our brains are under attack from negativity and tiredness.
Regular sleep not only decreases the risk of depression, it can also help people with depression to recover by improving our emotional and mental well-being.
5. Improves Memory
As well as physical reparation, our bodies can improve cognitive function while we sleep. Deep sleep helps improve aspects of memory and learning and as a result, both our working memory and our long-term memory can be improved by regular, good quality sleep.
Sleep helps to consolidate memory which means we can absorb new learning faster and retain it for longer. The brain fog you might feel when you haven’t had enough sleep is grounded in medical science as researchers have proved that sleep deprivation affects our ability to recall and retain information.
Both deep sleep and REM sleep are vital to maintain a healthy brain and memory as our neurons can’t function optimally if they are overworked.
6. Boosts Your Immune System
Sleep researchers have found that quality sleep can actually help you to fight infection by boosting cells known as T cells which the body needs to fight infection.
Lack of sleep means our T cells can’t kill infections as well as in people who have sufficient sleep which means sleep deprivation can lead affect our immune systems and make us more prone to infections such as colds and flu. Regular, quality sleep means our T cells function effectively to boost our immunity and keep us healthy.
7. Reduces Inflammation
Lack of sleep can also trigger inflammation in the body, and the results can be seen after the first night of lost sleep. Inflammation is linked to stress and the immune system, all of which are improved with regular sleep.
Our blood pressure lowers when we sleep which can help our bodies to recharge and reduce levels of inflammation. Inflammation can lead to cardiovascular problems and make us more susceptible to a range of other diseases which can also increase inflammation further.
Regular sleep patterns help the body to manage levels of inflammation to keep us healthy in both mind and body.
8. Maintain A Healthy Weight
Sleep can’t physically help you to lose weight, but regular sleep can help to control your appetite and reduce food cravings that could make you gain weight otherwise. When your body has a regular pattern of sleep, your appetite follows a similar pattern meaning you will only feel hungry at regular points during the day and are less likely to over indulge.
When our brains are lacking sleep, our reward centre struggles and can stimulate food cravings for comfort and energy. We also find it harder to make good choices when we are tired and are far more likely to give in to these food cravings as a result.
Dieters have also noted losing less weight despite consuming the same number of calories when they lose sleep.
Conclusion
It is clear to see that the benefits of wearing perfume to bed can improve both your emotional well-being and physical health so making sure we do all we can to maximise our chances of a good night’s sleep is more a necessity than an indulgence.
Experimenting with different fragrances that help you feel more relaxed at bedtime is not only a fun way to take a new look at your perfume but can be an integral part of keeping you healthy and energised.
It may seem rather decadent to keep a signature scent for bedtime alone, but for people who suffer with sleeping problems it can be a far healthier (and cheaper) alternative to resorting to medication to remedy either the sleeping problem itself or the illnesses that it can cause. Who wouldn’t prefer to spray on some exquisite perfume and fall asleep dreaming of sweet lullabies and floral garlands?
With so many different notes capable of inducing sleep and relaxation, it is a good idea to try a few alternatives before settling on your signature scent.
As well as wearing perfume, the effect can be enhanced by scenting the room with an oil diffuser in the same fragrance. Or, you could experiment with layering fragrances by spraying your bedding with a different fragrance to that on your skin and selecting moisturisers or lotions for your bath in similar scents.
Once you have begun to form a routine of wearing perfume to bed, it is unlikely you will ever go back. Your whole life is an olfactory experience and bedtime an extra special part of a fragrance enhanced day. To answer the original question, wearing perfume to bed is definitely something we should all do as part of a regular routine for a healthier and happier life.
Before you go, we have put together a review of the most elegant perfumes ranging from timeless classics to modern day sophistication that I think you will enjoy.
Discover Your Perfect Fragrance
Please take a moment to browse through my hand-picked collection of exquisite perfumes.
There may just be the perfect fragrance waiting there for you!
