Fragrances: Magic of the Unseen

It is not only the oldest of all senses, but also the most immediate: the sense of smell. Long before the first creatures could see or hear, they oriented themselves in the darkness of the oceans with the help of their sense of smell. And even today, the sense of smell serves as an orientation and guard against impending danger.

Newborns cannot yet see very well right after birth, which is why they can only find their way to their mother’s breast through their sense of smell. The sense of smell remains essential for us humans throughout our lives – in our choice of food and our choice of partner. In the human brain, scents directly affect the limbic system – the place of our memories, feelings, and instincts – without detours via the cerebrum responsible for reason, where our conscious perception takes place. That is the specific power of scents: as a direct bridge to our psyche and the world of feelings.

Natural room scenting

Spaces can be experienced in a variety of sensory ways. Space-designing elements no longer focus only on hearing and seeing, but also increasingly address the haptic as well as the olfactory sense. The room scenting should always be selective and the atmosphere should alternate between scented and unscented areas. It is crucial to control the scent intensity in a time-differentiated way.

Since scents act in the brain’s limbic system, the feelings – formed in the scent experience – do not result from a cognitive-mental process, but are impulsive. The intensity of the scent should be kept close to the perception limit, i.e. it should be adapted to the nose of sensitive customers and employees. Proceed sparingly, because less is more when it comes to room scenting.