SMELL AND PERFUME

Issue 2

Is Your Perfume Bottle Half Empty or Half Full? Words by Maggie Mahboubian There’s a common perception floating around the blogosphere that there are simply too many fragrances released each year and that the market has become saturated, not only with original work but with flankers and flankers of flankers. There’s a note of desperation in these voices: “how can anyone experience

so many perfumes” or “they all smell alike”. Some bloggers even claim their reviews will help hapless perfumistas navigate the torrid waters of excess, kind

of an “I’ve smelled it all and can guide you so you don’t have to waste your money” approach. And yet, no one has ever complained that there are too many

songs recorded, too many novels written, paintings painted or bottles of wine

imbibed. I can understand why perfumers would dread competition, but why is the rest of the perfume world so quick to denigrate what could be viewed as a positive trend?

Contemporary perfumery is only about 120 years old, a mere flash in the

pan compared to other arts. Yet the history of perfume stretches back thousands of years. The difference is that perfume is ephemeral. All that remains of this

legacy are some odd biblical references, a bottle retrieved from the ocean floor (Titanic) and an exhumed vial (Israeli tomb). Even a vintage commercial perfume still in production varies from its original formula. You blink and it’s gone.

Literally. The process of perfume creation is volatile, cyclical and evolutionary. It says a lot about culture, but only in that moment. As such, perfume must rein-

vent itself for that moment as well. There’s bound to be overlap and repetition, as with other arts, but with great production there’s also progress.

One sign of progress has been the birth of niche, artisan and experimental

perfumery in the last 20 years as an alternative to commercial, mainstream fra-

grances. Marching to the beat of their own drums rather than to market research studies or focus groups, these perfumers have pushed boundaries; perhaps not as hard because society has had to catch up to the notion of fragrances being

“interesting” rather than simply smelling nice. It’s also related to the education of the nose. People who have smelled and worn a lot of perfume can appreciate

different approaches, so why do they tend to be the most vociferous critics of

excess? Even perfumers have embraced this malaise with names like “I Hate Perfume”, “escentric molecules”, “Agonist”, “Blood Concept” or Etat Libre d’Orange’s creed, “vive le parfum est mort”. Seems everyone loves to hate perfume.

Is Your Perfume Bottle Half Empty or Half Full?

Perfume writing and criticism have been around for an even briefer time,

the majority of work having been done in the last 10 years. Compare that to criticism in other disciplines and the difference becomes clear. There are no

founding fathers like Marx or Freud to provide a framework for critical thinking.

It’s a bit like the wild west, with sheriffs, gun-slingers and saloon operators. Perfume bloggers are on the edge of an expanding frontier that has just opened up. No wonder it can feel overwhelming at times. The good news is that not all

readers expect reviews of every fragrance and most can handle the plethora of choices.

Although commercial perfumery is fully established, the medium as an art

form is still in its infancy, breaking out of a fairly rigid mold. It was just a few years ago that some critics declared perfumes could not be made with natural

essential oils alone or fragrance-as-art only began with the discovery of synthetic aroma molecules. Such polemical declarations make one wonder about underlying intentions; perhaps a fear that corporal enjoyment (especially the

kind offered by perfume) will make one appear naive. Make no mistake, our sense of smell is still taboo. Does the notion that there are too many perfumes come from this place of fear? On the inside we love it and want more, but on the outside we struggle to maintain composure. If that is the case, better to remain

silent than defensively back ourselves into a corner. In a culture of excess it seems contradictory to rail against such a surplus, since perfume itself is an extravagance and not a necessity.

As a perfumer, I guess I’m guilty of contributing to this excess. I make per-

fume because I am driven to explore the infinite realm of scent combinations from the ground up. It’s not only a form of creative self expression, but an her-

metic study and extension of my obsession with all things olfactory. Blending with aromatics allows me to approach a scent construct from an analytical

perspective since I am assembling the building blocks. Nevertheless, a fin-

ished perfume, even one that I have created, is a mystery and I’m always left

wanting more. The more I smell, the more I want to smell. That is my personal conundrum. So when I encounter certain existential gripes, I feel like quoting

Wittgenstein’s last line in his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, “that which cannot be said must remain in silence”.

Maggie resides in Los Angeles, a city of excess on the edge of the North American continent. You can follow her on twitter @ParfumsLalun

The Psychology Of Smell Words by Rory McGill

The sense of smell has been described by scientists as a

the bell and getting some food. This has been shown also

cals in the environment, with smell working at dramatically

ing. Studies have shown that mothers who consume garlic

“chemical sense” due to the processes through which it occurs. It is a “chemical sense” because it detects chemi-

larger distances than that of taste. The biological processes that occurs when we smell has been well documented and are well understood, from the “vaporised odour molecules” reaching our nostrils and dissolving in the mucus on the roof

of our nostrils, right through to the neurons underneath,

which then transmit this information to the “olfactory bulbs” which are located at the back of the nose. It is at this stage of

the process, however, that the psychology of smell becomes explainable by the biology of smell. These bulbs have receptors that send messages directly to the most primitive part

of the brain – the limbic system, sometimes referred to as the emotional brain. This is due to its connections to both the

amygdala (which processes emotion) and the hippocampus, which is responsible for associative learning.

