Review : Smellacloud Aroma Diffuser

I’ve always had a rather troubled relationship with scented things. When I say troubled, I mean that I’m not generally a fan. I’ve always found it quite hard to find scents that I like and even if I do I can quite easily find them overwhelming and I quickly get a headache or sometimes I find it difficult to breathe.

It’s this reason that I don’t normally buy scented candles, well that and the fact that candles and small children are a bad combination. I’ve never managed to find a room spray that I like. They are all so overpowering. I have dabbled with reed diffusers and managed to find one that I adore. But generally, I’ve not had much success when it comes to scents for the home.

This is a shame because I think our sense of smell is so powerful and closely connected to our memory. Smell is also highly emotive, evoking within us certain feelings and emotional responses. When you find the right scent for your home that provokes the right response, it can be transformative.

This is the reason I decided to review this aroma diffuser from Smellacloud. I am still hopeful that I can find a way to infuse my home with delicious and captivating scents that don’t overwhelm my senses or present a hazard for small children.

What really attracted me to this particular diffuser was initially the branding. I’m a real sucker for nice packaging design and brand identity and this one just spoke to me. Then it was the beautiful wood effect base that caught my attention.

When I decide to introduce an object into my home or workspace I want it to be attractive obviously and when it comes to techy objects that need to be plugged in, I much prefer it if they don’t look like technology. The Nimbus 2.0 actually looks more like an alluring vase than a diffuser and I really like that. It almost goes unnoticed as another decorative object or accessory.

When I opened up the box it was all super straight forward to set up. Simply remove the top white cover, use the small plastic jug to fill with water, add a few drops of essential oils, replace the top, plug in and switch on. Couldn’t be simpler and that’s exactly how I like it. Anything too complicated and it puts me off straight away.

I chose two scents to try out with my aroma diffuser. As it’s almost Christmas I wanted to bring those Christmassy scents into my office so I opted for cinnamon and pine. Normally I’d opt for more masculine scents with aromas of spices, leather, patchouli, moss and tobacco, so I’ll definitely be checking out the other essential oils on offer from Smellacloud to see if anything they stock meets those criteria.

The control panel on the aroma diffuser is super easy to use. You simply set it to work for 2, 4 or 8 hours at a time by pressing the button on the left. What I like about this is that you can switch it on without having to worry about leaving it running by accident. It also means you can pop it on at bedtime, maybe using lavender oil to promote good sleep, safe in the knowledge that after 2 hours it will turn itself off.

You can also use it without the essential oils and just fill with the recommended 200ml of water. In doing this you have yourself a super attractive humidifier. I don’t know about you but at this time of year my skin, throat and eyes suffer badly from the dry air created by the constant heating. We have electric heaters in the office so the air is often very dry. It will be interesting to see what difference this makes if any. The mist is released every three minutes so in theory, this should really help. I’ve also read that it’s good for plants and I’m definitely here for anything that will help me keep mine alive.

This isn’t just an aroma diffuser though. It also has a lighting function, which can be used in conjunction with the scent mist or alone. When used together, the light will go out once the water tank is empty or once the timer runs out. So it can be used as a soothing nightlight.

When I first tried it out I was really hoping that it wouldn;t be another option that I find just too overwhelming for my delicate sense of smell. I followed theinstructions closely which advised 4-7 drops of essential oil for 200ml of water. It didn’t take long for the aroma diffuser to start misting and I found it mesmerising to watch. The scent was quite delicate to start but within about 10 minutes it had got much stronger and the air was full of the lingering scent of cinnamon.

After a while, I needed to switch it off as the smell was just too overwhelming for me. I’d put 4 drops of the cinnamon oil in and that is obviously too much for my fragile nose. Once the water level had decreased by half I topped it up and switched the machine back on. Perfect! So for me it’s two drops of essential oil and then I get delicately fragranced humidified air.

So it looks like I’ve finally found the perfect solution allowing me to bring a bit of fragrance to my home without overpowering my nose or giving me a headache or creating a fire hazard.