found in the dryer
I opened the clothes dryer this afternoon and there was an interesting scent. I couldn't identify it, except that it smelled a bit minty. Even more puzzling than the scent was why there was a scent at all. I started unloading the clothes, searching for a shirt of the type I had in mind to wear, not for the answer to the mystery.
However, I found something strange: a yellow plastic object. A closer look identified it as a package of Burt's Bees beeswax lip balm. I opened it, and found just a small amount of the wax, melted into the cap of the package. I knew I had a package of the stuff, and that it had been closer to full than empty the last time I had seen it. The rest, it seemed, had melted and dispersed into the laundry.
I don't know whether it melted into the wash water, where it would have mostly washed away, or in the dryer, where it presumably melted into whatever pocket I had left it in, or dispersed throughout the load of clothes. But it smelled nice.
Looking at the label, I discovered a couple of scents: peppermint and rosemary. Original mystery solved.
I need to check my pockets more carefully.