Associative learning, or “conditioning”, has been demon-

strated as a most primitive yet effective way of learning,

made famous with Pavlov and his dogs, associating the ring-

ing of a bell preceding the presentation of some dog food. The dogs began to salivate when hearing the bell, before the food

was presented. They had learned the association between

in children – where the higher processes of learning have not been developed, and are reliant on more primitive learnpills during pregnancy have children who significantly show

more preference for the smell of garlic than the children of mothers who did not consume garlic during pregnancy. This

associative learning for smell and experiences is happening even before you are born!

This emotional link to smell was noted by Marcel

Proust in the early 20th century. Proust was fascinated with time and memory. In one of his most famous passages, he

describes how a smell drags his character back to the past.

Recent research has found the science to support Proust’s observations. The memories associated with smell are

more emotional and more likely to come from early life

experiences than memories evoked by other senses. Odour evoked memories have been shown to be more emotional that verbally cued memories. Scientific research shows that

almost 70% of patients with anosmia (a condition in which a person is unable to smell or perceive odour and, in effect,

lacks functioning olfaction) state that their condition affects

their happiness and their quality of life. However, this is a

relatively new field in experimental psychology and, as a

The Psychology Of Smell

result, is somewhat understudied. It is only within the last

few years that there has been an active attempt to categorise and list the range of olfactory induced emotions.

Since the ability to perceive smell can affect the quality

of one’s life, more attention is being paid to the quality of

life of the elderly. The globe has an ageing population due to advances in medical care and public health, so issues

pertaining to this demographic are becoming more and more important. There is a highly negative correlation with

olfactory capabilities and with age in adults. The ability to

perceive smells is now being used as a diagnostic marker to

assess the severity or the onset of someone’s Alzheimer’s. This is believed to be due to the shrinking of the hippocam-

pus in patients with Alzheimer’s. As a result, medical science is now beginning to embrace lesser explored treatments

involving smell in these patients. Medical aromatherapy has been used for years in Japan and has recently begun to

be practiced in the western world in anti-aging medicine. Recent research in the United States has shown that disorientation in an aged patient at an elderly nursing home was improved by aromatic bathing.

minds and bodies.

In summary, throughout the experiences you have in

your life, you are unintentionally pairing events with the

smells that are around you at that time. It is innate. It is out of your control. It can be a great experience, like associating the

smell of freshly cut grass with that time you and your best friend rolled along grass banks on your tenth birthday. Or it can be at times difficult to process, perhaps making an association with a particular flower’s smell due to its presence

at a loved one’s funeral. The great thing about this, though, is that you get to experience things again for a split second

as they were at that time. And who knows, even the negative

memories associated with smells may give you comfort in time.

Embrace your sense of smell, as this is the closest thing

to time travel and instant gratification that we have!

Rory is from Derry, Northern Ireland and has a PhD in Psychology. He currently works for the Department of Public Health & Policy in Liverpool, UK. You can follow him on twitter @Kitanavalentine

Our sense of smell is not only a physiological and psy-

chological process, but is a social and historical phenomenon due to its association with feelings and memories. The sig-

nificant association of smell with our body and mind is seen

throughout history. Olfaction, knowledge and wisdom were interlinked in the classical world – the origin of the word

sagacious from the Latin sagax, implies a keen sense of smell

and intelligence. In ancient Egypt, the most famous perfume

kyphi was a blend of 16 ingredients that reputedly had the power to relieve anxiety and heal the soul, and was burnt in sacrifice to Ra, the Sun God. Ancient philosophers state that

the Greek gods Aphrodite and Eros were ‘fragrant’ and Mount

Olympus was itself deemed a place of fragrance. Christianity, despite initial resistance, gradually incorporated many tradi-

tional olfactory practices and beliefs, with St. Paul declaring

that ‘we are the aroma of Christ, of God, among those who are being saved’. The practice of purification with incense is still observed today in Christian practices.

Since smell has been shown to be involved in many

aspects of our lives, it is unsurprising to find that industry has also taken note of our affective response to our olfactory experiences as has attempted to influence our purchasing patterns accordingly. It is neither a surprise nor a coinci-

dence that we associate the smell of baking bread with our

favourite bakery, or that we associate the smell of cleanliness

and beauty with our favourite skin care/bathroom cosmet-

ics suppliers. These are very well researched by industry to tap into the powerful potential that smells can have on our

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Are there too many perfumes released each year? Is it ok to love natural chemicals? And what does London smell like?

Go on a scented journey through the American Southwest, discover the psychology of smell and go back in time with perfume.

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