Have you ever sniffed so many scents that nothing smells like anything anymore? You may be experiencing sniffing fatigue. Sometimes when we smell several fragrances one after the other in a short time span, the fragrances may seem to dull or all blend together. It gets more difficult to distinguish the nuances of the various notes in the scents. This is olfactory fatigue. Just imagine stuffing your mouth full of several different flavors. You wouldn’t be able to distinguish everything you tasted. Everything becomes muddled. Our sense of smell is the same. Too many aromas, too soon = an impaired ability to differentiate differences between scents.
It gets more difficult to distinguish the nuances of the various notes in the scents. This is olfactory fatigue. Just imagine stuffing your mouth full of several different flavors. You wouldn’t be able to distinguish everything you tasted. Everything becomes muddled. Our sense of smell is the same. Too many aromas, too soon = an impaired ability to differentiate differences between scents.
Some have suggested smelling coffee grounds as an olfactory palate cleanser between each fragrance to reset your nose. If this doesn’t work or you don’t have coffee grounds handy, just give your nose a break. After smelling six or seven fragrances, give yourself at least a 30-minute break and go back to give others a whiff. Or, if you just can’t wait to give all your newly purchased fragrance oils or fragrance tester strips a try, just remember not to form any final opinions until you give each fragrance a dedicated sniff without all the other olfactory “noise.”
I have personally found fragrances that I initially wrote off as “not anything special,” “this doesn’t smell like (fill in the blank), or “dull, not strong,” but when I return to them later, they smell vibrant, and I can detect the complexity of the notes. I devote time to give my nose a rest and smell each oil individually.
You don’t want to miss out on an amazing aroma just because your nose was on sensory overload. Give your sniffer a rest break and then revisit.