Is my nose broke?

[kdmorgan]

I made a candle with Butt naked FO and I can't stand it. It's sickenly sweet to me but everyone else in my house loves it. I just poured Autumn leaves tonight and I can't stand that either. Am I not smelling the same thing as everyone else?

Just wondering if anyone else had used these and what you thought about it.

[LynnS]

HEY something is wrong with me too.Only I cannot smell.I have always been able to smell my candles with lids on but now I cannot smell them much at all.I do have a FP votive with S'Mores on my candle warmer and it is awesome but for some reason I am not getting the scent all the way down my hall and into my bedrooms with the doors shut IMO.(Although it is only 2 ounce votive cup).

I have had some scents bother me and when in the basement with alot going at once it would get to me but doesn't now.Made lotion and soap and measured the scent( I know a small amount) but did not smell it till I put my nose to the bottle of lotion just to see what it smelled like.

Citrus Blast was making me downright sick.I was going to throw that candle out and had to blow it out a few times I was wanted to puke.About 1/2 of the way I started burning it and it smelled good.Now what is it????Wait maybe you will like those scents before it is over with.I keep telling this to my husband and he doesn't say a word.So I guess he can smell.Must think it is ME.

Forgot Fireplace got to me.I won't be taking a sniff of that one again.My nose worked for that one.

LynnS

[kdmorgan]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one with a disfunctional nose...maybe we should start a support group

[Scented]

Were you expecting to like everything, because i can't see that happening for anyone lol.

[Michi]

Were you expecting to like everything, because i can't see that happening for anyone lol.

this is true, but I wanted to tell ya you're not alone with this scent, I think it stinks also, but my daughter really liked it, so I gave all that I made to her-but..... then I had to smell it through her door- BARF!! LOL

Forgot Fireplace got to me.I won't be taking a sniff of that one again.My nose worked for that one

Maybe that broke your nose???? I can't even imagine pouring a scent like that??? It kind of goes along the same line as that burnt rubber someone else was asking about-why oh why??? LOL

Thank goodness my nose still works-well mostly, but I DO notice that when I've been sniffing a certain scent for a while, or burning it for more than a few days, I can't smell it as strongly anymore, my nose just acclimates to it I guess. I know there's a page on the old board about how your nose reacts to different scents-think I'll go dig it up. :tiptoe:

[Michi]

Ok here is that article from the old board (archives):

All of your sensory systems (hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste) have some common features. Basically, they take a stimulus and turn it into an electrical signal that travels through some nerves to eventually reach your brain where it is processed. With all those signals from all of the different sensory inputs, your brain has a lot of work to do. Fortunately for your brain, there is something called sensory adaptation.

Sensory adaptation is where, after being exposed to a constant stimulus for a while, the sensory receptors reduce and eventually stop firing signals off to the brain. They haven’t completely stopped functioning, but they have raised the threshold of activation. So, if a more intense stimulus comes along, they will be triggered to fire off a signal to the brain. But, lower intensity stimuli will not trigger the receptors. So, sensory adaptation acts as a filter for our sensory input systems and attempts to zero-out the constants in our environment.

Let’s look at an example of sensory adaptation. At some point or another, we’ve all had a bright light shined directly into our eyes. Then after the light is removed, we notice our eyes have trouble picking things out of dim areas. What’s happened is the threshold level for your photo-receptor cells has been raised and they have become less sensitive to light stimulation. Next time you can’t find your vehicle registration, explain to the officer that your photo-receptor cells have adapted to his awesome flashlight and that your eyes can no longer detect what’s actually in the glove box, but that you are certain the registration is lurking in there somewhere. He’ll like that. You’ll be able to fish it out just as soon as your eyes adapt to the darkness again.

Your nose does the same thing. After being exposed to an odor for a while, the olfactory receptors (the ones in your nose) associated with that odor will increase the threshold of activation and cease sending the signal to the brain. So, your brain eventually stops getting the signal that it interprets as “frosted carrot cake.” That is unless you present those olfactory receptors with a more intense stimulus. After learning more than you probably cared to about sensory systems, this finally brings us back to candles and comparing scent throw.

