If You Can't Smell Your Own Perfume After an Hour or Two, This Could Be Why

I spent much of my early twenties wearing Glossier You. Moreishly musky and skin-like, it quickly became my signature scent (and an olfactory icon). The odd thing was: the more I wore it, the less I could smell it. I knew it wasn’t a longevity issue, because the compliments kept rolling in, but I seemed to have become nose-blind to my own signature scent.

“Nose blindness”, or “olfactory adaptation”, is an incredibly common phenomenon, albeit a frustrating one. While it might seem pretty self-explanatory (we get used to what we love, precisely because we wear it so often), the science behind it is a little more complex.

The Surprising Evolutionary Link

“When someone says they can no longer smell their perfume, it doesn't mean it's gone,” clarifies Kershen Teo, the natural perfumer behind Prosody London. “Your nose and brain have gotten used to it, and that’s because our sense of smell is built to notice change, not constant background noise. Once a scent has been around for a while, your brain starts filtering it out so it can stay alert to new things.”

Interestingly, one reason for this is due to human evolution. As Huib Maat, the in-house perfumer at Pairfum London, adds, our noses are designed to detect differences as a warning of imminent danger, like fire or contaminated food, and therefore, “A continuous harmless scent like our own perfume is classed as non-threatening and will no longer be perceived.”

You’ll also notice this when trying perfumes in a store: after sniffing just three or so scents, you will likely struggle to pick out the finer notes and nuances of the next fragrance.

But some things can make nose blindness more prevalent. The first is illness, specifically Covid-19 and diabetes. The former is notorious for causing sudden, acute loss of smell (known as anosmia), while the latter can cause a progressive degradation of your sense of smell (hyposmia).

The second is age. As Maat explains, after we turn 70, our noses can become less sensitive, which is often why people believe their lifelong signature scent has grown weaker over time.

Why Ingredients Matter

Before doing anything about your nose blindness, it’s important to assess the strength and quality of the perfume itself. “A very well-balanced eau de parfum will not lose its throw or longevity,” notes Tonya Kidd-Beggs, the founder of niche fragrance brand Stories. “When it’s composed properly, with real depth from the opening right through to the dry down, it keeps moving and changing on the skin throughout the day. If a perfume seems to vanish within an hour, sometimes it simply wasn't made to last.”

It’s worth paying attention to the notes, also. As Teo explains, synthetics tend to sit more on the surface of the skin, while natural ingredients react with your own skin chemistry; hence the more a perfume contains, the more it blends with you, “Becoming quieter, more personal and harder for you to notice, while someone nearby can still smell it clearly.”

And then there’s the normal evaporation of the fragrance itself. Lighter top notes go first, and heavier base notes hang around longer. “Natural scents usually evolve more gradually on skin, so the fragrance is changing at the same time as your perception of it,” notes Maat.

Can You “Fix” Nose Blindness?

While you can’t “fix” nose blindness, there are a few things you can do to improve your perception of your favourite scents. First and foremost, give your nose a break, says Carina Chaz, the founder of DedCool. “Get some fresh air, switch between fragrances, and avoid constantly smelling your wrists.” You can also cleanse your palette by sniffing some coffee beans or your own unperfumed skin.

Ankita Gill, the founder of Param Sara, highlights the importance of contrast: “Rotate two or three fragrances so none becomes background noise. Wear one on your skin and another on your hair or a scarf, so it finds you in passing,” she says. “And once a day, smell something slowly with your eyes closed, a curry leaf, an orange peel, a rose, the air after rain. We live through our eyes. Smell has become the sense we use least, and feel the most.”

Team Marie Claire’s Favourite, Long-Lasting Scents