A Product Review? Really?

I do not review products or link to buying options or promote anything. I run no ads on this site and have no sources of compensation. I am no influencer. I am an elderly lady living in northern New Mexico, writing a personal journal that some family and a few friends read sometimes. I post pictures taken on my iPhone.

I'm writing this product review just because I like it. That's all. It's a kind of silly product at that. But here goes:

Pura Scent Diffuser. You plug it in, and it diffuses fragrance into the air. Like a Glade plug-in but much, much (much) nicer, and customizable.

Two tiny vials of oil plug into the plastic device, and each can be a different scent. The round magnetic cover snaps on. When the vials run out they send you more by mail, usually each month but you can make that a longer period between refills.

Is that it? Well yes. 

But this has been the answer to a years-long search for ways to make my arid climate home smell better. I've complained before that the air here holds no fragrance. No sweet breezes, no after-rain refreshing smells, no welcome home scent when the door opens. Just dry, vaguely metallic air that doesn't smell bad, it just doesn't smell like anything. 

I tried bowls of pot pourri that were dried to start with and turned to kindling. I tried candles that must be monitored and you can't control the level -- Jim finds them cloying. I got a mist diffuser that needed refilling every few hours and scented a three foot area for just moments at a time. I put reed diffusers all over and reversed the reeds every other day so the wet ends were in the air and all I got were dried bamboo sticks, no scent. The Glade plug ins I didn't even try.

What makes Pura different? First, the luxe scents. They are not the single note lavender or ginger or citrus essential oils that I liked, but that never lasted in a diffuser. These are high end blended fragrances, with top notes, middle notes, and bottom notes.

Top notes are oils made up of chemicals with small molecules, like citrus or florals, that hit your nose first and dissipate as the stronger middle notes come through. Bottom notes are oils with large molecules that linger in the air. The notes combine into a complex scent that lasts.

Pura has all the high end brand fragrances and lovely write ups about each. There are so many to choose from, ranging from woodsy to holiday to fruity or flowery. And citrus. And smoky, or light, or masculine or sweet. And more. One even has top notes of star anise. I'm going to order that one. 

Second, the diffuser is controlled by an app on the phone. It's not a smart device like Alexa, but it's controllable and customizable through your phone.

After you plug the thing in you set the intensity level (these are strong and I only want a hint of scent. I've set mine for the lowest level and it's enough to linger in two rooms for a long time.) You customize a schedule of when you want the diffuser to run and it starts and stops as scheduled and switches between two different scents if you want.

The phone app uses geofencing, so when you leave the house it shuts off the diffuser. When you return it knows your phone is back and turns on.

The app is glitchy. It goes offline whenever our wifi blinks, which ours does with random regularity, and then the device and app have to go through the set up process again. That's mildly annoying. The nightlight is slightly demonic and comes on unbidden at aimless intervals.

The other annoyance is that you sign up for a subscription. They automatically mail you two new vials on a regular schedule and automatically charge you each time. I thought I didn't want that, but it turns out I do. You can change the frequency of shipments and you can select new fragrances to try each time and the prices are lower when they have you locked in like that. I committed.

The first scent I tried was Blue Jean (I love scent names, they are like plant variety or paint color names, creatively oddball). Didn't like it so much, so I switched it off. 

The other fragrance is called Ocean Tide and Sea Salt --sea salt, sparkling aldehydes, citrus, ozone, eucalyptus -- and it is crisp. Ozone makes it fresh, aldehydes (that watermelon whiff) give it uplift, and eucalyptus holds the scent so it lingers.

I put the Pura device in the master bath and will order another device for the big main room. I don't want to cover up any bad smells, I just want that bit of "aaah" when you enter the house. A calming (or invigorating) bit of welcome.

That's what I get in my daughter in law's home. She is in a more humid climate and has a reed diffuser with expensive oils that just makes me want to linger in her bathroom. Not heavy, not cloying, not even obvious, just . . . nice.

You get that in high end stores, and on a home tour once I didn't want to ever leave, the house just smelled so lovely.

The key is that scent in the air can't be overpowering. It can't make you take notice. It just has to be in the background but enter your senses subconsciously. 

This diffuser with the rich fragrances and endlessly customizable settings is the first I've found that might do that for me.

It's Pura. I'd recommend it . . . if that matters to anyone.