It's not obvious that smell is our most powerful sense. After all, it's subtle at times. Hard to pin down. It's our most primitive sense. And it's not like vision -- where we couldn't imagine being without our sight. But scent is extraordinarily powerful.
Scientists say we can distinguish at least 1 trillion different odors — up from previous estimates of a mere 10,000.
Photo by Laura Chouett, Unsplash
The sense of smell is closely linked with memory, probably more so than any of our other senses. In fact, there's even a name for this: The Proust effect. Scientists hypothesize that it is due to the proximity of your olfactory system to the memory hub in your brain. Smell is linked to emotions as well and helps us determine who we are attracted to. The right scent can have positive benefits for you: it can help with stress reduction, energize you, promote relaxation and even improve depression. That's why many retailers and hotels have now created their own custom scents -- and one study shows that the presence of simple scents like orange or pine increased customer buying by 20%. Hyatt Place has a signature scent that is almost 300 hotels across the U.S.
Here are some of the top smells that make us happy. Note that most of them are from nature. As we know now, immersing yourself in nature can have positive effects on your brain, your mood and your health.
1) Pine
2) Citrus
3) Sunscreen
4) Fresh Cut Grass
5) Flowers
6) Rosemary
7) Peppermint
8) Baby powder
Surround yourself with scents that make you happy. Our Pagua Bay scent evokes nature while providing relaxation and escape. But beware, it has the transformational effect of making you want to visit Dominica.