Blending became another passion that was easily indulged with less costly fragrances. I made my first sandalwood-rose combination and spent next days coming up with more and more blending ideas, some even including few citrus essential oils that I had bought before my vanilla indulgence. I library and net to find ideas and soon had pages of notes of what fragrances were able to be combined to create layers of scents. From fleeting top notes such as neroli [orange blossom] and lemon to middle notes that would involve longer lasting scents like lilac and sweet pea to deeper and sultriest notes such as vanilla and patchouli. Perfumery was based on music and a perfumer was considered conductor.

While I wasn’t a perfumer, I was able to obtain fragrance duplications, usually called dupes. Now dupes were added to my ever-expanding lists of must haves. I had soon amassed a supply of impressive designers to my kitchen cupboard: Chanel, Thierry Mugler, Guerlain, Bvlgari, Burberry, and Vera Wang. Also filling my shadowy [both essential oils and fragrances needed to be stored in a cool, dark place] storeroom were imitations of Bath & Body Works, and Victoria’s Secret scents. Soon my fixation on various fruits such as mango, coconut, pineapple, kiwi, and several berry scents were being stocked in a careful array of alphabetically ordered scents. The fruity phase morphed into desserts and there were several companies who provided various calorie-free chocolate, variations of vanilla, brown sugar, pumpkin pie, and cinnamon bun scents.

Last week as I searched for a coconut lime verbena, which really was a coconut lime as verbena was undetectable, I took a stock of what had happened to that cupboard in northwest corner of my kitchen. Inside sat a stockpile of synthetic scents. I went online and found a vanilla absolute that a reputable essential oil only supplier carried and purchased a small amount. It cost more than at least a dozen fragrances, but I felt a sense of relief that I was out of those twisting, dank dark alleyways and back onto tree-lined roadway that smelled of true nature.

* Good Moisturizer:Keep environmental pollutants from being absorbed into skin with a good moisturizer that also acts as a skin barrier. Check labels for those with added Vitamin A, C and E, which help block penetration of pollutants.

* Exercise:A good exercise program such as aerobics can activate and rejuvenate skin and improve circulation and blood flow. Also, body sweat triggers production of sebum, which is skin's own natural moisturizer.

* Knock out Stress:Get serious about stress reduction. Skin conditions such as acne appear on many people who are stressed out, and chronic skin conditions then get worse. Set aside quiet time to meditate or daydream. Plus, be sure to get enough sleep.

I've been online since 1995 when I was in the US (Boston). I created Japanese celebrity info site and health-related site in 2001. Those websites became popular. So Ia ppeared on the radio show and internet magazines to talk about my websites in Japan (I came back to Japan in 1996 after 6 years of staying in the US).