I dont know about you, but for me cleaning the house is akin to painting the Forth Bridge. It’s a never ending job that causes me to be in a state of non stop guilt. As you know I work full time and with my daughter out at college I have to ask my mum to help out during the week to let Bruce out for a walk whilst the house is empty during the working week. No matter how much I try to get done at the weekend, it’s never enough to have a spotless house – in fact I am always amazed if I drop in to see a friend unexpectedly and find almost everything clean, tidy and in its rightful place, just how on earth does that happen! I swear that even overnight things appear to jump out of cupboards and off shelves ready for me to tidy away again. My mum is of a certain age that she doesnt work anymore and seems to have forgotten the plight of the working mother, always happy to point out a ceiling cobweb that she had noticed the day before ”and is still there Julie” - although to be fair, I do remember her often ironing at 10pm when she was working. To be honest, I can always find much more interesting things to do after I’ve had my tea and the hands of the clock are approaching 7pm than starting to get the dust removed and the hoover out or the iron warmed up.

So on this note I have been interested to read recent articles that cleaning products have for some while been upping their ante on the fragrance front. Apparently we have been a little too blase about the standard lemon or pine household fragrances of old for far too long, and so the supermarket shelves bulge and groan with an enormous array of products such as washing up liquids that all more or less do the same job, but now we have a choice of winter spices, pomegranate & passionflower, tea tree & peppermint, green tea, apple blossom - in fact you could almost name any aroma and find it on the aisle ready to brighten your mood AND your dishes.

The happier you are – the cleaner your house (so goes the theory) and so manufacturers vie for our attention with the biggest brightest fragranced products enticing you to pop into your shopping trolley.

I have to admit to never buying a product without taking the top off (off the product, not off me!!) and smelling it first. The fragrance rather than the brand name usually has the sway factor for me, but I have yet to find the aroma that would really lift my mood whilst washing the pots. I am, however the eternal optimist, and so my quest continues to find that elusive smell that will elevate my mood so much that I will dance around the house every night duster in hand, smile on my face .

PS..If you find it before me, please let me know

And to finish off here is a little poem, penned by my own fair hand, that kind of sums up my cleaning regime!

Time for dusting, mopping and sweeping

Wiping and swiping, completely spring cleaning,

Cupboards are wiped and the kitchen is gleaming

then the alarm clock goes off – Oh no, I’m just dreaming!

Well we’re only half way through January, and I, like probably half the female population, have embarked on a new improved diet. A survey by XLS-Medical has suggested that 92% of us have fallen off the waggon already anyway!

We all need as many extra tips as we can get and so I have been researching if and how everyday fragrances can help to boost weight loss.

The average human nose recognises over 10,000 scents, and so you would think that at least some of those might aid appetite suppression….well I have good news for you, there are a few oils that will.

According to researchers in Osaka University Japan, rats exposed to the scent of grapefruit oil for 15 minute intervals, 3 times a week had reduced appetites and also lost weight.

The Smell & Taste Institute in Chicago studied a  group of 3,000 overweight people, giving half of them scents of either banana, green apple or peppermint to smell whenever they had a craving coming on, and overall, they lost around 5lb a month more than the non-sniffing group.

Other studies have used cinnamon, vanilla and fruits with varying results. Peppermint oil has been proven to improve awareness and alertness, and if sniffed throughout a workout, reduces perceived fatigue, resulting in greater stamina and a better gym performance.

Aromatherapy has the enhanced benefit of tricking the body into feeling fuller with less food. This is also seen in the newly discovered Christmas Dinner Syndrome. This is the theory that surrounding yourself in food scents suppresses your appetite significantly. This is borne out by the fact that the chef/cook who has spent all day in the kitchen preparing the Christmas meal (or dinner party fayre), sits down to eat, only to realise that they are no longer hungry – the cravings have disappeared (personally I’m not sure whether that’s just because you are tasting everything as you go along – or is that just me ).

So there you have it, I will be frantically sniffing a concoction of banana, apple & grapefruit oils for the rest of the week to see whether it makes a difference, and failing that I shall be treating myself to a new set of plates – blue is a supposed natural appetite suppressant! ;P

Let me know if you have tried any of the above or if you have any extra information as to whether it works.