If you smell an odour for long enough, you eventually stop noticing it. This is because prolonged exposure to a strong smell is believed to saturate the olfactory epithelium with odour molecules to the point where information is no longer delivered to the brain. This is called ‘adaptation’. Loss in smell sensitivity is only temporary and is particular to that ‘over-smelled’ odour. Recovering from adaptation depends on the individual but can range from a few seconds to a couple of minutes.
For this reason it is critical to consider the environment you intend scenting. This is why it is preferential to use scent delivery technology that allows you to create zones or pockets of scent which customers can walk in and out of, thus allowing them to engage and re-engage with the scent, thus preventing unwanted Anosmic reactions.
