Sublime Comfort
We are made of memories and those memories are fragments of what we’ve seen, experienced, touched, and most importantly, smelt. Memories, in a lot of ways, are associated with scent. Humans can detect one trillion different olfactory stimuli. This scent pathway is directly connected to the limbic system, the part of the brain that deals with emotions. This is why smell connects us to our memories and has the power to evoke emotions and feelings instantly. It can even bring up the oldest memories, often triggering the same emotion you felt in the past.
The smell of earth after rain, the smell of a field full of wildflowers, the smell of a dense forest, the aroma of the coffee, the scent of your pet: all of these smells, along with thousands of others, are instantly recognizable. More than any other sense, it is the sense of smell that can stir our emotions. That is why we miss our loved ones if we are exposed to anything that smells like them. Many scents can affect our mood as they interact with our brains and can determine how he perceives our surroundings. This applies too in our relationships: between mother and baby, man and woman, family and friends. Even as individuals, we want to smell good. Smelling good makes us feel more secure and confident. How we feel within is directly related to how we show ourselves to the world. We want to be appreciated, recognized, and to leave an imprint of our presence. The first impression in every personal encounter is visual, the second olfactory – how we smell.
Fragrances have been influential throughout history, right from the ancient civilization to modern-day global brand campaign. Fragrances are used by brands to create style and identity. And what better way to do that than subtle fragrances. You might not have realized it but you have most probably been exposed to the scent technology in the last 30 days itself. We have been subconsciously exposed to trigger certain memories relating to the brand or product when exposed to a certain smell. And this is not a new technique, as the science of smell and its association with emotions and memories has been leveraged in product development for years. And that is how we find ourselves lingering to a certain moment in time, how our emotions overpower us immediately, and how we remember.
