Aroma architect Farah Abassi has a sense for scents and knows exactly how to make your house smell good.
Scent has always been the black sheep of the five senses. In fact, in a 2011 survey, 53 percent of millennials said they’d rather give up their sense of smell than their tech devices! What a shame that would be, as it turns out that scent is integral to memory, well-being and happiness, something Aroma Architect Farah Abassi has known since she was a child.
The reason scent is so powerful is it is the only sense that bypasses processing by the cognitive part of our brains and goes directly to the emotional side of the brain.
“I was always infatuated with fragrance,” Abassi, the founder of Aroma360, said. “As a kid, I named my cat Gucci after my Mom’s perfume.”
Scent is finally getting its place in the sun, being named one of the top wellness trends of 2019 by the Global Wellness Institute. The reason scent is so powerful is it is the only sense that bypasses processing by the cognitive part of our brains and goes directly to the emotional side of the brain. This is why a certain scent immediately makes you think of your Grandma or a favorite vacation and can instantly make you smile or change your mood.
Aroma Architect Farah Abassi, a former child ballerina who danced for the National Ballet Company of Toronto, expanded on her natural affinity for scent with her first job working for a mom-and-pop wellness shop that did custom-blended essential oils.
“For me, it was all about hearing about how these oils positively affected our customers’ lives,” Abassi said. “That is what I focus on today—the psychological benefits and influences scent has on an emotional level.”
After a brief stint in finance, Abassi realized banking wasn’t her passion and landed a marketing job with Sunset World Hotels in Mexico. It was there that the seeds for Aroma360 were planted, as Abassi saw how different scents influenced guests.
Today, Abassi has clients in more than 22 countries and has worked with iconic brands like The Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, Ferrari and Lexus to develop signature scents that match the brand.
The process can take several months or even up to a year, as Aroma Architect Farah Abassi works to uncover what the brand stands for, how the brand wants its customers to feel, and how the brand wants its clients to remember it. She then translates all those things into a scent.
“Take a car brand; there is a difference between a Honda and a Ferrari,” Abassi said. “The Honda brand is lighter, younger and about freedom, whereas the Ferrari is about excitement and luxury. My job is to take those adjectives and make a scent that matches that experience.”
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To create the signature fragrance, Abassi starts with an overall theme like woodsy or citrus and then plays around with the individual notes. It’s like composing a symphony of scent.
Wondering how to make your home smell good? Just like corporations have a brand theme, individual homes also have a theme, and Abassi works with private clients to develop a signature scent for the home as well.
“I look at their décor, the lighting, the textures in the home and ask how they want their family and guests to feel in their home,” she said. “When you go home, all the elements have to be cohesive, including the smell.”
In the last several years, Aroma360’s consumer division has skyrocketed. Abassi attributes this to people viewing their home as a sanctuary. A custom-designed home scent starts at $2,500, and that scent can then be used in candles or sprays that the homeowner can give as gifts to guests. This is for those who want a more luxurious approach to understanding how to make your home smell good.
For individuals who don’t want to go the custom route, Aroma360 has a Scent Library available in diffusers and candles. Abassi adds about six new scents each quarter to the library, so she’s constantly sniffing out new scents.
she wants people to focus on the way the smell makes them feel, rather than trying to dissect the individual notes in the fragrance.
While Aroma Architect Farah Abassi is very sensitive to scent, she wants people to focus on the way the smell makes them feel, rather than trying to dissect the individual notes in the fragrance.
It’s not surprising that a connoisseur of smell can’t name her favorite scent.
“They’re all my favorite,” she said with a laugh. “For me scent is about how I’m feeling on a specific day; it’s not one size fits all.”
“They’re all my favorite,” she said with a laugh. “For me scent is about how I’m feeling on a specific day; it’s not one size fits all.”
Abassi explained that her home in New York has a very woodsy scent, emphasizing elegance, depth and character, whereas her home in Miami has a bright, light, citrusy aroma. It’s safe to say that she knows how to make your house smell good and cater to individual spaces.
“Scent is very often overlooked, but it’s a huge part of a space,” Abassi said. “The more you incorporate scent, the more you can control how you feel and make anything more memorable.”
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As people are staying home more and searching for ways to create a nice room and cozy, yet productive spaces, Aroma360 has opened additional warehouses to accommodate increased demand.
The Aroma360 scent-sampling experience is one that you can bring into your home. Not quite sure which scent is for you? One of the company’s scenting experts can guide you to your perfect scent and best ways to scent your space with sample packs.
If you’re in or near the Miami area, visits to the Aroma360 showroom have experienced some changes due to COVID-19. Though the showroom is technically closed to the public, those who are interested can make an appointment with a scent consultant.
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