Why if coffee used to neutralise smell for perfume?
I recently went to buy a perfume where I saw a jar with coffee beans in it, which made me curious and made me write this newsletter; let’s dig deeper
Coffee beans are often used in perfume shops to help "reset" your sense of smell. The idea is that sniffing coffee beans between sampling different fragrances can cleanse the olfactory palate, making it easier to distinguish between different scents. However, the scientific evidence to support this practice is limited.
How Does It Work?
Olfactory Fatigue: When you smell multiple perfumes one after another, your nose can become desensitised to the fragrances due to a phenomenon called "olfactory fatigue." This makes it difficult to distinguish between different scents.
Contrasting Aroma: Coffee has a strong, natural aroma that is very different from most perfumes. This contrast can act as a sort of "reset button," helping to clear your nose and make it easier to evaluate a new scent.
Why Not Use Other Alternatives?
Natural: Coffee is a natural substance that most people are familiar with, reducing the chance of allergic reactions.
Pleasant Aroma: Coffee has a generally pleasing, neutral, and recognisable scent that does not overwhelm most noses the way another strong fragrance might.
Availability: Coffee beans are widely available and relatively inexpensive, making them a practical choice for many retailers.
Tradition: The use of coffee beans is a traditional practice in the fragrance industry, and many people expect to see them when sampling perfumes.
Complex Yet Neutral: Coffee has a complex aroma, which means it engages your olfactory senses in a multifaceted way, but it is also considered neutral in the sense that it doesn't clash with other fragrances.
That said, alternatives like unscented blotters or simply taking a break from sniffing fragrances can also help reset your olfactory senses. While the coffee bean technique is commonly used and accepted in the fragrance industry, it's not universally supported by scientific studies, and other methods may also be effective for resetting your sense of smell.
What made you curious this week?