Dominic, Founder | June 2026
I’ve spent a long time thinking about scent. Not in the way a perfumer does (though I have enormous respect for what they do and I’m nowhere near qualified to emulate them) but in the way a formulator does: as a tool with a job.
Every fragrance in an Olverum product is a functional fragrance. It is there not only to please the senses - though of course it must do that - but to perform a function: whether it’s to moderate cortisol, open the airways, support the nervous system, or prepare the body for sleep. In this way, the scent is part of the formula, rather than decoration on top of it.
When we were creating the Feels Like Summer kit, I wanted to make this visible. The kit contains six products spanning a full day, from the moment you reach for your facial oil in the morning to the moment you mist your pillow at night. For the first time, I had the opportunity to show what a complete daily aromachological arc looks like in practice.
The kit’s fragrance shifts between 7am and 10pm. That is not an accident. Here is why.
What is functional fragrance?
Functional fragrance is the deliberate use of certain aromatic elements in product formulation to influence the mind and body. It draws on two related disciplines: aromatherapy (the therapeutic application of plant-derived essential oils) and aromachology (the study of the relationship between scent and psychological and physiological response).
Both fields have substantial clinical research behind them. Bergamot has been shown to reduce cortisol levels measurably. High-altitude lavender supports the initial stages of the sleep cycle. Eucalyptus opens the airways and sharpens alertness. These are not marketing claims. They are documented physiological responses, studied in controlled settings, and reproducible.
At Olverum, every essential oil in every formula earns its place twice over: first for what it does to skin, and then for what it does to the person wearing it. The two are never separate questions.
The morning half of the kit
The summer morning ritual (Facial Oil, Procellular Defence Day Cream, Dry Body Oil) is built around three aromatic intentions: uplift, balance, and cortisol reduction.
Bergamot appears in both the Day Cream and the Dry Body Oil. In aromachological terms, bergamot is one of the most well-evidenced cortisol moderators available from natural sources. It reduces physiological stress markers while simultaneously lifting mood, a combination that is particularly useful in the morning, when cortisol is naturally at its highest and the day has not yet been defined. The citrus brightness you notice immediately gives way to a slightly green, woody drydown that is clean rather than sharp.
Cardamom in the Facial Oil is less commonly encountered in skincare, but I chose it deliberately. Cardamom energises without agitating. Where some stimulating notes can make you feel anxious, cardamom is a focused, warm energy, the olfactory equivalent of the second coffee that actually works, rather than the third one that makes you jittery.
Geranium threads through several of the morning products, doing quiet background work: balancing mood, harmonising the nervous system, steadying what is already in motion. It is the note that makes the morning kit feel cohesive rather than simply bright.
Together, the morning products carry a clean, bright, lightly woody character. The kind of scent that makes you feel like you’ve done something deliberate before the day has properly started. Which you have.
The transition: the cleansing ritual as re-entry point
The Alpine Revive Cleansing Balm is the hinge of the day: the product that closes the evening and signals the shift from motion to stillness.
It contains eucalyptus, juniper berry, and rosemary: three notes with a shared aromachological purpose. Eucalyptus opens the airways after a day of shallow breathing. Rosemary, specifically in its capacity to anchor attention to the present moment, interrupts the loop of reviewing and rehearsing that tends to occupy the mind at the end of a working day. Juniper berry supports lymphatic drainage, which is particularly useful after prolonged sitting or a day of summer heat, when the face tends to carry more fluid retention than it should.
The cleansing ritual, performed with a little warmth and no particular hurry, is the aromachological re-entry point: not the end of the day, but the beginning of the part of the day that belongs to you.
The evening half of the kit
The night ritual (Procellular Renewal Night Cream, Nightfall Sleep Mist) moves into an entirely different register.
Lavender is the anchor of the evening. The high-altitude lavender in the Nightfall Sleep Mist, sourced from altitude-grown plants with a higher linalool content than standard lavender, has been shown in clinical research to support the first and second stages of the initial sleep cycle. It also appears in the Night Cream, beginning the physiological settling process during application, before you have reached the pillow.
Roman chamomile in the Night Cream works alongside lavender to comfort and calm rather than simply sedate. The distinction matters: the goal of the evening ritual is not to knock you out, but to allow genuine restoration. Chamomile creates the conditions for that. It is a note that signals safety to the nervous system in a way that is quietly but reliably effective.
Ylang-ylang is the note that closes the day properly. It is a deep, slightly heady floral that registers physiologically as permission to stop. Where bergamot in the morning says begin, ylang-ylang in the evening says enough. It is not a subtle note, and I use it sparingly, but at the right concentration, it is one of the most effective relaxants in a formulator’s palette.
