Tag Archives: lifestyle

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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A New Lens: Navigating Cataract Surgery, Menopause, and the Scent of Recovery

Posted in eye care, Health & Wellness, lifestyle, Perfume, Scent, Uncategorized, Wellbeing by
L'Occitane Eau de toliette. Now has new packaging
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Visit L’Occitane’s site for Vervine Eau de toilette with new packaging

Hello again,

It’s been a while since I last shared a scent story here. Life, as it often does, required a bit of a “pivot.” For the past few months, I’ve been navigating a journey that many women face but few talk about in the world of lifestyle and beauty: experiencing Menopause, High Myopia, and Cataract Surgery.

Clarity and Contrast: Navigating Menopause and Cataract Surgery

The last few years have been hectic, helping my daughters find their way through higher education, balancing that with the ever increasing pace of change at work, but always finding personal enjoyment through scent. But as my estrogen levels shifted, so did my sight. I learned that for those of us with high myopia, the “menopause ” can sometimes bring cataracts forward much earlier than expected.

The Reality of Mid-Life Vision Shifts

I found myself like many people, getting older also meant getting reading glasses or in my case a combination of multi-focal contact lenses and high strength multi-focal glasses. It was manageable, but for the last couple of years, I struggled with both near and far sight and couldn’t focus. It was on my last visit to the opticians where during the consultation, the optician told me that I had had the cataracts for years but they had been very small and were gradually getting worse. It was time to get a referral to the GP to get an appointment with a specialist.

Inevitably, surgery was the recommended path forward. If you’re thinking about it and have been delaying the idea of surgery. Speak to your optician, explore the options available and don’t wait for things to get worse. I can honestly say it’s the best decision I made to have cataract surgery.

I opted to use my work private health care insurance to have a better type of lens implants. In the UK, the NHS will provide basic monofocal lenses. So for a small premium, I elected to get the multifocal version, the type that would be very similar to how my contact lenses helped me see things at an intermediate and distance range.

I’ll cover off the process in a different post for another time.

Sensory wellbeing: My Recovery Essentials

During recovery, when I couldn’t wear my usual makeup or even splash my face with water, there was one sense that I leaned on: Scent. I found myself returning to one of my absolute favorites from L’Occitane. There is something about the Lemon Verbena—and especially the Verbena with Mint—that helped lift my spirit. During the short recovery after the cataract surgery, the sharp, zesty “frosted lemonade” scent was the clarity and it became the sensory anchor that helped lift my spirits.

What’s Next for The Scented Abode? I’m relaunching this space not just to talk about perfume, but to explore how we navigate the “mid-life shift” with grace and some helpful information that I’ve learnt. Over the coming months, I’ll be sharing:

  1. The Waterless Cleanse: How I redesigned my skincare routine when water on my face was off-limits.
  2. The “Strong Lip” Phase: How I felt “assembled” when I couldn’t wear eye makeup.
  3. Sensory Weight Loss: How I used citrus scents to help me lose 20kg naturally.

Recovery isn’t just about healing; it’s about rediscovering the world through a new lens. I’m so glad you’re here to see it (and through the senses of sight and through scent) with me.

If you’re new to this site, welcome. Please explore other content, such as the home made skincare such as the Rosewater toner recipe

Spring clean your skin with Grapefruit 

Posted in beauty, lifestyle, Skin Care, Skincare, Uncategorized, Wellbeing by

Sunshine and spring weather has finally emerged and is making me feel it’s time to give my skin a spring clean.

I love the scent of Grapefruit and on a recent trip to the high-street, I purchased this lovely tube of refreshing Grapefruit skin sorbet from The Body Shop. The scent is uplifting and energising. Since my budget did not stretch to getting any further skin treats, I decided to make my own refreshing bath soak and skin scrub in one.

This is the simplest way to get the scent of grapefruit to fill your bathroom and give skin a refreshing spring clean.

All you need is half a grapefruit. Just squeeze the juice into a bowl and mix in a large helping of rolled oats (I had porridge oats in my store cupboard), next add in a teaspoon of Green Tea leaves, since I’d received a gorgeous tin of White Peony Tea, I used this to ensure the antioxidant benefits found in Tea would make its way onto my skin.

To add moisture, I added half a teaspoon of Jojoba oil to the mix.

To boost the scent of the grapefruit, I added Bergamot essential oil. You can add any citrus-scented essential oil that you have to hand if you don’t have grapefruit.

Add the zest of the grapefruit skin by grating it with a fine grater.

By now this mix looks clumpy and can the smell of Grapefruit and the citrusy scent has already filled my kitchen with its wonderful aroma.

