"Meet Laurax, a not-very-bold, not-that-exciting new fragrance"...
A new study in the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel by Tali Weiss and Kobi Snitz discovered that blending together completely different molecules in identical intensity level produces an odour that is surprisingly lacking in character, and is hardly any different from another blend created with the same principles. "As long as the individual ingredients are different enough, and roughly equal in intensity, whiteness emerges".
What are the implications of finding such a thing as "olfactory white"? It might help shed more light on how we perceive and process olfactory information (as did the discovery of white light and white did for understanding seeing and hearing). But it might also have some functional implications for perfumers - which to most of us might seem rather obvious: not to put too many things that are too different and unrelated at all in the same perfume, as it can take away from creating a definite olfactory statement.
I'm wondering if the smell of everything, all at once is somewhat like a white noise. It sure is to me, in the mental meaning of the concept - it gives a sense of olfactory calm, with a nondescript mishmash of my workspace that permeates the air of my entire abode and makes me feel at east. Much more so than the "neutral" scent of an unscented home, a space that is devoid of any personality.
How would you imagine a "white scent" to be? Leave a comment and enter to win a decant of No. 18 from Chanel's Les Exclusifs collection.