Why do we stop smelling our own perfume?

Most of the time, after you apply perfume, you stop smelling it in a few minutes, giving you the sensation that you aren’t wearing any. You try to solve this immediately, but wrongly, by applying more perfume. You end up smelling too strongly, and probably end up not smelling it any more anyway.

The sense of smell, our most primitive sense

But what is the reason that you almost never smell your own perfume? The sense of smell is the most primitive of the senses that we possess. The most surprising thing is that your olfactory heritage, that accumulates over the years unconsciously, has the capacity to evoke images and sensations when it perceives a certain aroma, even if many years have passed since the first time you perceived it.

The problem that comes up with perfumes is that our sense of smell gets tired of smelling the same odour constantly. When you constantly perceive the same aromas, your brain filters the essences and your olfactory memory doesn’t remember habitual aromas.

A perfume for every occasion

For this reason it is recommended, for both women and men, that you have at least 3 perfumes: one for daily use during the weekdays, one for the weekends, and one that you choose for special occasions.

This trick is perfect for keeping your nose from getting accustomed quickly to one particular odour. This way it won’t get bored of them, and by continually detecting various odours, it will always detect new notes, not having time to filter them as “habitual odours” and get tired. It is definitely about tricking your sense of smell.

There are tricks for making sure that aromas stay concentrated on your skin for longer times, and especially if they are fresh, to make sure they last longer. For example, when you get out of the shower your skin is wet and the pores are more open. This is the ideal moment to apply perfume, so the skin can more easily absorb the aromas, so they can penetrate better and remain concentrated for longer.

It is also recommended that you apply the perfumes to places where your body temperature is a little bit higher, like the insides of the wrists, the insides of the elbows, and the sides of the neck. A trick to identify these little areas: when you touch these zones you will more easily be able to feel your pulse.