You can now use it as a skin scrub or use it as a bath soak.

So that the small bits of the porridge do not float around the bath, I filled some empty tea bags. You can order these empty tea bags online or use a tea infuser.

These tea bags with fresh ingredients will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.

Just hang the tea bag under a hot running tap in the bath and the aroma of Grapefruit and all the lovely ingredients that have been used in this mix will infuse the bath water with its scent and goodness.

There’s just nothing like a good soak, except perhaps smoothing over the Grapefruit souffle body lotion to complete the experience.

If you like citrus scents read my latest post about how it helped me through myopia and menopause related Cataracts : Lemon Verbena

January detox

Posted in beauty, Health & Wellness, Skin Care, Skincare, spa treatment by

January detox

After what I can only describe as two weeks of indulging in lots of food and drink, my body feels bloated and my skin feels itchy from the dry heat of central heating.

White Peony Tea

I received a tin of this lovely Wheat Peony tea for my birthday last year and it has become a favourite of mine, since it it not just refreshing, but has many health benefits as it’s packed full of antioxidants.

The tea is reputed to help kick-start a sluggish metabolism, protect from free radicals and therefore promote healthy glowing skin.

If you want to try this tea, the one I’m drinking is from Whittards.

Just follow the brewing instructions on the tin. The temperature should not be boiling, but around 80 degrees Celsius, so as not to destroy any of the goodness from the tea.

Charcoal Face Mask

Since my skin is in need of some help, I’m also treating it to a deep cleanse with L’Oreal’s Pure Clay Detox Mask. Whilst it would be great to get a beauty treatment facial, my bank balance, post-Christmas is definitely needs reigning back. So whilst this is a budget buy from the high-street, I think it’s very effective and the treat is the time it takes to sit back and relax while the mask takes action.

This charcoal based face mask, has a deep cleansing action on my pores, and because it’s quick drying, you can almost feel it drawing out the impurities as it dries and has a light refreshing floral fragrance.

Orange Ginger & Cinnamon Skin Scrub

This is a lovely home-made recipe which is so easy to make, you can use brown sugar if you don’t have Dead Sea salts, follow the recipe here .

Lush Yuzu and Coca Shower Cream

I love the scent of oranges and this shower cream is filled with the citrusy scent of yuzu and Coca. Waking up and getting myself to work has taken a huge amount of effort last week, so this shower cream has been the perfect way to wake up to a zingy start to the day. You can find out more about the benefits of yuzu fruit here.

With this little cleansing routine, starting from inside and out, it’s the perfect way to feel energised for the new year ahead. Wishing everyone reading this post the very best for 2017!

Nespresso machine for Coffee and Walnut Cake

Posted in At home, baking, Drink, Food, Home, lifestyle, Uncategorized by

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We bought a Nespresso machine, an offer which really was too good to miss and now we have two coffee machines that sit on opposite sides of the kitchen.

The Dolce Gusto machine makes great coffee, it also makes lots of other great drinks which my kids enjoy, particularly the iced Cappuccino and iced tea, drinks which if we were going to Starbucks would cost a small fortune.


The Nespresso machine however, makes coffee an experience and I wish we had gotten around to getting earlier. If you are thinking about getting one of these machines, this month there is an offer too good to be missed. Not only is the machine on offer but the Aerochino machine is free. Yes that’s right free as long as you purchase their coffee pods from the website.

We’ve been in coffee heaven, and what better way to enjoy a cup of rich intense coffee, but with Coffee and Walnut cake.

This is a simple recipe – just use the Muffin mixture from this recipe and use just walnuts instead of the blueberries and cinnamon, add an espresso shot of coffee to the mix and bake.

That’s it. I used these cute cardboard mini loaf cases which I spotted in M&S, which were a perfect size for individual portions to serve for a tea time treat.

The Marzipan that turned into Blueberry Muffins

Posted in At home, baking, Food, inspiration, Uncategorized by

 

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The month of May is almost over. In fact most of April and May has been filled with work, a decorating and a DIY project for my youngest, all of which has meant I’ve not written as regularly as I’d like for a while.

Its also meant a few ingredients that were meant for Easter were left as I didn’t get around to much in the way of baking. In previous years, this usually means I find them lurking in the back of the cupboard until one day, when I am looking for something else I come across it and it’s past its sell-by date and too late to do anything but throw it way. I then kick myself for the wasted food.

So, this year, when my youngest said she needed some photos to cakes to bring into school, so she could apply to join the baking club.

I decided not to repeat the mistakes of previous years. With the Marzipan that I bought, I looked for a simple cake recipe to turn it into something quick and simple.

