Comments
  1. harpers.orgScott Sayare11/11/2132 min
    5 reads2 comments
    9.0
    harpers.org
    5 reads
    9.0
    You must read the article before you can comment on it.
    • deephdave
      Top reader this weekTop reader of all timeReading streakScoutScribe
      2 years ago

      Perfume is far more present in our lives than we tend to acknowledge. The substances we use to clean our homes, our clothes, and our bodies are perfumed, as are Play-Doh, plant fertilizer, makeup, and, it is widely speculated, the electronics manufactured by Apple. Airlines, department stores, hotels, and taxicabs perfume their air. So do coffee shops, with the artificial scent of roasted beans, and movie theaters, with the artificial scent of popcorn. Our experience of flavor is mostly attributable to our sense of smell, not taste, and flavored foods can rightly be called perfumery products, too.

      • Karenz2 years ago

        This was a surprisingly fascinating article. As is usually the case with Readup, I’ll know next to nothing about the subject and end up finding it pretty remarkable. An interesting side note is that dissociation from trauma can block the sense of smell. And you don’t realize it till you start to recover and are suddenly noticing someone’s perfume or a noxious odor like sulphur.