Have you ever remembered something with your nose? Maybe the smell of hot dogs gets you daydreaming about being at a baseball game. Or the smell of burnt marshmallows reminds you of a night around a campfire. Scientists know that the sense of smell can trigger powerful memories. Wouldn't it be cool to somehow bottle those memories?
That's exactly what perfumer Mark Crames tries to do. His company, Demeter Fragrance, makes more than 200 scents. "Imagine every smell in the world as a musical note," Crames told TFK. "We try to combine those notes to make a melody." He has created perfumes inspired by Play-Doh, thunderstorms and even earthworms!
Everyday smells mean different things to different people. "A perfume we call Poison Ivy might remind you of being itchy and miserable," Crames says. "But it could make your sister think of a great time at summer camp."
Crames captures aromas using a high-tech method called headspace technology. A perfumer takes the source of an aroma and puts it into an airtight container. The aroma molecules are collected from the air and analyzed. A chemist then matches those molecules to ingredients in a fragrance library.
This month, Crames is launching fragrances for Tootsie Roll and Junior Mints. But not every smell can be easily copied. "One of our most requested perfumes is puppy's breath," he says. "But it is so chemically complicated that it's very tough to capture."
What scents would you like to bottle? A circus? Grandma's spooky basement? Crames may be able to capture your memories, so you can just take a whiff when you feel like remembering.