Why Two People Can Smell the Same Perfume Differently

6 days ago

2 min read

FRAGRANCE FRIDAYS • NO. 06

A minimalist glass perfume bottle resting on soft linen fabric bathed in morning light

OCT 2026 • FROM THE STUDIO

Did you miss me? I know, I know. I skipped Fragrance Friday last week because I took a long weekend and spent some much needed time with my husband.

I’ve also been dealing with some health stuff lately, and it was a good reminder of how easy it is to turn life into one giant list of things that need to get done.

Work. Laundry. Emails. Groceries. The next deadline. The thing you forgot yesterday.

And somehow the things that exist purely because they make life nicer are usually the first things we decide we don’t have time for. Which is kind of funny when you think about what we make.

Nobody needs perfume. But catching a scent you love on your sweater, putting something beautiful on before dinner, or having a smell suddenly take you back somewhere you loved... those unnecessary little extras are kind of the point.

In case you need a reminder to leave a little time for them... here it is.

Okay, I’m rested, I’m back, and I owe you Part 2 of our fragrance rabbit hole. Last time we talked about how your skin can affect the little cloud of fragrance coming off of you. But I left you with this: your skin is only half of the story. Because your nose is individual too.

Humans have hundreds of different types of smell receptors, and the versions of those receptors aren’t exactly the same from person to person. Think of them like hundreds of tiny locks in your nose, with fragrance molecules acting as keys.

Your collection of locks is not exactly the same as mine.

Which means the exact same smell can seem stronger to you, weaker to me, amazing to one person and completely awful to someone else.

There’s even an specific odor molecule researchers have studied. Some people describe it as sweet or floral, others call it sweaty or unpleasant, and some people can barely smell it at all. Same molecule. Totally different experience.

Which suddenly makes every perfume disagreement I’ve ever had make a lot more sense. When my sister Biz says, “This is SO woody,” and I think, “Really? I mostly smell the vanilla?” It’s entirely possible we're both right. Annoying, I know. Wink wink.

So now we have both halves of the story. The person wearing the perfume can influence what gets into the air, and the person smelling it can influence what gets perceived.

Which means fragrance may be even more personal than we give it credit for.

There isn’t always one perfectly objective answer to what a perfume “really” smells like. There’s the formula in the bottle. And then there’s your experience of it.

Maybe that’s part of what makes fragrance so fun in the first place.

xoxo, Lydia

P.S. Consider this your official permission slip to do one completely unnecessary thing this weekend purely because it makes life nicer. Perfume very much counts. ;)