So, in more layman’s terms, olfactory fatigue occurs such that when you sense a specific odor, the receptors associated with that molecule can no longer be stimulated by similar molecules because the channels that create the electrical impulse will ultimately close. The result leaves only receptors that get stimulated by other molecules (different types of odors)- thus, your propensity to sense new smells more strongly, and the ones you get consistently bombarded with eventually no longer being detected at all. Congratulations, you’re now nose-blind.
— Business Insider explains olfactory fatigue. Read more at Human beings can't smell themselves, even when they stink — here's why.
Now I want a “will sniff for science” bumper sticker.
The article says we can sense 1 trillion different smells. Amazing. Also it reveals coffee beans don’t reset the nose, but sniffing one’s own skin can. Agree, though I prefer to breathe through my shirt sleeve or a tissue to try to reset my nose when I’ve sampled too many perfumes too quickly.
There are a few perfumes that diminish my sense of smell for days. Bvlgari Black and Cartier Baise Vole are two of them. I know if I smell them, even a tiny spritz or just a sniff from the bottle, then other fragrances will smell flat, stale, and different for several days after. It’s as if my nose has been partially anesthetized. I’ve tested this many times and the result is consistent. It’s also consistently frustrating as I want to wear Black and Baise Vole more often.
I use my shirt — way better than coffee beans.
And YES, that’s the bigger problem, and they don’t really address it — some musks seem to block not only their own odor, but every other odor, so that the wearer smells nothing after a few minutes.
Mouths can be mute, eyes blind, ears deaf. Why don’t we have a similar word for noses that can’t smell?
Nose stuffed? But yes, all you get is “anosmia”.