By will-buy
Fragrance draws upon the sense most connected to memory within the brain.
Through smell, we can be transported mentally to some distant place or time due to there being a memory, conscious or not, linked to that note.
This means we can get smart about the scents we wear, tailoring these to create a powerful, comforting or escapist feeling.
At a period when travel can still feel risky, breathing in certain fragrances can hold us elsewhere – if even for just a second.
Adriana Medina, v . p . perfumer at Givaudan, among the largest manufacturers of fragrances, tells Metro.co.uk: 'I think the fragrance business played a vital role through the pandemic.
'Many are tailoring scents towards the mood they would like to looking for themselves.
'People associate different scents with different feelings, and want to trigger those through products they're selecting.'
As memories are extremely distinct and personal, what a scent might envision for one person might be starkly different for an additional.
'Comfort often means a number of items to differing people – from a sense of escapism to nostalgic memories. One person could find security in the odor of musk because it could remind them of a warm embrace, while another might find a feeling of peace of mind in the addictive scent of vanilla.
'It's very personal, and has a different meaning for everybody,' Adriana adds.
But some smells are more universal, for example sunscreen, the scent of which often manifests in some manner in beachy summer fragrances.
While nobody wants to smell of pure sunscreen, putting that note right into a more rounded coconut and seaside-inspired fragrance pulls us emotionally towards happy memories and a destination far off.
Journey elsewhere
During the first lockdown I noticed I'd stopped wearing perfume as it was part of my 'getting ready' routine, which made me question whether I had been putting it on for other people or myself.
I chose to make applying perfume a morning ritual – even for days spent just sitting in your own home – really taking a moment to savour the smells, breathe and feel joy.
Not attempting to use up my most pricey bottles though, I 'blind bought' (purchased without having smelt before) H&M Sunray given how inexpensive it's.
The combination of 'soft sand, salty waves and golden warmth' in the notes helped me seem like I had been far away from the UK and took me back to holidays of the past, given the rich sun-drenched, slightly oiled sunscreen smell. It became a favourite.
Givaudan themselves have been researching the psychological and neuroscientific advantages of certain smells, developing what they call MoodScentz guidelines, which affects how they now produce fragrances.
They are planning to possess a 'positive' or 'feel-good' effect for that scent wearer, given that they found 75% of emotions are triggered by smell.
Clearly shoppers happen to be looking for joy in a bottle too, as fragrance sales in the US rose by 45% within the first quarter of 2023 when compared to the year prior, based on market research firm NPD Group.
In the united kingdom this past year, sustainable fragrance brand Floral Street saw a 300% rise in web sales.
Fashion business website The Business of Fashion called fragrance the 'star of the pandemic' in terms of what people were buying at its height.
Adriana says: 'Over the path of the past year, many consumers were longing to escape from reality and searching to be instantly transported through their fragrance, whether they were craving holidays through the sea or fresh mountain air.'
For herself, personally, Adriana looked to one that transported her to 'a beautiful garden', making her feel 'joy' upon application, and the other that evoked the mood of Colombia, where she was raised.
She calls the knowledge an 'olfactive expedition'.
Three recent fragrance launches may help get you there.
Maison Margiela Replica Autumn Vibes
Get it for lb49 from Fenwick.
The Replica type of fragrances is, quite literally, about inspiring nostalgia – as their bottles read 'memory inside a fragrance'.
Their latest launch, Autumn Vibes, is unisex and aims to 'transport you to definitely forest of towering trees'.
Mixing notes of cedarwood, moss, fir balsam and pink peppercorn, this woody and spicy scent could make you feel like it's still autumn well into the drab winter months.
Fanny Bal was the perfumer behind that one. Speaking to Metro.co.uk she says: 'From the onset I had in your mind a forest walk in autumn.
'I was inspired by a moment of escape and contemplation in the undergrowth of the Canadian forest at the beginning of autumn.
'The sound from the season's golden leaves crunching under my feet is carrying me away. My senses awakened by the breath of outdoors and also the woody trail of century-old trees. A pure experience of being at one with nature.'
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Aesop Karst, Miraceti and Erémia
Get one for lb140 from Aesop.
Aesop recently released a type of three fragrances – Karst, Miraceti and Erémia – each designed to evoke a different feeling of place.
The first is aquatic, bringing up images of the sea, as the second is forest-like, and the third takes you to a green floral garden.
French perfumer Barnabé Fillion informs us: 'With Miraceti, Karst and Erémia, we start an outing to find out worlds within worlds, in the boat to shore, and onward via a vast wasteland.
'The senses are enriched, and boundaries blurred between known and unknown spaces.
'Each perfume has its own part of spacial exploration. In creating this collection, a number of these interstitial spaces found mind, however i never stayed centered on just one since it was essential that it isn't so geographical.
'However, numerous images came to mind whenever we were going through the fragrances which provided foundations to build on.'
All Saints Concrete Rain
Get it for lb49 all Saints.
For those craving city life, this mix of silver rain, orchid and sensual musk notes might have the desired effect.
If there's anything Londoners know well, it is the odor of rain and musk. Not probably the most appealing perhaps to consider initially, somehow New York perfumer Nathalie Benareau makes this enchanting and gender neutral.
She says: 'In the town, when it rains, the environment has a very distinctive smell, a mixture of metallic freshness, warmth from concrete and electric energy, the freshness and cleanliness from the rain.
'The intention of the olfactive notes was to go ahead and take wearer to a host to comfort while evoking a feeling of non-conformist yet confident power.
'A contrasting place in which the strength of the concrete and its shades of grey color blends using the modernity of the dark purple velvet fabric.'
