Scent can transport us in a way other senses never can. Here's how to create an enchanting atmosphere with the help of the venerable French perfumer.

The sense of smell is something of a mysterious beast. On the one hand, when we spend so much time staring at computer screens and gabbing away on the phone, it tends to just run in the background for most of the time. On the other, many scientific studies have shown (via MRI scans and things like that) that a familiar smell will evoke the memory of being somewhere, or feeling a certain way, far more than a visual stimulus. This is why, beyond covering up certain unwanted aromas, using different kinds of scent on your person or in your home can actually affect your mood and, if they remind you of something nice, make you feel better, or calmer, or more at ease. Of course, your friendly local aromatherapist’s livelihood depends on this kind of thinking, but you don’t necessarily need to book yourself in for an expensive one-on-one appointment to reap the benefits. Luckily, in fact, there are a bundle of products from famed Parisian perfume house Diptyque landing on MR PORTER today, all of which were conceived to conjure up “exotic travels and childhood memories” (according to the helpful blurb on diptyqueparis.com). Here’s our guide to three of the brand’s most iconic products (and some strongly worded hints about when and why you should use them).

If you believe everything on aromatherapy.com (sometimes it’s just nice to find something to believe in, we suppose), Diptyque’s Tam Dao fragrance has a variety of mood-enhancing benefits which will help you as you head out to have fun. Cypress boosts self-esteem. Sandalwood not only soothes fear, but has aphrodisiac properties too (yes, it’s raunchy stuff). If, on the contrary, you don’t believe everything on aromatherapy.com (it gets exhausting trying to believe everything after a while), be assured that, with its additional notes of fragrant rosewood and rich, salty ambergris, the overall fragrance of Tam Dao evokes a locale that’s rich and exotic, ie somewhere that exciting things happen. Which is as good an olfactory set-up as any for whatever you have planned this weekend, right?

What to wear

Feu de Bois is a firm favourite among Diptyque fanatics, and it’s easy to see why. Its distinctive scent, made up of a combination of rare woods (which the brand seems to keep a secret), is designed to resemble the smell of crackling logs on an open fire, which makes it an incredibly comforting candle to light up on a night when you’re late home from work and in need of some serious me-time. Place this strategically on the mantelpiece, switch off your iPhone for a few minutes and crack open a good book – your friends and colleagues will no doubt appreciate the de-stressed you the following day.

What to wear

If you’re lucky enough to have a garden, of course it’s wonderful to make use of it in the summer – particularly as the evenings lengthen and allow you a bit more time for swilling back an extra Aperol Spritz (or whatever particular poison is the must-ingest this year – we like martinis, for the record, if you’re planning something). But don’t sink into complacency mood-wise – a couple of bushes and some deckchairs are nice but they won’t always create the sophisticated atmosphere (we presume) you want by themselves. Put everyone at ease (and encourage them to be a little more fun) with Diptyque’s indoor/outdoor Figuier candle, housed in a hand-made earthenware container and with a transportive scent crafted to capture the essence of the leaves, bark and fruit of the fig tree. As your guests subconsciously find themselves not in your modest back yard, but an Edenic paradise, expect comments such as “It smells fantastic out here,” and “Wow, that is one big candle”.

What to wear