Gee - two reviews in one day?  Astonishing!

As promised, here is the review for the pillow I slept on for the month of December, the Natura Ylang Ylang Pillow.

What the heck is "Ylang Ylang" you may ask?  First, let's form our mouths into that perfect vowel shape needed to pronounce it properly - smile wide pulling the corners of the mouth into the cheeks and show lots of teeth - got it?  OK, here we go:  EEEE-lang EEEE-lang.  Feel better?  Good, now we can move on.

Ylang Ylang is the flower of an Asian tree, most common in Korea, with a light floral fragrance similar to jasmine, only more fruity.  It is prized in the orient for - wait for it - it's aphrodesiac properties.  Yes, friends, this is the pillow that is supposed to put you "in the mood..."  For what is up to you to decide...

Now then, the fragrance of this frisky little flower is micro-encapsulated within the fabric and is held in a suspended state until just the right moment...

When you scratch it.  Oh, come now, what did you think I was going to say?

Yes, this pillow is "scratch and sniff"!  Scratching breaks the micro-encapsulation and released the fragrance.  So, basically, it's there when you need it and it's gone when you don't.  Pretty neat, huh?

OK, now on the construction part.  The pillow is filled with a generous amount of natural wool.  This gives the pillow exceptional cleanliness and durability.  It is a softer feel without being too firm.  I would most compare the fill level to a medium-fill wool pillow.

The cover is a blend of natural cotton and polyester - necessary for the micr0-encapsulation process.  It is very soft to the touch and lends itself well to the overall feel of the pillow.

The pillow has a resting loft of approximately 7 inches.  It is well tailored with a surged seam enclosing the cover around the fill.  There is no zipper for access to the filling.  The pillow is not machine washable, nor would I hand wash it due to the micro-encapsulted fragrance.  The pillow will stay very clean and exposing it to direct sunlight will cause the natural lanolin within the wool to be released, thus refreshing the pillow naturally.

As always, the pillow tested was in Standard size.  The pillow is also available in Queen and King sizes, with Standard and Queen packaged in display boxes and King size packaged in a zippered bag.

Now then, disclaimer time:  My review is strictly limited to the performance of the pillow for sleeping purposes and NOT the other perceived function.  Nope, not telling.

The pillow is extremely comfortable and, like all pillows with wool, controls temperature very well.  There is no waking up in the middle of the night to flip the pillow to the "cold" side. 

I did not find the fragrance displeasing at all, when it was there, and yes - fluffing up or shaping the pillow will release some of the fragrance.  In regular use, the fragrance release is extremely minimal and hardly noticable.  It is, therefore, really necessary to scratch the surface of the pillow (and not the pillow case) to release the fragrance.

In closing, I would have to provide this warning:  Because of the nature of the micro-encapsulated fragrance, it will run out eventually (with "normal" use that should take a couple of years), therefore you should measure carefully exactly when you wish to release the "magical" fragrance!

See you next time and Happy New Year!