A heightened focus on scent is bringing attention to the link between olfaction and wellbeing. Doctors are recommending smell training, or “physical therapy for your nose,” to COVID-19 patients experiencing long-lasting loss of smell. After studying the curious COVID-19 symptom, the New York Times reports that researchers went “from thinking of smell as a ‘bonus sense’ to a dominant one, and ‘from a secondary sense to one of the primary things that influences our life.’” The article, titled “What Can Covid-19 Teach Us About the Mysteries of Smell?,” goes on to explain that “olfaction is also bound up, in ways that we’re only beginning to understand, with our immune systems.”
Brands are tapping into the power of scent, harnessing functional fragrance to lift moods, quell anxiety and boost wellbeing.
