Do you know Why Maximus Smells The Dirt Before Each Battle?
According to ScreenRant, the reason behind his famous dirt-smelling ritual before each clash connects Maximus to his home and to his family.
Category Archives: Fragrant News
Metronome, billed as an experiential meditation tool, has finally launched after 10 years in development.
A collaborative work, the piece has been created by Alter-Projects‘ Anne-Laure Pingreoun; Servaire&Co‘s Sebastien Servaire, Candido De Barro and Gregory Sidoine; with sound and tech from 6Sides, K-array Audio Solutions, 2BHeard, Moodsonic and SetWorks.
Inside the fragrance contained opens with an earthy scent, boasting notes of burnt wood, musk, grass and ginger. Servaire&Co worked with top perfumers to choose each fragrance for its ability to anchor the visitor’s primal parts of the brain into making fast, distinct emotional connections. The diffuser scent configuration changes subtly each time the pendulum swings, thanks to magnets in a painstakingly accurate push-pull configuration which causes time to almost stand still for the viewer.
A motion and scent profile enables “a new semantic and poetic system,” says Servaire
Metronome is on display at London Design Biennale before ‘swinging’ across to Paris Design Week.
This article was spotted on Cool Hunting, catch the full expose here
The ability to communicate with a real person, to see, touch and smell products are essential components of the physical experience that together tell a compelling brand story.
A compelling luxury story is achieved by building a strong, in-store brand experience.
Strong in-store experiences will become the new normal, with the ability to tell unique, personal and experiental narratives that cannot be replicated online.
Indeed research shows that multi-sensory cues in a retail store atmosphere have a powerful impact on consumer emotions and purchase behaviors, especially when they are congruent or delivered harmoniously.
In other words, customers will not get the same sensory stimulation online since they cannot touch, smell, or taste their desired product.
Humans need to socialise and connect. Indeed stores will vie to be the destination for these cherished interactions.
Jing Daily reports on trends in physical retail. Read more here
It is a well known fact that our sense of smell is processed in a deep-seated part of our brains, the limbic system, a place that also processes our memories and emotion.
Given the close connection of odours and memories it is therefore unsurprising that a whole range of smells from the good to the bad to the ugly (who is to judge anyway) can elicit a broad spectrum of emotions.
Smells are known to jog memories and nostalgia and it is these deep associated sensory memories that jog our emotional state.
According to psychologist Dr Elena Touroni:
‘The smell itself doesn’t have to be particularly pleasant in order to provoke a positive memory. It’s very common and we purposefully use it as a psychological strategy in therapy – especially for those who have experienced trauma or have emotional difficulties, for example,’ she adds. It’s more about the association, rather than enjoyment of the thing itself.’
What odd smells bring comfort to you?
The metro reports with some readers quoting some odd nostalgic driven aromas here
This year Chanel (and the world) will be celebrating 100 years of this iconic perfume.
Launched back in 1921, Coco Chanel being the trailblazer and fashion icon wanted to push the boundaries on fragrance and move beyond the soliflores (single flower inspired creations, ie it smells like what it is).
Working with French-Russian perfumer Ernest Beaux, he decided to resort to a powerful ingredient called Aldehydes which gave Chanel No. 5 its iconic sparkling, powdery, even ‘lux soapy-fresh out of the bath’ feel.
However as the story goes, Mr Beaux’s assistant had mistakenly overdosed sample No. 5 with too much aldehyde.
Unbeknownst to Ernest he presented the samples to Coco who immediately was bowled over by the power of No. 5. Needless to say he took most of the credit and an icon was born.
Besides for the concoction, with alongside aldehydes, contains a bouquet of ingredients including jasmine, rose and ylang ylang, the fact that very little has changed to the design of the bottle or the label, lends to the iconic cult beauty status that Chanel No. 5 has no doubt earned.
Don’t have a bottle, you can purchase one right here
Dissect the perfume ingredients on Fragrantica
The start of spring holds a characteristic outdoors odor. It’s a bit of dirt, mixed in with sharp greenness and an unmistakable whiff of ozone. Its called Geosmin and our noses are so finely tuned to this organic compound, in fact, that according to Popular Mechanics we can detect it better than sharks can recognize blood.
Buuuuuut as it finally turns out, the source of this smell, its er not so romantic.
For the very first time, excited scientists at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, the John Innes Centre, and Lund University have identified why this distinct scent has persisted: a mutually-beneficial relationship between a six-legged worm, known as the springtail, and Streptomyces, a type of bacteria commonly found in soil.
Springtails are attracted to the smell of geosmin associated with the bacteria which basically then hitches a ride on Springtails that spread their tiny spores.
-Ed
Detailed source here – https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a32065673/spring-smell-geosmin-soil-springtails/
In Seoul, the US Forces are carrying out random vinegar smell tests on its bases to screen people possibly infected with COVID-19, the military said, following reports that losing the sense of smell or taste could be an indication of virus infection.