There were loads of recipes which included ground almonds, which I didn’t have, I’d almost given up until I came across this one. A simple bake with cherries and poppy seeds.

Ok I didn’t have the tinned cherries, but I had some fresh blueberries that were destined for a fruit salad instead.

With sugar, eggs, self raising flour and some milk in the fridge, this would do the trick.Photo of ingredients such as Marzipan

Muffin Ingredients:

255g self raising flour
115g caster sugar or soft brown sugar. (I used a 50/50 mix of white and brown as I had this in my cupboard)
2tbsp poppy seeds
150g fresh blueberries or canned cherries without pips
115g golden marzipan, chilled in the fridge and grate coarsely
1 medium egg, beaten
50g butter or margarine, melted
175ml whole milk

To make:

Pre-heat oven to 190°C/375°F/Fan 170°C/Gas Mark 5.

Put some  muffin cases in a muffin or cupcake tin, to keep the shaped of the cakes.
Sift the flour into a mixing bowl, and stir in the sugar, poppy seeds, blueberries (washed) and the grated marzipan. I find that chilling the marzipan makes it a lot easier to grate.

You’ll need to either chop the marzipan or grate it so it can be distributed evenly in the cake mix. It will infused the cakes with the most lovely scent of almonds. Hmmm heaven.

Make a well in the centre.

Mix together the egg, melted butter with the milk. I used Soy Milk.

Pour into the well and mix to form a thick, rough batter. My youngest insisted at this point to put her hands into the batter to mix the batter.

We made a lot of mess by this time and she could tell that I wasn’t impressed with this technique as by this time she had lost interest and had gone to find something else to do.

Now that we had the batter, the mix was spooned into the muffin cases and put into the preheated oven for 22-25 mins, until risen and golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

This part of the cooling process is tricky in our house, firstly it’s hard to resist the tempting smell of the cakes as they cool, but they also summon our two cats, who are also keen on the taste of freshly baked cakes. This means we have to guard them until they are ready to serve.

We took photos of the muffins and printed them so my youngest could take them to school. They were eaten for tea that afternoon.

 

What to do with a ripe juicy Pomegranate

Posted in At home, Drink, Food, Uncategorized by

image pomegranate seeds

Pomegranates are one of the fruits that I think of as very versatile. It wasn’t always so. I never really knew what to do with it other than throw it into a fruit salad. But of course you can add it as a lovely topping on Roast Lamb, or sprinkle some into a plain yoghurt with breakfast cereal. l like to sprinkle them over chocolate ice cream.

A few years ago, a friend invited me to an impromptu lunch at her house. We’d been to a meeting together and on our way home, she collected a few groceries and invited me to lunch. As she started to make the colourful salad, she took out the reddest pomegranate I’d ever seen, cut it open and tapped some of the seeds out over the bowl of salad. A drizzle of Olive oil and orange juice dressed the salad. It was delicious.

So when I saw these huge Pomegranates in the green grocers, ripe and gorgeous I bought one along with some large oranges.

If you are looking for something easy to make, this lovely refreshing orange and Pomegrante fruit juice takes just a few minutes to make.

Squeeze some fresh Oranges into a jug. I stuck a sieve over the top of the jug to keep the pips and pith from falling in. Two Oranges, some mango juice I had in the fridge made it into this drink. I added some fizzy mineral water and then swirled in about two tablespoons of Pomegrante seeds into the sparkling juice. It frothed to the top of the jug just in time to serve with some ice. Enjoy!

Home Made Apricot scones infused with Rose Pouchong tea

Posted in At home, baking, Food, Fruit, inspiration, lifestyle, Rosewater, Uncategorized by

 

Apricot Scone infused with Rose Pouchong tea

 

When we visited Fortnum and Masons, I noticed  lovely jar of Rose Pouchong infused Apricot conserve, which is the inspiration for these apricot and Rose scented Scone recipe.

Scones are so easy to make, and they are better freshly baked, eaten slightly warm with a big pot of tea, jam and whipped cream. I can’t think of anything better to cheer up a dull cold afternoon.

Here are the ingredients for home made scones:

50grams of dried apricots (diced into small pieces about the size of a raisin. Soak the dried apricots in a strongly brewed dark Rose Pouchong Tea overnight. Drain and remove all the excess liquid.

40grams of room temperature butter

225grams of self-raising flour

1.5 level tablespoons of caster sugar, a little more if you prefer the scones to be sweeter to taste.

A pinch of salt

110ml milk (this can be soy milk if you prefer)

A little extra flour for rolling and dusting the scones with.

To make the scones, preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius.

