Making Sense of Scents: How Fragrance Impacts Experience

You’re driving down the road and that song comes on. The song that transports you back to a different time. Maybe it reminds you of your high school prom, first breakup, college spring break, or first day of work. Scent serves the same potent purpose- possibly even stronger! 

The ability for smells to trigger memories is known as The Proust Effect. Researchers hypothesize the reason for our recall is due to how close the olfactory processing system is to the memory hub of the brain. In short, fragrance and memory live right next door to each other!

Learning to leverage scents can be a major life hack for students, romantics, and everyone in between. Our favorite way to bring a memory-boosting fragrance with us on the go? Hand Sanitizer! Fragranced sani makes it easy to hack your hand sanitizer and spark a memory on the go. 

Spritz Lavender hand sanitizer during your morning meditation to trigger the same sense of calm relief during your frantic evening commute. Let Cucumber Basil tag along on your trip to the library to help you recall facts from your study session during the big exam. An Orange Blossom clip-on hand sanitizer makes the perfect travel buddy, and can transport you back to the tropics once your plane lands back home.

Mint Citrus makes the perfect “something blue” for your big day, and you can pop Pink Grapefruit into your hospital bag for the arrival of your little one. Becoming more intentional with your scent-memory associations is easy with OLIKA’s array of hand sanitizer keychains. 

Plus, OLIKA’s hydrating hand sanitizer refills make sure you’re never without your signature scent. 

What’s your fondest fragrance memory? Let us know over on our Instagram, @olikalife.