Power Scenting!

One of the most often bemoaned side effects of COVID-19 was loss of sense of smell.  Why?  Because smelling the world around us has a powerful effect on our wellbeing, how we think and behave.

When you’re adding a scent to a space it’s very important to be subtle, heavy-handed scenting can be nauseating and can also make people feel that you are trying to manipulate them, to point out just two of the issues with too much smell.

Since spaces differ a lot, in their size, air flow, etc., prescribing a certain number of drops of some scent or other per square foot can lead to all sorts of problems.  There is an ad hoc method of determining scent concentrations that works, however.  Add what you consider a subtle amount of scent to a space and invite people in.  Ask them what they think of the area.  If anyone spontaneously mentions how the place smells, cut back on how much smelly stuff you’ve added.  When no one spontaneously mentions a scent, start asking people what the area smells like.  When only about half the people you ask can correctly ID the smell you’re using, you’ve found your smell sweet spot.

Scents have the effects noted in the paragraphs that follow even when we don’t consciously perceive them and even after our noses have gone “blind” to them.

Add one of the following smells to spaces you are developing to make it just a little more likely that people will have the experiences there you intend:

• Pleasant scents in general improve our mood; worldwide, many people find flower smells pleasant.Improving our mood is a worthy objective because when we’re in a more positive mood we’re better at problem solving, thinking creatively, and getting along with others and being helpful, for example.
• Orange, floral (particularly jasmine and hyacinth), and vanilla scents seem to reduce how anxious we feel.
• Lemon, mango, and lavender are relaxing odors. Lavender can help us fall asleep, and the smell of jasmine will improve the quality of our sleep, boosting our mental performance into the next day.
• Our memories work better when we smell rosemary, sage, and peppermint. Smelling rosemary also makes us feel more alert.
• We feel more energetic after smelling grapefruit, tangerine, peppermint, and eucalyptus.
• When we’re doing some sort of boring mental work, the smell of peppermint can give us a performance boost, but smelling lemon is best when we’re doing more challenging, knowledge-work type thinking.
• When we smell peppermint we don’t feel as tired after doing some sort of physical work, such as exercising, and we’ll also do a better job at whatever that physical work has been.
• We’re more trusting of others when we smell lavender, which can be a good or a bad thing.
• We feel thinner when we smell lemon and heavier when we smell vanilla.
• When we smell a warm scent (such as cedarwood) we consumer fewer calories than we do when smelling a cooler scent (e.g., eucalyptus).
• When we smell a scent we associate with cleanliness (perhaps it is the odor of a cleaning product we’re familiar with) we act in a more socially responsible way (more fairly and generously, for example).We’re also just plain neater.