Do we all perceive scent the same way?

I've always thought that we all more or less perceived scent the same way, after all, we're all human (apart from those aliens among us ) and our noses and brains pretty much work the same way. Whether or not we enjoy, appreciate or dislike the same scents is another matter altogether. Thats tied up in personal preference, experiences and memories and cultural influences. I had a recent experience that is throwing all of my former beliefs about scent and the perception thereof into disarray.

If you were to look back over my years of posts on DFS (you don't have to) you'd see that the harshest criticism I've directed at otherwise excellent products has been having mild to non-existent scent or that my perception of the scent bears no resemblance to the artisan's stated scent profile for that product. I'm good with either liking or disliking a scent, thats just taste but little to no scent in a product marketed as having scent (i.e., not unscented) is a serious defect in my opinion. Well, maybe I've been unfair to those artisans whom I've felt were guilty of this. I'd just marked it up to either lack of skill scent wise (rarely) or intentionally under-scenting in order not to offend the overly sensitive.

So getting back to the recent experience - my wife and I were in a shop a few days ago that sold among other things, fragrance. I thought I'd sniff a few that I might be interested in so I could give my wife or kids ideas for potential Christmas gifts for me (why leave that up to chance?) I sniffed (and took away on sample cards) Tom Ford Grey Vetiver, Noir and For Men and Monte Blanc Legend Night. My preference was/is Tom Ford Grey Vetiver, Noir maybe second. I found For Men a little light and not to my taste and the Legend Night almost imperceptibly light and again, not really my style. OK fine. My wife liked Grey Vetiver as well as Noir but here's the weird thing, she found the Mont Blanc Legend Night overpoweringly strong. I could barely smell it and she could barely stand to be in the same room with it. Whats up with that?

It occurred to me first, maybe there's something wrong with my nose or more accurately my sense of smell. I'm only 58 and haven't had any significant exposure to substances that might toast my scent receptors and I generally smell most things pretty well, or so I thought. Secondly, I thought that maybe all humans don't perceive the same scents the same way. Maybe there's a genetic component similar to the ability to taste substances differently like cilantro. Now my mind is blown. I might be walking out the door thinking that I'm looking good, smelling good and feeling good and everyone in my wake is swallowing back vomit Maybe that woman who gets on the elevator reeking of some overpowering perfume thinks that she smells subtly and tastefully alluring....and maybe she does to everyone else but me!! This has really shaken me. I don't know what to think, what to believe or what to smell anymore. "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,"

So there it is. Where once I thought I stood on firm foundation now I find I'm struggling to maintain my footing on shifting sands. Most of all I want to apologize to any artisan I may have offended or maligned by accusing them of too light a hand with scent. I now only feel comfortable expressing whether I find a product personally pleasing or not and will, in future, refrain from commenting on scent strength. After all, what do I know?

I really agree with what you have written here.  When I was at the St. Louis meet-up a year and a half ago, I got to speak with Rod (ezlovan) of Stirling Soap Co. about that.  Even he admitted that sometimes he would have to ask Mandy about certain scents and how strong he thought they were.  I had mentioned that I had his Gin & Tonic shave soap and could not detect any scent at all after several uses.  He thought that strange and had me smell his menthol version of the same scent.  I was surprised at the wonderful scent.  When I got home, I used my non menthol version and, sure enough, I could smell it.  To my nose it is subtle but it has become one of my favorite scents.  To this day, I have no idea why I could not initially detect any scent from the soap.  So, yes, I understand where you are coming from.

NO!
We do not all perceive scents the same. One of the difficulties of making stuff for people. We've even had internal arguments over scents.

A fantastic post!

A friend of mine is an amazing chef in the bay area with a keen nose. But has not smelled ultra high quality Cardamom oil. I had him sniff a bottle, I also put some oil on a smelling strip. He couldn't name the ingredient but he recognized the scent. He felt terrible after I told him what the ingredient is, a week later he had no issue recognizing the ingredient. I have been anosmic to certain ingredients but after repeated exposure to the scent, I'm no longer anosmic.

Noses need training Christophe is one of my idols!




https://youtu.be/ysTRp3l2Xpc

https://youtu.be/tCq34wS-1ik

I'm in the camp that believes we're all different, there are some genetic factors, and there are environmental/health factors. I lost most of my sense of smell temporality and then when it came back there were things I noticed that I didn't get prior to before losing my sense of smell, new notes I'd never detected before

Nice post and had a learning experience with a soap from stirling that I learned I was picking up or interpreting as a rank scent in it. Another member knew the soap scent and wanted to trade for it. I did but told him if when he got it he realized it was a bad batch let me make it right for him some how. He got it and said it smelled great, just like the tub he had. Taught me a lesson on difference we all have with olfactory senses and how we individually interpret scents.

First of all, I've read that scent receptors can vary up to 40% between individuals, severely changing how a scent is perceived from person to person. I think it was a textbook but I can't remember for sure so the number could be off, but there is still a significant variation.

Secondly, the sense of smell is the only one directly connected to the brain with no information being processed in between. This goes back to when we were less evolved and relied upon our sense of smell to warn us of dangers, poison, and so on and so forth. So when our brains associate a memory or emotion with a particular scent, it is hard-wired to flip that emotional/memory switch immediately to harken back to the days when the immediacy of detecting a scent could be the difference between life and death.

Finally, in my own personal conjecture, I would imagine context has a lot to do with it. A color can appear differently depending on its surroundings. I grew up eating spicy food, so I'm a bit of a heat seeker, while I know others who didn't and have a much low tolerance. Or imagine the olfactory fatigue of a smell as you are exposed to it over a period of time. This is just anecdotal and I don't have a fully fleshed out theory here, other than it seems like they should be other factors to consider.

I agree with the statement that we do not all perceive scents the same way. I also agree that the same person may not perceive scent the same way from one date to the next. I believe that there are different things that impact how we perceive scent. Our overall health can, especially when we are all congested. I know. Kind of obvious. But I believe that our olfactory system can be impacted by our general state of health, viruses and our age. I definitely believe they change with age. This is why scent is such a subjective topic. Yet it is central to many people's shaving experience. I know it is for me. For me the ideal soap or cream will provide me with BOTH excellent performance and an amazing scent.

Marko;

Your writing leads me down the path to one legendary soap.

Tabac...

First of all, I've read that scent receptors can vary up to 40% between individuals, severely changing how a scent is perceived from person to person. I think it was a textbook but I can't remember for sure so the number could be off, but there is still a significant variation.

Secondly, the sense of smell is the only one directly connected to the brain with no information being processed in between. This goes back to when we were less evolved and relied upon our sense of smell to warn us of dangers, poison, and so on and so forth. So when our brains associate a memory or emotion with a particular scent, it is hard-wired to flip that emotional/memory switch immediately to harken back to the days when the immediacy of detecting a scent could be the difference between life and death.

Finally, in my own personal conjecture, I would imagine context has a lot to do with it. A color can appear differently depending on its surroundings. I grew up eating spicy food, so I'm a bit of a heat seeker, while I know others who didn't and have a much low tolerance. Or imagine the olfactory fatigue of a smell as you are exposed to it over a period of time. This is just anecdotal and I don't have a fully fleshed out theory here, other than it seems like they should be other factors to consider.

This is absolutely true. A close friend of mine passed away and I just hung up the phone and put my hands in my face. To this day I STILL cannot stand the smell of anise. Because that is what I was wearing at the time and had just put it on.