It’s a strange time of year for home fragrances. On the East Coast, at least, the heat is palpable, with a glimmering golden presence that holds forth outside from mid morning til early evening, sending most creatures scuttling for shade, the flowers bravely withstanding the glare (the cucumbers even daring to bask in it) and leaving only the cicadas and other whirring insects as a sign of life in the garden.
Yet today there is a bit of a flirtatious breeze, lifting the leaves of the fruit trees to show their petticoats and playing tag with the dragonflies. It speaks of autumn days to come, harvest time and the nourishing produce to be had borne of these golden days.
What sort of home fragrance is best suited to this heat? Most days, to be honest, I would simply rather go without. I like the scents of summer, scuffed crumbling dirt and hot painted wood from the deck, offset by utterly delicious wafts of the last summer roses. I tend to wear less perfume, if any, and go minimalist in the house. Still though, it is pleasant to have a little luxury in the guest bathroom, or — if you have air conditioning — a little something to keep the air from being too stuffy…
A friend of mine recently sent me a wonderful gift: the Alora Ambiance Reed Diffuser in Uno. Alora Ambiance was, as I understand it, the first company to introduce the diffuser concept to the United States, based off a home fragrance tradition that the founding partners — sisters — stumbled across while living in Italy near the gorgeous Lago di Como. This lovely concept has been highly successful in the US, and has since seen a variety of companies introduce similar products. 
As October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I wanted to look into the many products which donate a portion of their proceeds to a breast cancer related cause. The ones that stand out for me are those which have promised 100% of their sales profits to the research and charitable organizations of their choice.