Synaesthesia: Palettes By Tod Young

Interior designer Tod Young believes color has scent.  Remerber a person with 
synaesthesia can appreciate sounds, colours or words with two or more senses simultaneously. Young may have the harmless condition.  He not only starts with color in his work, but he can smell the differences of primary colors, jewel tones, pastels or neutrals.  Based on these differences he has introduced candles called Palettes that complement your design scheme.

Alison Blackman of Advice Sisters writes that she tried the candles.

Although they are pure white, the scents reflect what Tod thinks creates a complete visual and fragrance statement of that color style. You choose the scent that most closely reflects the colors you showcase most in your home.

For example, if jewel tones are what you have most of in your home, you would choose the Jewel Toned candle scent. Jewel tones express richness and joy, with bright citrus, green notes, orange, pineapple, berries, and florals, with woods, musk amber and vanilla.

Do you like primary colors? Vibrant tones are expressed with scent in fruits like guava and pineapple, with white musk, vanilla, heliotrope, jasmine,and ylang ylang, among others. 

Does your home have mostly a neutral palette? The scent Tod has chosen for neturals is fresh and clean, with a floral bouquet fresh greens, sheer rose water, and citrus, mixed with white musk and blonde woods.

Perfer pastels in your abode? The scent for pastel is cool and calm, feminine and floral. It has a ladylike mix of fresh green, cyclamen white jasmine, peach, green apple, lavender rose, waterlily and a drydown of creamy amber, vanilla and rosewood.

Right now, you can only buy the candles or the spray at online retailer Frontgate, though high end retailers may be added in the future.  In my mind they are not inexpensive, $59.50 for a candle and $49.50 for the room spray. Do you want your home to smell like Oust, fabreze or Glade, not that there’s anything wrong with that, or guava and pineapple which match the primary colors of your Mexican vacation condo.

I may have a kind of synaesthesia.  When I smell string beans and bacon, I can transport myself to Grandpa’s farm in Idaho.  When I smell Tom Ford’s Black Orchid or hear Etta James sing At Last, I am instantly transported into the arms of Beverly, my wife of 17 years.