Thy Noble Nose

Noble Nose…Take a Whiff of This

Our sense of smell is going through a revolution.
 
By Luke Vorstermans
 
When was the last time you paid any attention to your sense of smell? In a society that is obsessed with sight and sound, our sense of smell has been relegated to the bottom of the sensory pile. Our nose goes about its everyday business categorizing, identifying and memorizing thousands of different smells with every breath we take.
 
New medical research about the power of the olfactory sense found it triggers memories, enhances moods and improves sexual health; this is giving our sense of smell a new attitude. Recently, health-conscious baby boomers have begun to discover the power of this sense as an easy, personal way to optimize their health and well being.

Scent Therapy is a new trend that fuses science and nature by blending scent molecules with essential oils. Infused in a small transparent patch worn on the skin, the scent is inhaled frequently throughout the day to help enhance moods and influence behavior. This is just the latest example of the increasing use of scents and aromas in our lives.
 
Aromatherapy, deemed a fringe therapy 30 years ago, is booming and has hit the main stream. Scented candles have become a billion dollar business. From plug-ins, sprays and room deodorizers, we’re filling our atmosphere with smells.
 
Over the past few years, a variety of scents have been added to most household products, including diapers, cleaning supplies, the laundry and cat litter. We want everything to smell fresh and clean rather than how it originally smells.
 
This is particularly true on the personal side. While science keeps pointing to the obvious power of smell in sexual appeal– it’s not just for the birds and the bees – we scrub ourselves ruthlessly clean and then spray on the perfumes, creams and deodorants to make us smell ‘just right’. Some of us will do anything to mask our true smell, which, during summer months especially, can be downright nasty.
 
The backlash to all these aromas deviously wafting through our environment has been increasingly vocal. Most offices and schools now ban personal scent products, such as perfumes and colognes, because of negative reactions to the added chemicals dispersed into our environment.
 
Ever wore a perfume that you liked best, but the person next to thinks it stinks? Scents and aromas are perceived differently by all.
 
“Ultimately, all smells are chemicals… some are natural, some not,” says Linda Ryan. She is the President of The Sense of Smell Lab (The SOS Lab), a world leader in developing innovative products that use the sense of smell to influence behavior. “Even a pleasant aroma can be bothersome to others. Worst of all, most scents are man-made chemicals which add to the pollution of our home environment.”
 
Responding to the ‘No Scents Makes Good Sense’ campaign, The SOS Lab has been proactive in developing scent products that release their therapeutic aromas directly under the nose of the user. Sensual Scents, a formula to help boost low sexual desire in women, uses a small transparent patch that is worn on the wrist and inhaled frequently throughout the day.
 
“It’s more personal than perfume,” says Ryan. “These scents are for you and you only. No one will even notice you are even wearing it … or smell it.”
 
Our sense of smell is claiming a new role in our lives which promises to be a more intelligent use of its power than sniffing artificial scent added to sell more products. Using your nose as a modern mood management tool will be a much better function of this sense.