Fragrance Day

What the day is

Fragrance Day is observed on March 21, around the spring equinox. The origin is not documented, but the season suits it, since spring is when flowers bloom and scents are in the air. It celebrates fragrance in all its forms, from perfume and cologne to candles, soaps, gardens and cooking.

Smell is the least discussed of the senses, though it affects us strongly. Many people can recall a scent from childhood and the memories that go with it far more vividly than a picture or a sound.

Origin and background

Perfume is ancient. Archaeologists on Cyprus uncovered what appears to be a perfume workshop about four thousand years old, with distillation equipment and bottles. Egyptians used scented oils and incense in religious rites and burial, and perfumers in the Islamic world refined distillation of rose water and other essences. France, particularly the town of Grasse in the south, became the center of the modern perfume trade and remains a major source of flowers such as jasmine and rose for fragrance.

A perfume is built in layers. Top notes, such as citrus, are the first to appear and fade quickly. Middle notes, often florals or spices, form the heart. Base notes, such as woods, musk and vanilla, linger longest. The scent smells different on every person, because skin chemistry affects it.

Scent and memory are closely linked in the brain, since the part that processes smell sits close to the areas involved in emotion and memory. That connection is why a certain soap or flower can bring a vivid moment back at once.

Courtesy matters, too. Some people are sensitive to strong fragrances, and many workplaces, hospitals and theaters ask visitors to go light or skip scent entirely.

How to take part

• Test a few perfumes or colognes at a store, and see how each one changes over an hour on your skin.
• Take a walk in a garden or park and stop to smell flowers, herbs and fresh-cut grass.
• Make a simple scent at home with citrus peel, cinnamon sticks and herbs simmered in water.
• Pay attention to which smell takes you back to a person or a place, and tell someone the story.
• Keep fragrance light in shared spaces, and ask before you spray.