14. Change the way you breathe when your nose gets tired: If you spend enough time smelling fragrances, eventually your nose is going to get tired. You might be testing several fragrances, wearing something strong for a few hours, or suddenly realize that you can barely smell the fragrance you know is still there. That doesn’t necessarily mean the fragrance disappeared; you may simply be experiencing olfactory fatigue, or what we usually call nose-blindness. One thing I’ve learned is don’t keep sniffing harder. Repeatedly putting your nose right up to the fragrance and taking deep sniffs can actually make it harder to distinguish what you’re smelling. Sometimes you need to give your nose something neutral for a moment. A perfumer tip I like is to smell a clean, unscented shirt or piece of cloth. Take a few normal breaths through it, give your nose a short break, and then go back to the fragrance. For me, this works much better than reaching for coffee beans. And that brings up another fragrance myth: coffee beans don’t magically reset your nose. They simply give you another strong smell to focus on. If my nose is already overloaded, adding coffee to the mix isn’t necessarily helping. I’d rather use clean fabric, fresh air, or simply step away for a few minutes. There’s another perfumer technique I was shown thanks to Michael Paul of Day Three Fragrances that I’ve found really useful when I’m having trouble picking a fragrance back up. Instead of taking a hard sniff only through my nose, I take a gentle breath while allowing air through my nose and mouth at the same time. For me, changing the airflow like that can make it easier to notice the fragrance again when my nose feels tired. It doesn’t magically eliminate olfactory fatigue, but it can be surprisingly effective. For me, the biggest lesson is simple: when you can’t smell a fragrance, don’t automatically add more sprays and don’t keep sniffing harder. Give your nose a reset, change the way you breathe, and then come back to it.

Started my day at 2:30 this morning here in Phoenix and reached for Dunhill Icon while working. Icon opens with bright bergamot and neroli, followed by pepper, cardamom, and lavender over a woody, earthy base. It has a clean, polished character with enough spice to keep things interesting. An easy fragrance to wear when you want to smell put together. For performance, I generally get around 6-8 hours, with moderate projection, especially during the first couple of hours, before settling closer to the skin. Results vary depending on season and heat, so I’ll see how today’s wear holds up. But with this one, I will carry a decant. Sillage is moderate at first, leaving a noticeable but restrained trail before becoming softer as the wear goes on. I’d put this in the work, everyday wear, and casual dinner category. Spring and fall are a good fit, along with milder winter days here in Phoenix. At the end of the day, sometimes you just want a good fragrance to enjoy while getting things done.