It’s that time of the year again. While most of the world pictures Christmas as a time of snow, ugly Christmas sweaters and egg nog, Australians think of beaches, sun tans, and backyard cricket. As warming as an Aussie Christmas is, the fight for festivity is much harder.  

Finding a perfume you love is no mean feat. Our sense of smell is intensely intertwined with our emotions. Are you comforted by the smell of your mother? Excited by the smell of a new car? Do you marvel at the smell of an ancient and dusty book?  Responses to these questions are emotional. However, there is an element of logic behind our preferences.  

If somebody today bought me the same perfume I yearned for at age 10, my scent would resemble sticky pink fairy floss. This may be endearing for a young girl, but a 22-year old smelling like fairy floss seems to lose any charm. So. Does our sense of smell change over time?  

Coco Chanel famously stated that, “’A woman should wear perfume wherever she wants to be kissed.” This statement, however poetic and seductive, isn’t too far from the truth.