You’re excited to sample a new fragrance. You bring it to your nose for a whiff… and nothing.
The good news: the fragrance does have an aroma.
The bad news? You just can’t smell it.
And there’s actually a scientific reason for that.
It’s called fragrance anosmia, a phenomenon where your nose can’t detect certain scent molecules. Common culprits include Ambroxan, Musk, Cetalox and Iso E Super.
Anosmia vs. Nose Blindness
Anosmia is typically biological. It’s caused by genetic differences in your olfactory receptors, so it’s not something you caused or can control.
Nose blindness, on the other hand, develops over time. It’s your brain tuning out a scent after prolonged exposure—once it's learned that the scent is not a noteworthy threat. If your go-to fragrance seems to “disappear” after a few hours, your brain may have simply stopped registering it. Kind of like when you first return home, you suddenly smell “home,” but stop smelling it again after you’ve been home for a bit.
In both cases, others can still smell your fragrance—even if you can’t.
How to Tell if You’re Anosmic
Iso E Super, for example, is a key ingredient in our Paper Scent Space trilogy and appears in many Personal Scent Space fragrances. If you’ve sprayed one and can’t smell much, you might be anosmic to Iso E Super.
The only way to find out is by testing in real life. Spray the fragrance, smell it (or don’t), and then ask someone nearby if they can smell it. If they can—and you still can’t—you may have just discovered your anosmic zone.
If it’s a tried and true fragrance that you suddenly can’t detect anymore, take a break from it for a few days. You may just be nose blind.
Either way, don’t fret: your nose—and your fragrance—is working just fine.