Air: The Scent That Found Me in the Dark

The darkest part of grief isn’t always the moment someone dies…it’s what happens after.

Since my stepdad took his final breath on October 22nd, I haven’t felt anything. I haven’t wanted to feel. I still don’t. But that silence inside me isn’t sustainable. I have children. A spouse. A business. Commitments that don’t wait for grief.

When I returned home, ten days of packages were piled by the door. Gifts. Purchases. Distractions from a world that kept turning while mine had stopped. It took nearly a week before I had the willingness to open anything.

One tiny package was from Free Yourself — a perfume house “rooted in the belief that unisex fragrance can be a powerful catalyst for emotional and spiritual growth.” If there was ever a message I needed in that moment… that was it. Their collection is described as “an invitation to reconnect — with your senses, your story, and your space.”

Inside the small box: four 2mL samples inspired by the elements — Air, Eau (water), Feu (fire), and Terre (earth). The building blocks of humanity and the emotions we cycle through.

And then I found Air — and for the first time in weeks, my lungs remembered how to expand.

The brand describes Air as clarity, awakening, and perspective — and in that moment, after just a week of grieving my stepdad and 16 months of grieving my mom — I was open to the smallest possibility of flourish.

It opens with bright grapefruit and lemon — crisp, alert, a jolt back into a body that had gone numb. The cardamom in the heart is a soft spark, a subtle spice that calls you to stay present. Ginger and lavender follow like warmth and reassurance. And finally, the fragrance settles into its solar notes — a sun-drenched radiance, even on a cold, rainy day.

Air didn’t erase my grief. But for a moment, it gave me breath.

It reminded me that fragrance is more than beauty — it can be a lifeline. A return to self. A sensory reminder that I am still here.

Free Yourself believes in the transformative power of scent. I get that. In my darkest hour, even for a moment, it brought me back to life.

Free Yourself — Air

TOP: Grapefruit : Lemon : Green Notes : Galbanum 

HEART: Cardamom : Ginger : Vetiver : Lavender 

BASE: Amber : Musk : Solar Notes : Moss

Fragrance Themes: 

Clarity • Awakening • Perspective

“An invitation to reconnect — with your senses, your story, and your space.”