Blog Dis
The nose knows what it likes
2025-05-20
Life is not an illusion because we have senses: smell, hearing, sight, touch and taste. Well, for most of us, there are five ready senses, notwithstanding those born without one or more or those who lose them in later years. Some suggest there are at least nine more senses, to include proprioception (body awareness) and thermoception (temperature awareness). For the sake of this post, let's agree that the five main senses are considered our top ones. I am fond of my senses. I've tried to imagine what it would be like to lose one and I can't conceive of giving up even one. I've played this game with myself since I was a girl that if I had to choose which sense to relinquish, if it meant inheriting another special gift in return, I could only arrive at the conclusion that my sense of smell would have to go — this would be the only option, and still I'd be bereft if I could no longer smell my favourite smells.
In actuality, I have a diminished sense of smell, which I believe has been there since birth. However, I'm in possession of ultra-sensitive hearing, to the point that if I didn't wear ear-plugs at night to sleep, I'd be able to hear conversations taking place outside, on the other side of the street from my window. It's annoying. And, as many scientists will attest, and I shall as well, when women menstruate, our sense of hearing magnifies and we'll pick up unwanted sounds. If you live in the centretown of a city, you'll know intimately about the overlay of noises coming from buses, motorcycles, sirens, fire trucks screeching down the street, loudly, people shouting, arguing, and dogs barking.😅 When an ambulance tears up ear-drums, as it whizzes by, I'll stop to plug my ears with my fingers. This is simply the status-quo when you live in the heart of city vs those who insist on the sleepy comfort of suburban streets.
But my sense of smell, not necessarily the best. I work with a woman whose sense of smell rages like gangbusters and the mildest odor coming from the garbage pale will completely unravel the poor girl. Not me. If there's an odor in the pail, it literally has to gravitate to the level of stench before it offends me. Perhaps this explains why I'm fastidiously clean at home, showering up to three times a day during the heat of summer in cycling season. Allow me to point out here, however, that what you eat, the kinds of food that can create body odors, like onions or garlic, will have an impact on your body odor, similar to how a vigorous workout will leave you sweating. You may be immune to your own smell but the individual living with you won't. And where I live, and owing to the exercise room being located on the main level, there are times when I enter the elevator I can smell nuclear body odor, hanging inside the small compartment, and lingering like a gloomy mist for hours afterward. 🤢
Here's the odd thing. Perfumes will often send me over the freaking edge. My nose knows when something is amiss, especially when a woman (usually the case) walks beside me on the street and it smells like she bathed in her cheapest perfume before coming to work. Where I work, there's a zero scent policy in place, the purpose being to avoid offending clients. However, the younger generation of professionals have yet to embrace our company policy, and so the messaging is regularly trotted out by way of a gentle reminder. I also cannot be held accountable for when I have to dash across the street to avoid the atrocious, over-bearing scent of male colognes. I'm not going to point the finger at one brand, tho' one comes to mind, and it begins with an 'A' and its popularity is due to the brilliance of marketing, having convinced young dudes to lather themselves with this scent, thinking it'll turn on the girls. It won't. It doesn't. I've yet to meet one woman, one girl, who's expressed their desire for this cologne. Please stop wearing it. I'm begging you.
Simple truth: women are attracted to scents that they themselves would wear, not necessarily what a man would. One of the most popular scents for women is vanilla. I've always been mystified why men reach for musk, to attract women, when a perfectly good scent like vanilla would do the trick. Here I should note that pure vanilla extract is expensive, and it's becoming less available in the world, due to its rarity, labor-intensive cultivation process, and its popularity when baking. Boo hoo!
Maybe, just maybe men should wear colognes that are out of the ordinary, yummy smells like baked bread, chocolate, and vanilla. Women should wear colognes that smell of beer, pizza and hockey sticks.😆 The Universe might spin out of control if women ran after guys who smelled like chocolate and men went after the ladies because they felt the urge to twist off her top and guzzle. My male kitty, Brando (RIP), used to love the smell of undies, clean or dirty. So, when I discovered his secret hiding place, in a dark corner, under my futon couch, I knew going forward that I had to check this area after each load of laundry. Brando was upset when I retrieved his pile of stolen undies and sent them off to the wash.
There was a company in New York, back in the early 2000s, that made an unusual array of body roll-on and sprays, scents such as Clean Wet Laundry, Fresh Cut Grass, The Beach and so on and they were hugely popular for a period of time, until they disappeared. Now, one of my favourite smells is the scent-throw of a lit bees wax candle, because a candle made of bees wax burns cleanly, purely, unlike candles made from petroleum run-off. At the last selling event I attended, one of the vendors sold what she called 'Intentional' candles, made from soy and enhanced with a plethora of scents that combined flowers and food. They sold like hot-cakes.
According to research, men are attracted to perfumes and colognes that are citrus-based, lemon and lime, and grapefruit too, and these I don't mind because these scents are natural, and kind to my nose, and don't inspire me to run away, to cross the other side of the street, just to get away, like that cologne I won't name, tho' perhaps this emoji 🪓might provide a hint.