According to the Army Garrison, those personnel who cannot detect the smell of vinegar will be further screened, adding that studies have shown that the loss of smell is an early indicator of possible infection.
Vinegar really? How about you level up and buy some dem Jars of Smells for y’all boys in green…no vinegar inside, but you will find a nasal challenge that will make your nose hairs curl!
-Ed
Reported From – https://m-en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN2020040600900032
According to a patent application, Ford is working on a solution to identify, categorize and compute odors found emanating from your ride share.
Ford’s system would use an environmental sensor to determine the nature of the odors inside a vehicle and would compare those odors and their concentrations to a list of thresholds set by the ride-hailing customer. For example, I have zero tolerance for Black Ice air fresheners, so if I call for a car and the sensor detects that chemical profile in the car it wants to send to me, it’ll change up.
Seriously, how would this ever actually work? Smells are so subjective and contextual. Intensity sure, that we can understand, its like a volume switch, but the rest of it? This patent application is at best a method to turn what exotic flavors remain in this world into plain vanilla.
Its a braven new world out there peeps!
-Ed
Full piece reported on here – https://www.cnet.com/news/coronavirus-car-buyers-ride-sharing-public-transport/
A new study from the University of East Anglia reveals the huge range of emotional and practical impacts caused by a loss of smell.
It finds that almost every aspect of life is disrupted – from everyday concerns about personal hygiene to a loss of sexual intimacy and the break-down of personal relationships.
The researchers hope that their findings will help motivate clinicians to take smell problems more seriously, with better help and support offered to patients.
“There are many causes – from infections and injury to neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and as a side effect of some medications.
“Most patients suffer a loss of flavour perception which can affect appetite and can be made even worse if distortions in their sense of smell also co-exist.
“Previous research has shown that people who have lost their sense of smell also report high rates of depression, anxiety, isolation and relationship difficulties.
“We wanted to find out more about how a loss of smell affects people.”
The researchers worked with the Smell and Taste clinic at the James Paget University Hospital, Gorleston-On-Sea. The clinic opened in 2010 and was the UK’s first clinic dedicated to taste and smell.
The study involved 71 participants aged between 31-80 who had written to the clinic about their experiences.
The research shows that sufferers experience wide-ranging impairments to their quality of life. These included a negative emotional impact, feelings of isolation, impaired relationships and daily functioning, impacts on physical health and the difficulty and financial burden of seeking help.
“The inability to link smells to happy memories was also a problem. Bonfire night, Christmas smells, perfumes and people – all gone. Smells link us to people, places and emotional experiences. And people who have lost their sense of smell miss out on all those memories that smell can evoke.
“Many participants described a negative impact on relationships – ranging from not enjoying eating together to an impact on sexual relationships,” he added.
Reference: https://www.eurekalert.org/
Sillage Drops New Balance 990v3 Shaped Incense Chamber
Sillage, the Tokyo-based is releasing an incense chamber modeled on the founder, Nicolas “Yuthanan” Chalmeau’s favorite sneaker, the New Balance 990v3 in its shapely 2 year old worn-in condition.
Wonder if this comes in a pair?
Did you know the word SILLAGE comes from French for ‘wake’ (as in trail, not as in wake or woke). Its often used as a term in perfumery describing how far the fragrance you are wearing projects off your skin, or how long it lingers in the air after you have passed by, ie your wake.
-Ed
First reported here – https://hypebeast.com/2020/5/
“Identifying asymptomatic carriers is absolutely critical in stopping the progression of the pandemic, I believe,” Professor Small says. “So if there is odour loss with some — even if it’s only a small percentage of people — identifying them as carriers would be significant.”
Losing one’s sense of smell isn’t like losing one’s car keys. When the keys go missing, you recognize the loss in an instant. But a person’s sense of smell can slip away quietly, over a period of time, without the person noticing it is going, going, going, until it is effectively gone.
Small and her pals agreed that a simple do-it-at-home sniff test, using common household items, would allow participants — the great mass of us — to start tracking their sense of smell. In this way, an asymptomatic carrier who feels like a million bucks, but notes a diminishing sense of smell one day to the next, could consider quarantining, ASAP, instead of carrying on until their olfactory sense disappears altogether.
Hence, says Small, the birth of the peanut butter sniff test. Peanut butter, so good on toast, and always a friend to jam, is a North American staple that stimulates the olfactory sense exclusively, unlike, say, ground coffee — a treat to inhale, no doubt — but a fragrance that fires both our sense of smell and the trigeminal nerve governing sensations like “pain and tickle,” which influence how one registers an odour.
As a control on the peanut butter, sniff-test participants are asked to breathe in a snout full of vinegar, another household staple, like coffee, that fires the trigeminal nerve. The big idea? If a subject is registering the vinegar, but the scent of the peanut butter is fading away, they can be confident their sense of smell is decreasing.
“If we find there is a trajectory of diminishing smell over days, we would be able to identify asymptomatic carriers, even before they were conscious of losing their smell,” says Small. “And in those, let’s say, five days, there could otherwise be lots of transmissions.”
