scent memories

For Sara Panton, Happiness Smells Like Salty Hair and Wet Dog

Sara Panton Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photo: Britney Gill Photography/Courtesy of Vitruvi

Sara Panton is one-half of the sibling duo behind Vitruvi, the Vancouver-based home-fragrance company known for its photogenic diffusers and complex essential-oil blends. The brandโ€™s beloved Stone Diffuser has become a go-to gift. The Cut caught up with Panton to talk morning caffeination, product formulation, and the body oil to have on hand when you want to take a mental vacation.

My first scent memory is: French-lavender hand cream that I used to massage my grandmotherโ€™s hands with. When she was sick, I would go into her room and massage her hands and feet with this French-lavender cream that we purchased from a gift shop in her town. She passed away when I was 10, and it was such an intense time for me emotionally as a young girl. It was my first time experiencing loss, and I loved her so much, so lavender will forever be her scent.

Happiness smells like: Family and the beach. Like grass stains on jeans, salty hair, wet dog, salads with berries, peaches, lemon water. Anything outside with family and friends.

Love smells like: Warm wet skin after a bath.

Heartbreak or loss smells like: The scent of emptiness, a stale scent. Itโ€™s like when you open an old wooden chest: Thereโ€™s an aroma, but thereโ€™s nothing there; itโ€™s an aroma of space. Heartbreak and loss also smell like ink, old journal pages, palo santo burning, and old dried flowers.

Friendship smells like: Iโ€™m going to sound so basic, but I think it smells like yellow roses and cold rosรฉ โ€” two things that bring me a lot of joy and comfort, just like my friends. If laughing was an aroma, it would also smell like friendship.

Regret smells like: Tequila and tobacco.

Success smells like: The first time we diffuse a new blend weโ€™ve made because so much time, energy, and thought goes into creating a single one.

The worst smell is: Meat and seafood, cooked or raw; I canโ€™t do either. Iโ€™ve been a vegetarian my entire life, so I donโ€™t understand how itโ€™s appealing to people. Iโ€™m never judgmental about it, but Iโ€™ve never smelled a cooking steak and been like, Oh my God. Unreal.

Vacation smells like: Jasmine flowers, bougainvillea. Osea has this Algae Body Oil thatโ€™s passion-fruit, aรงai, grapefruit, lime, and cypress oil, and I use it all over my body every summer. It smells just like the ideal vacation. Itโ€™s perfect. Sometimes I use it in the winter when I need to escape.

My home smells like: Cedarwood, eucalyptus, and sand mixed with the scent of coffee-table book, a fire, and citronella.

The first thing I smell in the morning is: My dog, Charlie. Sheโ€™s a therapy dog โ€” not for me, for other people. Well, also sort of for me, so sheโ€™s a sweetheart. But she sleeps in until about 10:30 a.m. every day, so I like to give her a good cuddle before I start my day, and she continues on sleeping. Then itโ€™s coffee. Itโ€™s my favorite part of the morning; I love the scent of an espresso shot pulling.

The last thing I smell before I go to bed: Vitruvi Sleep blend. Iโ€™ve used it in my diffuser since we started the company. Itโ€™s one of the first blends we ever made, so itโ€™s been diffusing while I sleep for about six years now. Itโ€™s been through many chapters of my life. Itโ€™s seen it all.

A scent or smell I like that others usually donโ€™t: I really, really love a really strong ocean smell. I grew up on the ocean, and every summer huge amounts of seaweed would come to the beach, and Iโ€™m totally cool with that smell that would maybe deter other people. That low-tide smell. Sea creatures in the heat. Iโ€™m all about it. Thatโ€™s my childhood.

I smell like: I really like juxtaposing aromas, so I love pairing grounding and elevating, masculine and feminine, trees and flowers. I usually smell like a combination of cedarwood and neroli.

The Home-Fragrance Founder Who Loves the Smell of Salty Hair