No career scent

Today brilliant perfume writer Andreas Båsk gave me this incredibly indecent iconic piece of fragrance... Eau Sauvage, Dior's from 1966 by the one and only Edmond Roudnitska.

No, I won't be wearing this at work...

Love having perfume milestones like this one as references in my collection. Especially the vintage ones that are more untamed. Which reminds me, I need to do a post on this... Most people don't know that perfumes are altered. The Chanel no 5 and Shalimar that we buy today is not the same formula as it was decades ago. Doesn't have to be decades either... So don't throw your old perfumes away. Store them well and then sell them on Ebay for example if you don't want to keep them. Vintage perfume is a magic world. To be continued.

Smell like a boss part II

Here comes a lengthier version of my musings about perfume in a career context that led to the article in Swedish business paper Dagens Industri.

The main point that I want to make is this: Scent is one of the many tools that we can use to create good conditions for communication.

This is the main principle behind why I think that the perfumes (and scents in general) that we use at work are so interesting. This has nothing to do with “trying to smell like a leader”, as in putting an olfactory mask on. Nor is it about manipulation of situations or our image. It is about being aware of how scents are linked to our brain and therefore affect our perception of ourselves, of situations and of others.

Let’s proceed: the right scent in the right context can strengthen your professional communication and thus position by adding definition to your message about who you are and what you want. For a person already conscious of their personal brand it is only natural to also have either a signature scent or better still, a fragrance wardrobe.

An interest in perfumes is sometimes unfortunately associated with an interest in fashion, cosmetics etc. This leads to underestimation of scent as a powerful communication tool. Olfactory perception, our sense of smell, is particular. Olfactory impressions travel directly to the brain's emotional and memory centers, which in turn affects both how we feel and perceive things - and how we are perceived by others. This happens not only in the moment, but also afterwards when we create memories. How you smell will affect the associations someone has with you when they remember you. Now tell me this does not matter in a professional context. Just think of job interviews! Or negotiations. Or your first day as CEO meeting with your key stakeholders.

Suits.

With a conscious choice of scent, you can use this to your advantage. Your scent can clarify who you are, and reinforce the message you want to get across as well as the associations you want to evoke. In the same way that your voice, posture and clothing affect how others see you, the perfume you wear will make a difference. A positive one if you invest some effort.

A signature scent or a fragrance wardrobe?
Some people find a perfume that feels like the only one they can imagine wearing. Sometimes this lasts a few years, sometimes a lifetime. But let’s admit it, most people don’t. Sticking to a perfume that feels “ok” because you are unsure of what to look for or scared to try new things doesn’t count. Finding a signature scent is not an easy thing to do. Until you find one I really do recommend composing a fragrance wardrobe of say three to five perfumes for a start. Allow yourself to use different perfumes at work and at home because that will let you go all in with the various types of scents that attract you and explore (or define) more sides of your personality. Special perfumes are not generic or random. Adapt your fragrance to the needs of different situations and what you want to convey about yourself in them.

The scent of a leader
As a leader it is important to be clear. Nobody follows a confused guide. Your scent is one of the signals you can use to communicate who you are and how you want others to relate to you. A boss who has a very formal appearance but smells of summer vacation makes a confusing impression. Another example of olfactory failure is wearing a perfume that is too heavy and tranquilizing in a situation where your role is to be someone who boosts energy.

In a professional context, it’s not just a question of smelling well. There are thousands of great smelling perfumes and people. Someone who makes the right decisions will benefit from smelling right. Scent is a tool. It can improve conditions for communication, remember? Reinforce what you want to convey about your message and yourself by using the right fragrance. Choose a fragrance that works for you just like your other attributes do.

Risks with perfume failure

- Creates confusion
- Sending out the wrong signals
- Distraction from your message
- Negative associations
- Affect energy in the wrong way

Potential with the right perfume

- Extra definition
- Memorability
- Enhanced message
- Emotional values added to intellectual content
- Affect energy in a tactic way

Confusion or contrast?
In situations where it is important to be clear, concise and concrete confusion is seldom good. Avoid sending out confusing signals by mistake in important contexts. There is however another way to look at it. Attention can be caught by using disruption in the form of a contrast. A conscious use of contrast between fragrance and other attributes can create a very interesting effect. This is something that is interesting to experiment with and I encourage it. An informal minimalistic outfit with a complex perfume, an feminine look and a masculine fragrance, vintage and modern synthetic notes. You can create great effects. Again, this depends on who you are and what your professional context is all about. It is not black and white. You have to look at who you are, your context(s) and needs. There is no generic professional perfume wardrobe.

My point, again, is to inspire you to make more conscious choices and explore the communicative potential of scents. To see how they can convey different aspects of you and what this can add to different situations. Go explore, have fun!

Smell like a boss

Doing a little olfactory nerdiness for a better smelling world in Swedish business newspaper Dagens Industri today about how to smell like a boss.