And what if you have a peanut butter allergy? Ouch!
Check out TMB’s Jars of Smells… a box full of mysterious, randomised smells that help fine-tune your schnozzz. And who knows peanut butter might be one of the smells you might encounter!?
https://topmiddlebase.com/product/jar-of-smells/
-Ed
Originally reported on here – https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/heroes-of-the-pandemic-a-canadian-professor-has-a-peanut-butter-sniff-test-to-combat-covid-19
Gasoline is a chemical cocktail comprised of many ingredients
Chief amongst these is Benzene which is added to gasoline to increase octane levels whilst also giving gas its characteristic gassy smell.
Naturally a sweet smell Benzene is also quite pungent.
So getting to the WHY, there are 2 strong reasons WHY some people cannot get enough of the stuff:
1 – Emotion Says Sniffing on the gas is bringing back pleasant memories such as filling up the tank before heading out on a family road trip, or some excitement you may have had around a bike, a boat or even the plane.
2 – Science Says whiffing on the gas is firing up your mesolimbic pathway. What this means is that Benzene may be dancing on your olfactory nerve endings, resulting in a slight head tingle.
What is the true answer? Possibly a touch of both?
Vroom Vroom
Speaking of smells. Have a go at T/M/B Jars of Smells.
The ultimate tool for fine-tuning your schnoz. Play this as a game with friends, the expressions will be completely grammable.
Includes smells like Honey, Rain, Garbage, Gasoline, Chocolate & Fresh Cut Grass….a completely randomized set in every box guaranteed!
– Ed
Research Source – https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/why-some-people-love-the-smell-of-gasoline
The Plague Doctor costume has been something that has always intrigued us. Given the current global condition we decided to do some research into this historical character and his/her outlandishly designed protective gear.
Dating back to our 17th and 18th centuries, ‘Plague Doctors’ who had the unenviable of caring for the sick, invented masks to protect themselves from “bad air” and prevent contagion. These masks had lenses on the eyes and a long cavity in the nose, which was filled with drugs and aromatic items. This cavity measuring about half a foot in length, had 2 small vent holes, and its shape was very similar to beaks of birds. At the beak were used substances such as ambergris, mint leaves, styrax, myrrh, laudanum, rose petals, camphor, cloves and straw.
Can you imagine wearing this? Muust have been intense…
You can score your own Plague Doctor Masks here https://plaguedoctormasks.com/
Perfumer Timothy Han is planning to make some of literature’s greatest works even more engaging by infusing their pages with a range of matching scents.
He has already distilled the essence of several books including Jack Kerouac’s On The Road and Simone de Beauvoir’s She Came To Stay into a unique range of perfumes.
What books do you think deserve their own special smell?
Read more here – https://www.hungertv.com/editorial/timothy-han-creates-experimental-fragrances-inspired-by-literature/
A healthy (or unhealthy) sense of smell has always been likened to the ‘canary in the cole mine, alerting us to possibly underlying health conditions. It is no surprise that this human sensory tool is now being linked to the early identification of COVID-19
Along with fever, cough and shortness of breath – many coronavirus (COVID-19) patients report a temporary loss of their sense of smell. It appears that olfactory loss is significantly greater in COVID-19 patients compared to the loss that is often experienced during a cold, and less commonly, in non-COVID-19 influenza patients. In some countries, such as France, a patient who claims to have a sudden onset of olfactory loss will be diagnosed as a coronavirus patient – without even being tested. A similar approach is being considered in the UK. Based on this data, Weizmann Institute scientists, in collaboration with the Edith Wolfson Medical Center, developed SmellTracker – an online platform that enables self-monitoring of an individual’s sense of smell – for the purpose of detecting early signs of COVID-19 or in the absence of other symptoms.
Reported by – https://www.miragenews.com/self-monitoring-sense-of-smell-may-help-detect-coronavirus/
Why do infants smell so good?!
Newborn babies are born with powerful mechanisms to survive in this cruel, cruel world. Their appealing features like big eyes, fat cheeks and wide foreheads with small mouths and noses are what captures our attention. These traits drive adults to care for them despite their flaws – like the late night feeding or explosive diapers which eventually leads the adults to be sleep-deprived.
Then, there’s the new-baby smell that wins it all (ugh!). There is no definite answer to this but researchers mentioned that the appealing smell is extracted from the chemicals exuded from a baby’s sweat glands. According to them, the smell can only lasts for as long as six weeks due to the changes in the baby’s metabolism level when they begin eating and drinking on their own. Another theory mentioned that the smell helps them to bond with their mothers which triggers maternal feelings of love.
Until when do these smells last?
The situation changes once they turn into teenagers, where they tend to smell less appealing. During these years, a study found that their off-putting scent once they enter puberty encourages their parents to keep their distance and help them become self-sufficient.
The notion of newborns smelling so good (like SUPER GOOD) is linearly related to the mother’s highly developed sense of smell, as she is prone to perceiving her child’s developmental stage through a sniff.
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