The Nightfall Sleep Mist takes lavender and chamomile further, adding bergamot at low concentration, enough to complete the arc without reintroducing the day’s energy. The result is a pillow that holds the fragrance of a day well finished.
Why summer changes the equation
In winter, most people approach their skincare ritual as recovery. The products carry the emotional weight of a heavy day. In summer, the dynamic shifts: the morning ritual is more likely to precede something: a walk before it gets too warm, a Pilates class, an early call with good light coming through the window. The evening ritual is more likely to follow something: heat, late sun, the particular pleasant tiredness of a summer day well spent.
The functional fragrance notes in the Feels Like Summer kit were chosen with this seasonality in mind. The morning notes are calibrated for movement and light, not just wakefulness. The evening notes are designed for the kind of restoration that follows a genuinely full day, not the kind that follows an exhausted collapse.
This is what I mean when I say the kit carries summer in its scent, rather than the products simply being pleasant to wear in summer. The aromachological logic is seasonal. The scent arc is designed for June and July, not November.
How to use the kit aromachologically
A few notes on getting the most from the functional fragrance design:
Apply the Facial Oil and Day Cream in the morning within 20 minutes of waking, when cortisol is naturally at its highest. The bergamot works with your biology rather than against it at this point in the day.
Use the Cleansing Balm as a slow ritual, not a quick step. The eucalyptus and rosemary release most fully with warmth and a little steam. A bowl of warm water over your face for thirty seconds before you begin is not excessive.
Apply the Night Cream while your skin is still slightly warm from cleansing. The ylang-ylang and chamomile diffuse more completely into the atmosphere around you at this temperature — the ritual effect is meaningfully stronger than if you apply to cold, dry skin.
Mist the Nightfall Sleep Mist from approximately 30 centimetres above the pillow and allow it to settle before you lie down. The bergamot top note dissipates in around two minutes. What remains is pure lavender and chamomile, underscored by Amyris wood, and it is a better sleep environment than most rooms achieve by default.
A note from me
When I started expanding the Olverum beyond our iconic Bath Oil, it was with the belief that fragrance in body care and skincare could do more than it was being asked to do. That it could be both beautiful and functional, and those two things were not in tension, but were in fact served the same ambition approached from different angles.
The Feels Like Summer kit is, in many ways, a compressed version of everything I think about when I create a product. The base formulations are all sophisticated and innovative but the scent should earn its place. The experience should shift your state. And by the time you finish the evening ritual, you should feel, genuinely feel, like a version of yourself that has recovered something.
I hope it does that for you this summer.
Dominic
Q: What is functional fragrance in skincare?
A: Functional fragrance in skincare is the deliberate use of particular essential oils in a fragrance blend to influence the mind and body. Drawing on aromachology and aromatherapy, functional fragrance uses clinically studied fragrance elements (essential oils in the case of Olverum) — such as bergamot for cortisol reduction or lavender for sleep support, as active components of a formula rather than purely aesthetic additions.
Q: What essential oils are best for a morning skincare routine?
A: For morning skincare, aromachology research supports bergamot (reduces cortisol, lifts mood), cardamom (energising without agitation), and geranium (balances and steadies mood). These notes work with the body’s natural morning cortisol peak to support a calm, focused start to the day.
Q: What essential oils promote better sleep in skincare products?
A: High-altitude lavender has clinical evidence supporting its role in the first and second stages of the sleep cycle. Roman chamomile comforts and settles the nervous system. Ylang-ylang acts as a physiological signal to reduce arousal. Together, these three notes form the functional fragrance architecture of an effective evening skincare and sleep ritual.
Q: What is aromachology?
A: Aromachology is the scientific study of the relationship between scent and a psychological, physiological or neurological response. Unlike aromatherapy, which focuses on the therapeutic application of essential oils, aromachology specifically investigates how olfactory stimuli influence mood, cognition, and behaviour. Brands applying aromachology to skincare use this research to design fragrances that produce measurable physiological effects.
Q: What is the difference between aromatherapy and aromachology?
A: Aromatherapy refers to the therapeutic use of plant-derived essential oils to support physical and emotional wellbeing. Aromachology is the study of how scent primarily affects psychological states: mood, stress, focus, and relaxation. Functional fragrance in skincare draws on both: the therapeutic properties of specific essential oils (aromatherapy) and the psychological mechanisms by which scent influences the nervous system (aromachology).
