Category Archives: About

About Me – 2026 update

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What The Scented Abode is now

I’m in my fifties. My relationship with my skin, my scent, my routines — all of it has changed, and keeps changing.

Menopause does things to your skin that nobody really prepared me for. Cataract surgery made me rethink my entire cleansing routine. And the beauty industry, which has historically talked almost exclusively to women in their twenties and thirties, is only slowly catching up with what women over 50 actually need.

So I write about that honestly. What works for skin that’s changing. What the beauty industry gets right and wrong about ageing. The Asian skincare philosophy I grew up with, handed down from my mother — and now, because Asian beauty is everywhere, my daughters can experience it too. We share our discoveries, and that is a joy of new shared experience I didn’t expect.

The fragrances that smell different at 55 than they did at 25 — and why that’s not a problem, it’s a blessing. Scents I’ve loved transport me to a particular time. New scents mark a new era.

This is not a site about fighting age. It’s a site about navigating it with as much knowledge, pleasure and good scent as possible.

What you’ll find here

Fragrance — reviews, recommendations, gift guides, and the occasional meditation on why a particular scent matters.

Skincare for women over 50 — honest reviews, ingredient deep-dives, and the things I’ve actually learned from my own skin’s changing needs — including the products I discovered during cataract surgery recovery that I now use every day.

Asian beauty wisdom — I’m Taiwanese-British, and I grew up with handed-down wisdom from my mother. I’ve spent years seeking out Japanese skincare, researching the premium brands she preferred, and exploring Asian beauty philosophy before finally embracing it fully. It was worth the wait.

Longevity and wellbeing — my mother and father have both passed on, and losing them made me realise how much I had taken my health for granted.

That loss gave me a quiet determination to live as fully as I can — with mindfulness of body, mind and spirit. Not in a relentless self-optimisation way. In a “this is what’s actually making me feel better at this age” way.

Life at home — food, the garden, the cats, the things that make ordinary days feel considered and good.

A note on why I write

I write because I couldn’t find what I was looking for.

When I was recovering from cataract surgery, I searched for beauty advice written by someone who’d actually been through it. I found almost nothing. When I was navigating menopausal skin changes, I wanted someone who understood both the science and the pleasure of skincare — not just a list of products. When I wanted to understand Asian beauty philosophy from the inside rather than as a trend, I had to piece it together myself.

So I write it. For myself, and for anyone else who’s looking for the same thing and can’t quite find it.

If that’s you — welcome. Pull up a chair. There’s a lot to talk about.

Find me here too

📌 Pinterest: pinterest.com/thescentedabode 📸 Instagram: @thescentedabode ✉️ Get in touch: hello@ravenintegrated.com 🌐 ravenintegrated.com — where I write about marketing and AI

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About Me

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If you’re reading this post then I guess you’re interested in finding out something about me.

So here goes:

Music – I played the piano for a very long time, practised a lot and thought I’d have a career in music, until I realised there are lots more people with more talent and determination.

Lately I’ve been listening to Mozart’s symphonies and piano sonatas. If you were to ask me what’s in my record collection (I’m still holding on to LPs that I listened to as a teen) then you’ll find a lot of albums by Prince. My favourite is Parade.

I’m a cat person, as I like that they’re independent and still have it in them to be a little dangerous and wild. Our current cats bring in the odd mouse or bird and think they’re giving me a present.

Birthplace: Taipei and when we were moving to Britain, I learned my name and to ask for the toilet in English.

I don’t remember exactly when I learned to speak English, my memories of my first days in school were playing with the other kids, so I must have managed to communicate somehow. We lived in a small 2 bed roomed flat in Chelsea, until my parents had saved enough to to move to Bletchley.

At at secondary school, I met my future husband. I guess that makes us technically childhood sweethearts. We didn’t go out with each other serously until after we’d both graduated and got out first jobs.

My first perfume, the one that I bought for myself, is Chanel, Cristalle. I discovered it on board a ferry on the way to what was my first holiday without my family. A group of students, in our freshers year went camping to the south of France. I won’t do camping again, I hated having sand everywhere.

During the day, I work in marketing, there have been some fantastic moments in my career, such as working with the team at Royal Mail to help them promote the London 2012 Gold Medal Stamps. I got to watch every U.K athlete as they collected Gold and celebrate it in a stamp.

My eldest, (I’m blessed with 2 girls) is approaching her teens – where did the time go? How is it that they’re growing up so quick.

Lastly, this blog is for them, a way to discover and find things we can connect with, share a common interest.

Thanks for reading this post. If I haven’t bored you and you’d like to find out more, please come back and visit often.

Hello world!

Posted in About, Family, Home, Scent by

Hello World

This is the first post from the Scented Abode, which is all about fragrance, aromas, anything really that provides inspiration for a home and life enjoyed through scents found in everyday things.

When people ask, “what’s your earliest memory?” 

All I could think of was that it was a sense of something, whilst it was very vivid to me, I found it impossible to describe, it was more of a sensation, a feeling that I remember as a very young child.

It wasn’t until much later, probably in my teens that I realised that it wasn’t a sensation or feeling, it was a scent that I associated with my home.

Outside the first house that I remember as a child, was a plant with white flowers. It climbed up the front of the house, I can’t remember exactly if it was a porch or just the drainpipe, but the flowery scent was so strong, it filled the air as I played outside.

Much later, while drinking a cup of Chinese leaf tea, it dawned on me, as I looked at the little white flowers bobbing in the mug, the scent took me back to the memory of playing outside our house.

It brought back the smell of the green plant with white flowers and I realised it must be Jasmine. It is and always will be a scent that brings familiarity and a sense of belonging to me.

Does that make sense? Perhaps I’m crazy. I’m hoping that there are a few people that can relate to what I’m writing about.

Please visit often. I hope to share different scents, discovered and enjoyed from childhood through to present day. Scents that have made a difference to me, my home, my kids and my family, whether they are small or significantly something that has changed my outlook, mood or simply something that’s just, well amazing.

I look forward to seeing you here.