Some smells won't ever go out of favour with me. Each time I smell them, I react positively, wanting more. These include: garlic frying in a pan with butter, the smell of the bone-chilling cold in winter because the scent is clean and fresh. When a match is struck, the smell of sulfur is distinct, despite me knowing that it's not the healthiest for your lungs, but I still don't object to it. Also, the smell of baked bread hits me hard, just like smelling a steak sizzling on the grill. Walk in my neighbourhood during summer, and you'll get wafts of sizzling steak and hamburgers curling your nose. Sandalwood too is a lovely scent, in essential oil form.
Happy smelling to you!
In actuality, I have a diminished sense of smell, which I believe has been there since birth. However, I'm in possession of ultra-sensitive hearing, to the point that if I didn't wear ear-plugs at night to sleep, I'd be able to hear conversations taking place outside, on the other side of the street from my window. It's annoying. And, as many scientists will attest, and I shall as well, when women menstruate, our sense of hearing magnifies and we'll pick up unwanted sounds. If you live in the centretown of a city, you'll know intimately about the overlay of noises coming from buses, motorcycles, sirens, fire trucks screeching down the street, loudly, people shouting, arguing, and dogs barking.😅 When an ambulance tears up ear-drums, as it whizzes by, I'll stop to plug my ears with my fingers. This is simply the status-quo when you live in the heart of city vs those who insist on the sleepy comfort of suburban streets.
But my sense of smell, not necessarily the best. I work with a woman whose sense of smell rages like gangbusters and the mildest odor coming from the garbage pale will completely unravel the poor girl. Not me. If there's an odor in the pail, it literally has to gravitate to the level of stench before it offends me. Perhaps this explains why I'm fastidiously clean at home, showering up to three times a day during the heat of summer in cycling season. Allow me to point out here, however, that what you eat, the kinds of food that can create body odors, like onions or garlic, will have an impact on your body odor, similar to how a vigorous workout will leave you sweating. You may be immune to your own smell but the individual living with you won't. And where I live, and owing to the exercise room being located on the main level, there are times when I enter the elevator I can smell nuclear body odor, hanging inside the small compartment, and lingering like a gloomy mist for hours afterward. 🤢
Here's the odd thing. Perfumes will often send me over the freaking edge. My nose knows when something is amiss, especially when a woman (usually the case) walks beside me on the street and it smells like she bathed in her cheapest perfume before coming to work. Where I work, there's a zero scent policy in place, the purpose being to avoid offending clients. However, the younger generation of professionals have yet to embrace our company policy, and so the messaging is regularly trotted out by way of a gentle reminder. I also cannot be held accountable for when I have to dash across the street to avoid the atrocious, over-bearing scent of male colognes. I'm not going to point the finger at one brand, tho' one comes to mind, and it begins with an 'A' and its popularity is due to the brilliance of marketing, having convinced young dudes to lather themselves with this scent, thinking it'll turn on the girls. It won't. It doesn't. I've yet to meet one woman, one girl, who's expressed their desire for this cologne. Please stop wearing it. I'm begging you.
Simple truth: women are attracted to scents that they themselves would wear, not necessarily what a man would. One of the most popular scents for women is vanilla. I've always been mystified why men reach for musk, to attract women, when a perfectly good scent like vanilla would do the trick. Here I should note that pure vanilla extract is expensive, and it's becoming less available in the world, due to its rarity, labor-intensive cultivation process, and its popularity when baking. Boo hoo!
Maybe, just maybe men should wear colognes that are out of the ordinary, yummy smells like baked bread, chocolate, and vanilla. Women should wear colognes that smell of beer, pizza and hockey sticks.😆 The Universe might spin out of control if women ran after guys who smelled like chocolate and men went after the ladies because they felt the urge to twist off her top and guzzle. My male kitty, Brando (RIP), used to love the smell of undies, clean or dirty. So, when I discovered his secret hiding place, in a dark corner, under my futon couch, I knew going forward that I had to check this area after each load of laundry. Brando was upset when I retrieved his pile of stolen undies and sent them off to the wash.
There was a company in New York, back in the early 2000s, that made an unusual array of body roll-on and sprays, scents such as Clean Wet Laundry, Fresh Cut Grass, The Beach and so on and they were hugely popular for a period of time, until they disappeared. Now, one of my favourite smells is the scent-throw of a lit bees wax candle, because a candle made of bees wax burns cleanly, purely, unlike candles made from petroleum run-off. At the last selling event I attended, one of the vendors sold what she called 'Intentional' candles, made from soy and enhanced with a plethora of scents that combined flowers and food. They sold like hot-cakes.
According to research, men are attracted to perfumes and colognes that are citrus-based, lemon and lime, and grapefruit too, and these I don't mind because these scents are natural, and kind to my nose, and don't inspire me to run away, to cross the other side of the street, just to get away, like that cologne I won't name, tho' perhaps this emoji 🪓might provide a hint.
Some smells won't ever go out of favour with me. Each time I smell them, I react positively, wanting more. These include: garlic frying in a pan with butter, the smell of the bone-chilling cold in winter because the scent is clean and fresh. When a match is struck, the smell of sulfur is distinct, despite me knowing that it's not the healthiest for your lungs, but I still don't object to it. Also, the smell of baked bread hits me hard, just like smelling a steak sizzling on the grill. Walk in my neighbourhood during summer, and you'll get wafts of sizzling steak and hamburgers curling your nose. Sandalwood too is a lovely scent, in essential oil form.
Happy smelling to you!