The mixture should be made as light as possible, sieve the flour into a bowl. Cut the butter into the flour and rub into the flour as if making pastry. Aim for a light fine crumbly mixture. It’s very important to get the butter combined in well with the flour, next add the sugar and salt and mix well.

Slowly add the milk and then add in the pieces of apricots. By pre soaking the dried apricots overnight in the Rose scented tea, they have taken on the wonderfully aromatic floral qualities of the tea. This is enough to add just the subtlest hint of Rose to the scones.

If you want the scones more fragrant, add a couple of drops of Rosewater. Continue to add the milk and then combine into a soft dough.

Roll the dough out on a well floured pastry board. As my work tops are made of granite, I dusted this with plenty of flour and rolled them out with a well dusted rolling-pin. The dough should be rolled out to the thickness of about 2cm or thicker if you want high-rise scones. I’ve rolled these out to about 2cm and then used a large round cutter to cut out 8 scones.

Lay them out on a well buttered baking tray.

I then sprinkled some granulated sugar and dusted the scones with some flour.

Next, pop the baking tray(s)  into the preheated oven (220 degrees Celsius) for 15-20 minutes until the scones look warm and golden in colour.

Cool them on a baking rack.

Best served freshly baked and still warm from the oven with a pot of tea, with Jam (apricot or marmalade is delicious with these scones) and  cream, clotted if you want to be extra indulgent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mothering Sunday

Posted in At home, Family, inspiration, lifestyle, Uncategorized by

In the UK – Mothering Sunday falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent. It was customary for people to return to the church where they were baptised and to visit their mother and their families, bring gifts to give their mums.

I look forward to this day, as my kids surprise me with a homemade card which is just about the best thing to wake up to on a Sunday morning.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Home Made Mothers Day Card

Mother’s Day card from Little Bird with a little lavender scented felt blackbird decoration

Eight ways to celebrate the year of the Red Monkey

Posted in At home, Chinese New Year, Food, Health & Wellness, Home, inspiration, Kitchen, lifestyle, Uncategorized, Wellbeing by

Monday 8th February 2016 will be the first day of the Year of the Monkey and the Chinese New Year.

Growing up we didn’t really celebrate the coming of the new year as much as we should have done.

What I do remember are – just a few things that I’ve made an effort to carry on as traditions in our family.

Here’s 8 of the things we do to celebrate:

1) Fortune Cookies

Like Christmas crackers these are great fun. When the kids were much younger, their first reception year at Primary School, I was asked to bring in some things that were Chinese for the children in my kids school. It was easy to bring in some fresh ginger, spring onions, noodles, Chinese cabbage and a bottle of soy. I handed lucky fortune cookies to the kids. Since then we’ve celebrated Chinese New Year with a few Fortune Cookies

2) Money Envelopes

It’s traditional in Chinese Culture to hand out little envelopes filled with Money as a way of welcoming in the New Year and wishing loved ones good fortune with little packets with money. I remember receiving these as a child. Now that my kids are a little older and understand the value of money, I’ll be leaving two little packets on the mantle for them to find.

3) Food

Lots and lots of food, at any given time, the Chinese celebrate the New Year with lots of food, always freshly prepared. Aparently, and I don’t know whether this is superstition or just a family thing, my parents would make sure there were plenty left over so that there would always be food.

4) Firecrackers and fireworks

Seeing the new year in would also involve setting off fireworks or firecrackers, the louder the better as this would mean scarying the demons and monsters away from your home

5) Drinking Chinese Tea

Whilst alcohol, such as rice wine would be served at mealtimes, the ritual of drinking Chinese tea as part of the meal is something which I still remember

6) Lucky sweets and cakes

Snacks and sweets, more food!

7) Dragon Dance

Watching the dragon dance and taking part in the celebrations in China Town and Trafalgar Square. This is something we’ve done a few times. This year we didn’t manage to travel into Central London. A small incident with the washing machine on Saturday, meant we were catching up on the week’s laundry on Sunday, the day when London celebrates the Chinese New Year. Whilst this was an inconvenience, it’s better to be appreciative and count our blessings rather than worry over misfortunes. Something my mum taught me when I was I was little. At least, we didn’t have to go to the expense of getting a new washing machine, because it was fixed and very quickly too. Instead, we visited a Chinese Supermarket on Sunday and stocked up on lots of goodies to enjoy this week.

8) Lucky 8

The number eight is considered a lucky number. Maybe it was just coincidence, I like to think that fate had a part to play, we live in the 8th house along our road. This year is the Year of the Monkey and there are 2 generations of Monkeys in this house, I think this will be a year full of great surprises and eventful too as my youngest will start secondary school this year.

Happiness and Prosperity in the Year of the Red Monkey!

Gong-sshee faa-tseye!