Eight of us (including 1 on zoom) plus a prospective new member met to discuss “Smells” as promoted in the NWR Planning FB group earlier in the year.
Firstly, Linda gave an overview of the importance of smell, its close connection to taste and some interesting facts that included that our sense of smell is fully formed and functioning before we are born. The dangers of not having a senses of smell were also mentioned including not being able to smell a gas leak, burning or rancid food all of which might affect our health and/or wellbeing.
Susan conducted the quizzes. The first being about words associated with smell. (Linda won with 10/14 points.) Irene then educated us as to why perfume smells differently on different people. How often have you bought a particular perfume because you have liked the aroma on someone only to discover that it didn’t smell the same on you? Bodily functions including sweat and skin types can affect the aroma. Also, how to decide whether a perfume was for you or not. The main point being not to rush your decision but to let the perfume settle on your skin for a while if at all possible. That tip could save us all a fortune.
Our 2nd quiz was great fun. Susan presented 10 different smells under our blindfolded noses. Before we began we had to practise our ” bunny sniffing” technique – i.e. short sniffs rather than one long deep inhalation. Everyone found it quite hard to discern the smells and there were few correct answers. Jenifer won with only 4/10. Susan noticed that some smells were hard to detect (although they were familiar) by some members and results varied by the smell. The smells included samples of earth, honey, ginger, tea tree oil, chives and lemongrass.
We then had a discussion about smells we particularly liked/disliked or evoked strong memories. Everyone there agreed that this was a good topic for a meeting and one which we could have delved into even further.