Let’s say we have two candles, A and B. They are both scented with Frosted Carrot Cake fragrance oil and they both smell accurate like the real deal, and they both seem to have really good throw and effectively smell up the entire east wing of our mansion (hey, it is hypothetical). Let’s also say that they were prepared differently in some way; maybe you used different additives, maybe you used fragrance oils from different sources, etc. But, what you really want to know is which one throws the best. That is, which one is more intense? Now that we know a little something about sensory adaptation, this will be a piece of cake (no pun intended).

To compare cold throw, take large whiffs directly from the surface of each candle. Inhale candle A deeply into your nostrils a couple times. Then do the same with candle B. Then go back to candle A. Go back and forth between the two candles a couple times. Eventually, due to sensory adaptation you’ll only be able to smell the more intense candle. The weaker one will fall below the threshold required to trigger those receptors.

Comparing hot throw is done in a very similar fashion, except we have to exercise some caution to avoid burning the hairs in our nose. Light both of your candles at the same time and let them burn for a few hours so that you have a decent melt pool in both. Then, extinguish the flame by dipping it into the melt pool (no smoke). Yep, extinguish the flame. Hot throw is emitted by the melt pool, not the flame. Besides, we have just eliminated the hazard of burning our nose hairs. Now, from a constant distance above each candle, take alternating whiffs from each one. The weaker one will fall below the threshold for a sensory response, and you will soon be able to detect only the more intense candle.

See how easy that was? So, now that you know how to make these comparisons, you can experiment with variables, such as additives, or wax, or cure time, and see what influence they might have on the scent throw of your finished candles.

FYI: It can be difficult to smell your own candles for several days after you have made them. This is also due to sensory adaptation and is a result of being exposed to intensity of the scent while you were making the candles.

I sooo needed to read that again, glad I looked it up, totally makes sense to me again. LOL No wonder I can't smell that red currant I've been burning for a week now, I thought my candle lost it's scent all of the sudden.

[MsDammit]

Glad I'm not the only one with this problem, phew at least it's good to know my honker isn't disfunctional afterall:yay: .

[kdmorgan]

this is true, but I wanted to tell ya you're not alone with this scent, I think it stinks also, but my daughter really liked it, so I gave all that I made to her-but..... then I had to smell it through her door- BARF!! LOL

Is your daughter by any chance a teenager because mine is 16 and she is the one in the house that just loves it!

[LynnS]

Michi,Forgot it was Campfire Smoke that was a killer scent and I brought that one up last week along with the atrocious one of burnt rubber someone asked for.Yes I also agree about Fireplace but only have smelled it in a cold throw.Wasn't strong but to me not anything like a Fireplace. Fireplace was someone else's candle and I won't even buy the scent unless it is requested.

I am going to have Campfire Smoke at my craft show BUT will not be sniffing it.Will warn others before they do.

Strange how I could not smell fireplace but Campfire Smoke knocked me for a loop.

My nose is fixed now and I can really smell S'Mores. :smiley2:

LynnS

[Candle Man]

There are people that can smell different things or maybe they just think they do.

I've had customers smell one of my candles and said they could smell coconut in it, but there was no coconut in that scent. Some smell a certain scent and will say ummmm that reminds me of something.

I have found, over the years making candles, people love certain scents because it evokes a certain "Happy" memory, example - customer smells Gardenia oh that reminds me of grandmas house when I was a kid. Then there are scents they dislike because it evokes a "Bad" memory.

[Crafty1_AJ]

I have customers browsing my candles who eventually say they can't smell anything anymore. Or they say the candles all smell the same. I hand 'em some coffee beans to whiff, and that jolts their olfactory nerves back into work. LOL

[LynnS]

Crafty,Think I will try that.I think it is just me but going to put my husband to the sniffing test.I do know S'more wasn't real strong with a cold throw but WOW burning it is great.

LynnS

[theoldehearth]

I've had that happening too and it's that really popular one Country Bumpkin! After hearing many raves about it I decided to order it and when I first took a whiff of it I wanted to chuck it into the garbage! But what you first smell out of a bottle usually comes out different in a candle so I made a batch of it and I still turned up my nose on it. I asked my hubby and my sis in law and they both like it so go figure! I don't know it must be a 'bad memory' smell to me, LOL!!