My fascination with how the olfactory ties in with well-being is one of the reasons why I studied perfumery.  So many aspects of our lives are linked inextricably to fragrance that it’s easy to take for granted:  from basic household cleaning products to common street smell and scents that arise from the changes in seasons—like Pumpkin Spice Everything and fresh, resinous fir needles at Christmas tree stands. 

Think of the routine scents that accompany the daily rituals of waking, like making coffee or tea and grabbing breakfast. Coming home at night, a neighbor’s freshly cooked dinner may tantalize, if it isn’t the torturous waft emanating from the food delivery man’s bag inside an elevator. One’s evening ritual might include peeling out of sweaty gym clothes and settling into a hot soapy shower or a tub filled with Epsom salts.  On the weekend the scents may shift to that of laundry soap and fabric softener sheets and a late Sunday breakfast with bacon and eggs or maple-syrupy pancakes.

Everything we encounter olfactorily is often taken for granted as part of an accepted routine as our minds race elsewhere and onto the next thing. Yet the sense of smell is powerful in terms of creating lasting memories.

Ask yourself what scents you can recall immediately from childhood?  For me: orange peel lingering beneath fingernails, freshly sharpened lead pencils, crayons, fig newton cookies, mimeograph ink at school and the my grandmother’s copious usage of Aqua Net hairspray and Murphy’s Oil of Flax soap to mop the floors.

What’s even more amazing is that the scent receptor in the brain is no bigger than that of a fork tine. Part of my requisite studies at the University of Chicago included a lab dissection of a donated human brain so the image of this tiny little pale tissue flap remains vivid.  The olfactory bulb loops around the thalamus and connects directly to the hypothalamus, amygdala and hippocampus, all of which comprise the brain’s central limbic center, which is responsible for human emotions.

We’re often told that human noses do not have the amazing reach and power of a dog’s olfactory capacity, but I agree with this article, which states that the real reason is because we’re not paying attention or giving it much priority.

While the world may prioritize visual and auditory senses to a degree of overstimulation via computers, emails, phone calls accompanied by a bombardment of adverts, life-sized digital LED billboards, television/internet news footage and video games, fragrance can serve as a swift, therapeutic touchstone that offers soothing comfort and familiarity. Scent connects us instantly to the emotions, and well-being is about finding balance, peace of mind and establishing a mood.  

Why do you wear perfume?