Every Aussie childhood has a soundtrack, and every one of them has a smell track too. The corner shop lolly counter. The service station slushie machine. The cereal aisle on a Saturday morning. We make scents that take you back, so consider this your official time machine: which Jaspa scent belongs to which decade, and which one belongs to you.
The 80s: Corner Shop Royalty
The 1980s smelled like a paper bag of mixed lollies chosen one at a time while the shopkeeper waited with heroic patience. And the undisputed monarch of that paper bag was the musk stick. Pink, powdery, faintly floral, completely unexplainable to anyone who didn't grow up here. Our Musk Sticks scent nails it with pink musk, patchouli, honey, sugar cane, pineapple and lemon. It's a scent with main character energy, which is why we always warm it solo. No blending, no sharing the spotlight. Exactly how an 80s kid would want it.
Honourable 80s mentions: Fairy Floss for every Royal Show you were dragged to and secretly loved, and Banana for the paddle pop wrappers stuffed in your school bag.
The 90s: Peak Lolly Bag
The 90s were the golden age of the dollar lolly bag, and two scents ruled it. First, bubblegum: the smell of blowing a bubble bigger than your face and wearing half of it home. Our Bubblegum scent runs raspberry, strawberry, jasmine, banana and vanilla tonka bean, and it is pure 1994 in wax form.
Second, cola bottles. Bought by the fifty-cent scoop, eaten in the back seat, occasionally traded for a Tazos you didn't even want. The scent version brings lemon, lime, nutmeg, clove, vanilla and cinnamon, and one sniff puts you straight back in front of the milk bar fridge deciding between a Sunnyboy and a Calippo.
The 2000s: Breakfast of Champions
By the 2000s the action moved from the corner shop to the cereal aisle, and no box loomed larger than the technicolour one. Froot Loops: the breakfast your mum said no to eleven times before school holidays broke her spirit. Our version layers lemon zest, lime, lily of the valley, vanilla and malt, and it smells exactly like pouring a second bowl while watching Cheez TV in your pyjamas.
Also filed under the 2000s: Birthday Cake, for the era of fairy bread giving way to mud cake from the shops, and Fairy Floss doing a nostalgia lap at every school fete sideshow alley.
- Musk sticks in a white paper bag: certified 80s kid
- Cola bottles by the scoop and a Tazos collection: hello, 90s
- Froot Loops and Cheez TV before school: 2000s, no notes
- All of the above: congratulations, you had older siblings
How to Warm a Decade
Liquid melts are the easy way to channel-surf between eras: a small squeeze in the dish on LOW heat only, since gentle warmth is all they need and too much heat burns the fragrance off faster. When you're ready to switch decades, wipe the dish out with a paper towel and pour the next one. For solid melts, use one cube for a small room and two for open plan, and rotate scents weekly to keep your nose interested.
Warm a different decade in each room and let everyone drift to their era. The hallway debate about whether the 90s or 2000s had better lollies will outlast dessert.
The Scent That Wins Every Decade
Some smells never picked a side. Fairy floss has been working the showgrounds since before your parents met, and vanilla has been the smell of someone's kitchen in every decade since federation. If you can't choose an era, start with the one that made you gasp when you read it, because that reaction is the whole point. Your nose already knows which decade raised you.
