Bed Habits: Linen Spray from Jane Inc. and Crabtree & Evelyn

Part of my morning ritual of making my bed is spraying the pillows, comforters and quilt with a lavender linen mist (or sometimes with perfume. There was a week I used Louve every day, and another time it was Bandit. Don't ask). Some of the people reading this are raising an eyebrow. The rest are scent addicts and either already do something similar or are planning to start.

My linen mist of choice for years was the wonderful but little known Sweet Sheets Bedding Spray from Jane Inc. (they also have a laundry detergent and fabric rinse, both excellent, but their dryer sheets are pretty much crap).

The other thing I do to scent my bedroom is using Crabtree & Evelyn lavender home fragrance oil in a lamp ring. Occasionally I switch to the Rosewater scent, but most of the time it's lavender. That's why I decided to give their linen mist a try. I was quite enthusiast, because the Crabtree & Evelyn spray comes in a bottle twice the size of Jane's.

Scent-wise, I like both. Jane's is more astringent and very true to the fragrance in their laundry products, which satisfies me on some weird level. The Crabtree & Evelyn smells very much like the lavender in my back yard. It's a little softer than Jane with just a hint of powderiness. I could have been very happy with it if only it lingered and actually scented the linens. It's quite an amazing phenomenon: I spray it on the bed, but five seconds later I can't smell a thing, so forget about having a lightly scented bed. Jane's Sweet Sheets, on the other hand, is still detectable when I climb into bed some 16 hours later.

Bring it Back

My favorite method for room scenting is to use lamp rings. It's the most practical way to go when one has an unusual number of cats running around, knocking things off and getting into everything. Candles are way too dangerous and reed diffusers are most likely to be chewed on and spilled.

Very few companies make the right kind of oils for these rings. I use oils from two companies. One is Crabtree & Evelyn: Lavender, Rosewater, Summer Hill and whatever new one they come up with. Currently I'm enjoying the fresh, crisp scent of Sarawak. It's a floral ginger blend that I hope stays in their collection for a while. I still miss the freesia scent they had for years and discontinued just before repackaging and reformulating the whole Freesia line.

My other favorite is The Thymes. They used to have a much bigger selections of environmental oils, both from collections that are no longer with us (a moment of silence for Lemongrass & Limeleaf) and as part of the current lines, only the oil was discontinued (just like the wonderfully addictive laundry detergent in Goldleaf. My unmentionables haven't smelled the same since).

I've always loved the Fig Leaf & Cassis collection. It's not exactly L'artisan Premier Figuier, but it's still good and quite complex for such a fresh scent. Despite the cassis, it's not very fruity. More like a full bodied green fig, a little dark, no coconut in sight, can feel chilly at times. I don't recommend the weak cologne, but the other body products are worthy of a separate review. There used to be an environmental oil in this scent. I'm still hoarding the last bottles I bought, and will be very sad once they are all used up. If there's one product I wish could be brought back from the eternal pastures of lost fragrance is this one.