Flash Point for Candle Makers: What the Number Means
Flash point is the number everyone worries about and few explain. What it measures, where it sits on a safety data sheet, and what it leaves out.
Lilac Oil Benefits: What Research Does and Does Not Say
Lilac oil is made for its scent. Here is what research exists on lilac, why lavender studies do not carry over, and how to read big aromatherapy claims.
Lilac Perfume History: Why Perfumers Rebuild the Flower
Lilac will not give up its scent like a rose does, so perfumers learned to rebuild it molecule by molecule. A short tour of how that craft works.
Most Fragrant Lilac Varieties: How to Choose Yours
No measured ranking of lilac scent exists, but the bloom calendar and plain-spoken extension notes help. Here is how to choose by season and by nose.
Why Do Lilacs Smell Stronger Some Days?
Some days a lilac hedge stops you at the gate, others you must lean in. Flower age and a nose that tires quickly explain more than the weather does.
What Does Lilac Smell Like? How to Judge It Yourself
Sweet, a little green, softly powdery: the words people reach for when they smell lilac, why the scent shifts, and an easy way to judge a bottle yourself.
Syringa Vulgaris: What the Name Means on a Label
Syringa vulgaris is the shrub in everyone's garden memory. Meet the plant, learn what its scent is made of, and how to read its name on a bottle label.
Why Lilac Brings Memories Back: Whitman, Scent and Season
A Whitman elegy, a Harvard Lilac Sunday since 1908, and a recent review of scent and memory: why one spring flower means so much to so many people.
