Functional Fragrances Backed by Science

Functional Fragrances Backed by Science

Our Goal with Blueme

As consumers increasingly look for proactive ways to address health concerns, many seek more natural ways of achieving physical and emotional balance. Partnering extensively with scientists and practitioners at respected global institutions, universities, and fragrance houses, we crafted our collection of Functional Fragrances to deliver wellbeing.

Our Goal with Blueme

As consumers increasingly look for proactive ways to address health concerns, many seek more natural ways of achieving physical and emotional balance. Partnering extensively with scientists and practitioners at respected global institutions, universities, and fragrance houses, we crafted our collection of Functional Fragrances to deliver wellbeing.

The Power of Smell

For more than 4,000 years, cultures worldwide, such as those in China, India, and Egypt, have harnessed the scents derived from plants and animals for religious ceremonies or healing1–. Yet, the sense of smell is often overlooked and underappreciated. While we have developed a much greater understanding of our other senses and have applied that knowledge extensively, we are still in the process of delving deeper into the olfactory system and harnessing its potential for our benefit.

Scents can transport us to a place or time buried deeply in our memories, allow us to taste and detect flavors, and even affect our mood, emotions, and cognition. When we smell something, the olfactory receptors in our nose can detect these scents because the odorant molecules we inhale attach to specific receptor proteins. This leads to signals being transmitted to the olfactory bulb in the brain, where basic odor information is processed. The processed signals are further relayed to other brain regions for higher-level processing of olfactory information, such as the olfactory cortex and the limbic system. The olfactory cortex plays a critical role in recognizing and making sense of odors, allowing us to distinguish different scents. Meanwhile, the limbic system, particularly structures like the amygdala and hippocampus, receives input from the olfactory cortex and integrates it into emotional and memory-related processes. Linking specific odors to emotional experiences and memories makes the sense of smell a complex and emotionally charged sensory experience.

Over the years, quite a few studies have delved into further understanding the efficacy of functional fragrances on health. For instance, research published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that inhaling linalool, a compound present in lavender, reduces stress markers in the blood 5. Another study from the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine showed that inhaling a blend of peppermint, basil, and helichrysum improved mental focus and fatigue.

Recently, research findings from the University of California, Irvine, found that inhaling a pleasant aroma during sleep has been linked to a significant improvement in memory. The fMRI results revealed that the group who received the pleasant aromas before bed had improved functioning of the left uncinate fasciculus, an area of the brain linked to memory and cognition. Brain imaging showed a “clear, statistically significant 226% difference on the RAVLT”, a neuropsychological test used to assess various aspects of learning and memory. Additionally, studies have found that certain aromas can play a role in your mood and address various psychological and physical disorders

Physiological and Emotional Benefits for Everyone

Functional Fragrances Backed by Science

Though the brain identifies and interprets the smell based on past experiences and associations, the positive emotions people want to feel are universal. With studies conducted by researchers in the fragrance industry and our own focus group events, we came to find that the feeling of relaxation, comfort, and focus are the most sought-after benefits. Our fragrances are designed to elicit these desirable results naturally and non-invasively!

Our Goal with Blueme

As consumers increasingly look for proactive ways to address health concerns, many seek more natural ways of achieving physical and emotional balance. Partnering extensively with scientists and practitioners at respected global institutions, universities, and fragrance houses, we crafted our collection of Functional Fragrances to deliver wellbeing.

The Science Behind Fragrances and Mood

Through our partnerships with global science institutions, researchers were able to provide findings on people’s conscious and unconscious responses based on the scent accords they were smelling. Our fragrances are tested through neuroscience technologies like fMRI10, and EEG11, which reveal brain activity that is further measured and analyzed. When fMRI/EEG testing is done on respondents, patterns show that certain brain parts correlated with specific emotions (e.g., happiness, relaxation, nostalgia) are activated when respondents smell certain scents, linking the sentiments to the smell.

With conscious measures, consumers will verbally express how they feel when smelling a fragrance by using relevant, descriptive terms and rational opinion verbalizations. Because our experiences, background, environment, and preferences vary from one another, the reaction time to see how fast one associates a particular feeling or emotion with an aroma is another critical measure in determining the correlation. As we advance in our understanding of olfaction and neuroscience, the boundary between perfumery and therapy becomes increasingly blurred. The future of personalized fragrances will be tailored to individual health needs, leveraging both the art of perfumery and the rigor of scientific research. Perhaps the future of functional fragrance is personalized and tailored to individual health needs, leveraging both the art of perfumery and the rigor of scientific research. Stay tuned!

Functional Fragrances Backed by Science