The Power Of Scent
A word from a perfume lover...
by Melissa Kathryn
This spring was the first time I visited my grandma’s house in nearly ten years. Upon walking through the side door into the kitchen, before I could even hug her, I was nearly in tears. The vague, yet unmistakable smell of the old wood cabinets brought me back to my childhood summers spent at her house. I think we all have experienced a moment like this, when a familiar smell, even one we can’t quite put our finger on, opens the door to another time, place, or person. Scent is powerful in its ability to defy the passage of time.
The reason for this? Olfaction is the one sense that isn’t filtered through the thalamus, the brain’s information relay station that sends information to the prefrontal cortex for interpretation. Instead, smell makes its way directly from our nose to our hippocampus and amygdala, the parts of our brain related to memory and emotion. It’s no wonder scent can evoke such nostalgia and emotion!
Scent also has a powerful influence on attraction. Have you ever been intimate with someone, only to realize that you don’t like their smell - I’m not referring to their perfume or the smell of their shampoo, but something raw and animalistic.
Have you ever been in a public place and, found yourself strangely aroused by someone’s body odor, even if you didn’t find the person in question physically attractive? Scent is around us, all the time…
I’ve always had an affinity for perfume and scent - from blending essential oils to collecting perfume (my taste as a teenager was a lot less refined - sweet, gourmand fragrances were my favorite). It’s a lifelong love affair… even when I’m home, I love smelling my favorite perfume on my skin. I love it when I hug my partner and smell the familiar scent of his perfume and his skin. Some may disregard perfume as frivolous or may associate it with the overpowering, choking odor given off by someone who douses themself heavy-handedly in perfume. Some people are highly sensitive to artificial fragrances (I feel bad for those folks). But perfume, when sparingly anointed, can be both expressive and seductive.
Perfume creation is an undeniable creative expression. With scent, perfumers tell a story or paint a picture. Nothing captures a mood or a setting quite like scent does.
Some people vary their perfume daily, depending on their mood, the occasion, the season, or who they want to be that day. Others are faithful to the same fragrance for years, even decades (think of that aunt or grandmother who always wore the same scent; the beautiful glass bottle on her vanity).
I’m the type who’s eager to try new things, but I always find myself going back to the same general olfactive family: woodsy.
Some of my current favorites:
Orphéon, by Diptyque
Named after the former nightclub underneath the Diptyque flagship store, Orphéon features notes of juniper berry, cedar, tonka bean, and jasmine
Bo features notes of elemi, tobacco leaves, Guaic wood, and vanilla beans
Un Jardin en Méditerranée by Hermès
featuring notes of bergamot, orange blossom, pistachio, fig leaf, and red cedar
Of course, many of our favorite scents don’t come in bottles…
The smell of books, new and old
The dusty and aged smell of attics and antique shops
Honeysuckle, which grew outside my house growing up
The sharp, metallic smell of winter air
Pavement after the rain
And you, what are your favorite scents and perfumes?
What specific memories have scent evoked in your life?
What is your favorite perfume house or brand?
What are your favorite non-perfume scents?
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Moi je ne me parfume pas, mais je collectionne les flacons de parfums !!!!
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