Tuesday, January 9, 2018

On Perfume

Making a perfume is much more than throwing together some scents and hoping they mix well, and smell good. Think about the last time you wore perfume or cologne. What was the occasion? Why did you pick that scent? Are there some scents that you cherish and only use for special times? Do you have a signature scent?

There is a reason why we cherish scent the way we do. Our nose or olfactory membrane is the only spot in the human body where our central nervous system comes into direct contact with our environment. This means that we first perceive things through our nose. We smell the cookies baking before we see them or taste them.

Our sense of smell is first processed through the limbic lobe - the oldest part of our brain and the place where all of our emotional impulses are. This is why certain scents and odors can make us feel nostalgic - happy, sad, make us long for people, places, things. When we come into contact with a smell we have already reacted to and our minds are making a mental note of when, where, why, so that twenty years from now, when you are walking down the street and catch a whiff of a past lover's cologne, your memory is triggered to that night you had your first kiss. Or when you enter a bakery, and the smell takes you back to your grandmother's kitchen. Spice does that for me, it makes me remember my dad cooking in our family home.

Whether it's flowers in bloom, bread baking, smoke, or a wet dog, we can tell what each scent comes from without needing to see it's source of origin. Throughout our lives, our nose and sense of smell is recording everything - everything, from the mundane - burnt toast, to the intimate - your lover's cologne. There is no greater power we have that can recall memories, impressions, - all with deep emotional roots and ties within our soul. How exquisite is that?

The perfume or cologne we choose has it's place too - it's the constant smell that will frame your (and those of who you come into contact with) experiences while you are wearing it. Make sure you love it. 💖




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