The nerves were rising, but – and I genuinely mean this – when I breathed in through my scarf I felt like my brain physically lowered itself downwards, like when you catch a helium balloon to stop it from floating off. By repeatedly inhaling lungfuls of scent every few minutes, I was gently pulled back from irrational, elaborate and dystopian fantasies to a very calm and sensible space, which kept my imagination (and consecutively I assume, my heart-rate) from spinning out of control.

— Alice du Parcq calms herself with perfume; read more at I spent a week trialling anti-anxiety perfumes and here’s what happened at Glamour UK.