Search Forum

Sense of Smell and Skin Chemistry - figment and myth?

Sense of Smell and Skin Chemistry - figment and myth? 10 years ago
Why it smells gorgeous on me, and like monster burps on you or vice versa.
There is a wealth of information online to explain what we all have experienced. Here is just a taste:

On the sense of smell
Why perfume smells different to each of us: Receptors in the nose vary by 30% in two different people, an article in the Daily Mail on a paper published by Monell Chemical Senses Centre in Philadelphia.
(Wow! I did not know that! But it certainly explains A LOT!)

On skin chemistry
Why the Same Perfume Smells Different on Different People, published on EzineArticles, sums up the reasons for variations in how each of our skin treats a given fragrance.
An excerpt: "Many people decide to purchase a certain perfume because they like the way it smells on someone else. However, after they try the perfume themselves the result is often disappointing because the fragrance smells different than expected.

Something you may have noticed about perfume is that certain scents will smell different on different people. This is because each person has a unique body chemistry that reacts with the substances of the fragrance. Things such as hormones, diet, medications, and stress can all affect how the perfume reacts to your body. The skin itself is a very complex mixture of compounds. These compounds include things such as fat, salt, sugar, proteins, and fibers. As you know, people also have different skin types such as dry and oily skin. All these factors work together to produce a unique scent. The way the scent is released will be different for each person because certain compounds of the fragrance, called notes, will be released more quickly and slowly than others. These differences can be very subtle but are still detectable by our sensitive noses."

As my good friend who has earned his living for the last 30 years as a molecular biologist said, "yeah, that sounds about right."
10 years ago
I haven't read the links yet but it seems until we understand how we process smells, i.e. the science, that this subject is wide open. There will be trolls and there will be genuine interest. Here's something interesting: my daughter can only use white towels because she turns every coloured towel into a blotched discolouration, not make up, just her skin. She wears Chanel perfumes as if they had a 500 year half life but on me, nah, gone.
10 years ago
You should read the links. Wink

Oh, and to me these aspects of perfume experience are interesting to read and talk about. The troll (there was only one) was just trolling to troll, the subject was beside the point.

That article about receptors is interesting to me because I am one of those people who seem to smell things before everyone else in the vicinity does, and usually more strongly. It's alternately a blessing and a curse.
10 years ago
In addition to native skin chemistry as described there's also residual scent from our daily living; perfumed shampoos, conditioners, skin creams, shaving products etc. Even the most basic and frugal person will have a residual smell of soap, washing machine product, the scent of their house and then its additional residual scents etc. So even if one were to debate the oils/PH aspects of skin chemistry, the idea of having a completely blank canvas in an everyday environment is difficult at best.
10 years ago
Yes, residual stuff from both the outside and the inside of our bodies. It's an extreme example, but I'll never forget a roommate many years ago who began consuming large amounts of garlic for health reasons, and after a while the scent of garlic was literally coming out of her pores. Not her breath, her pores - it was SO strong! And I have a cousin who drank tons of carrot juice every day and began to smell like carrots all the time. These are extreme examples, but considering the fact we can recognize our loved ones’ individual skin scent (absent of any soap, shampoo or fragrance, just them), left on clothing and bedding, long after they’ve left the vicinity, it’s obvious the fatty sebum on our epidermis is holding onto stuff that comes from the inside too. Otherwise, all our skin would smell the same, and it simply doesn’t. My ex-boyfriend uses very subtle amounts of cologne and I could totally smell his skin through that thin layer of fragrance. For people who spray more aggressively, though, (4 or more sprays for most frags of average to excellent strength), I can see where the fragrance would obliterate the relatively subtle natural skin scent.
10 years ago
Dulcemio: I will look at these articles later - thank you for posting. I just wanted to say that this thread has one of the All Time Great Titles. Good going! Laughing
10 years ago
Laughing
10 years ago
Interesting articles, Dulcemio. Thank you.
30% is quite a difference, isn't it? Now, if only others would understand and appreciate this difference for what it actually is and realize not everyone can wear the same perfume and smell the same way. We may appreciate it on another, but on us, it just doesn't work out. No need to berate or constantly trash a perfume with words of negativity that don't actually describe it. (Unless it's really just that badly manufactured in some way, of course.)
So many factors come into play when we wear our perfumes, we cannot please everyone, but only ourselves, really. We wear our perfumes and throw caution to the wind outside sometimes, never knowing who we might offend. The only time, it seems we are safe, is in our own homes, where we are free to spray away with abandonment. Outside, we are relegated to a spritz or two to enjoy on the sly so as not to offend a soul.
10 years ago
I would like to bring up the fact that only a few months (3-6) have gone by and I'm testing a perfume again to see if I really want it, and this time I have totally different (opposite) review notes on it and not just this perfume because it happens with others.

Is this also common?
10 years ago
monster burps.... eeeuw

Tuberose based perfumes usually smell like old plant vase water on my skin. The vase that has been left waay too long and is festering gently. I do like tuberose on others but it doesn't like me.
Notify about new comments
Display posts from previous:
Forum Overview Perfumes & Brands Sense of Smell and Skin Chemistry - figment and myth?
Jump to