Stick around for my next post, a more lengthy piece on this topic is coming up. In the meantime you can find a series of my articles with guidance for your perfume shopping here. And if you have questions that you would like me to address please feel free to send an e-mail.

Have a powerfully smelling day! ;)

Sense of smell – how it works miniature version

Every now and then it’s good to refresh our memory about the basics when it comes to scents. Brands are more or less trendy, there are seasonal perfume launches and top ten lists and marketing budgets. Then there is the smell of rain, of summer, of skin, of coffee beans. Sometimes it is easy to forget how it is all connected. So, here is a very short and extremely simplified guide to the sense of smell - or olfactory perception. It is not necessary to know these things to appreciate perfume, but having some rough insight into the links between scents and our body and brain makes things more interesting and the search for perfume or candles more conscious.

Nothing is arbitrary, and so much of how we perceive scents has to do with the construction of the brain.

First of all, we are all affected by scents around us. This has nothing to do with preferences or interest. We are programmed to take smell seriously as it has initially been a survival tool used to sense danger and to find suitable partners for reproduction. We might not find ourselves in the situations where it is the most important tool anymore, and much has changed. For example we select partners according to various criteria and we have dates written on food packages so we don’t necessarily smell them to see if they are still ok. But our brain is still built the same way and our instinct is to trust the information that smells gives us. 

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When we inhale a scent travels in odor molecules. It goes up through the nose (it is possible to have two separate impress, that is one through each nostril) and to olfactory membranes inside the nose. The odor molecules match receptor cell sites that line the olfactory epithelium. When stimulated by odor molecules the nerve cells send impulses to the olfactory bulb in the brain which forwards  the impulses to the gustatory center (where the sensation of taste is perceived), the amygdala (where emotional memories are stored), and other parts of the limbic system of the brain. The sense of smell is the only one of our five senses that is directly linked to the limbic lobe of the brain which means that what we smell goes directly to the brain's centers for memories and emotions.

The limbic system is also directly connected to the parts of the brain that control heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, memory, stress levels and hormone balance. What we smell goes right to the parts of the brain that are related to emotions and memories. We might intellectualize olfactory impressions, but we can never avoid the highway they take to our feelings. This is one of the reasons why a conscious use of smells, for example in professional contexts, is a very powerful (and underestimated) tool.

What scents we prefer is to a large extent based on memories and cultural preferences. Scents trigger old memories and suddenly something creates a feeling of safety because it reminds us of childhood. Or the opposite – a scent can take us back to an unhappy feeling because it triggers a sad memory. Scents have been used in therapy to activate traumatic memories among war victims so that these memories can be processed. Sometimes we are not even aware of the strong associations between a smell and a memory until we experience them. It is noteworthy here that what we perceive as a bad smell is something that we are taught. This is a good reminder for parents with small children – the children do not evaluate the smells until you teach them. Why not let them keep discovering for a while longer before drawing the map?

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The associations are subjective. There are however some general scent-related effects that seem to affect us in a similar way. A citrus smell will boost our energy (try smelling a lemon when you get sleepy in your office the afternoon). Lavender has been used in studies that indicate that it improves our cognitive ability. Benzoin, vanilla and sandal wood calm and balance. You might not think this matters or that it is obvious – but do you really think about how your perfume affects different situations at work? A brain storm and a crisis meeting benefit from entirely different smells. You benefit from different smells in the morning compared to when you need to unwind. 

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Smell the attraction
A strange mash-up of procreation science and marketing clichés has created some sort of hype around fluffy explanations and theories on the sense of smell and attraction. You will for example hear the word “pheromones” thrown like some sort of dating dart. It is not that easy. Olfactory perception does indeed play an important role in attraction but various aspect of contemporary life has changed that game a bit. We have over-washed bodies, on-paper-criteria and online dating for example. It is true however that olfactory perception has had the purpose to help us select appropriate partners based on information about immune systems communicated through pheromones. But let’s leave it at that for now and I promise to do a post on pheromones later. I would suggest however that when you select a perfume based on your desire to meet Someone that you want to keep meeting: don’t go looking or asking for perfumes that “smell sexy”, look for perfumes that add to you smelling like you.

There is an infinite amount of aspects to talk about when it comes to our sense of smell and our body and mind. I have mentioned some of these in my posts about scent and memories, and the posts on specific ingredients. Please feel free to share insight or questions by commenting below or send an e-mail.

Olfactory disorders

Last but not least, our olfactory perception is not something that we should take for granted. Many people suffer from an olfactory disorder and this can be quite problematic. Here are some of the most common disorders of smell.

• Anosmia – inability to smell 
• Dysosmia – things smell different than they should 
• Hyperosmia – an abnormally acute sense of smell
• Hyposmia – decreased ability to smell 
• Phantosmia – "hallucinated smell," often unpleasant in nature