Aki say: SMELL

One a recent trip to Florence, a cosmetics buyer from the Middle East came to the celebrated Farmacia di Santa Maria Novella—a shop which has been producing pharmaceutical products since the 11th century. Anyone visiting the shop knows the first thing that hits you is being engulfed by perfume in the entrance hall. The buyer told the representative of the shop that “I want to get this exact smell”. The response was “Your olfactory senses are experiencing 600 years of perfume history—it cannot be bought or packaged!”.

Smell is one of the most complicated and interesting senses we have. The personal associations relating to certain odours are so strong, that it can take us back decades to a very specific moment in our past—whereas a shade of colour could not do the same. Certain smells can also send emotional messages that can be calming or alarming. Equally an odour can either turn us on or off. A recent German scent (not a perfume, according to the manufacturer)—the Vulva Original—is about the very basic sexual urges that revolves around the idea of scent. Smelling and the study of scent has been forgotten in our 21st century society, where most things have become visually and digitally focused. Nevertheless, a bit more research and attention has been brought into the world of scent recently. Scent marketing is one of the latest niche economies that can create full branded fragrances for companies. From hotels with signature scents (your clothes will often smell like them for days after checking out!) to coffee shops that do not only smell of coffee, but also freshly baked cakes. This marketing focuses on a very sophisticated way to link the nose and emotion, often using very fine tunes in the way of barely recognizable scents. One of the most interesting projects involving the olfactory senses is by Auger-Loizeau, an industrial design team that focuses on every aspect of design except commerciality. The project titled Smell+ studies the idea of odour blind dating (i.e., finding a perfect partner based on scent compatibility, rather than visual desirability). In a society where visual information is still what matters the most, focusing on developing the other senses could well change the very essence of beauty in the future.

For the latest development on fragrance visit Pitti Fragranze, 10-12 September, Florence.
www.pittimmagine.com/it/fiere/fragranze
www.smnovella.it
www.vulva-original.com
www.scentmarketing.org
www.auger-loizeau.com
www.showstudio.com
www.akichoklat.com