how scent affects your mood: the neuroscience of fragrance explained

Have you ever noticed how one familiar fragrance can instantly transport you somewhere else?

Perhaps it's the perfume someone you love always wore. The scent of freshly cut grass that reminds you of childhood summers. Or the aroma you associate with coming home after a long day.

Unlike sight, sound or touch, smell has an unusually direct connection with the brain. It reaches the centres responsible for emotion and memory faster than any other sense, which is why fragrance often creates such immediate emotional responses.

Today, neuroscience is helping us understand why.

Every time you inhale a fragrance, tiny aromatic molecules travel into the nose where they bind to specialised olfactory receptors. 

These receptors send electrical signals to the olfactory bulb before travelling directly into the limbic system, the network within the brain that helps regulate emotion, memory, behaviour and aspects of the autonomic nervous system, which controls many of the body's automatic functions such as breathing, heart rate and stress responses. 

Unlike our other senses, smell largely bypasses the thalamus, the brain's main sensory relay station. This gives fragrance one of the fastest routes into the neural circuits that influence how we feel. 

These signals reach several important regions of the brain, including: 

• The amygdala, which helps process emotions and stress. 
• The hippocampus, which stores emotional memories and familiar experiences. 
• The hypothalamus, which helps regulate hormones, the sleep-wake cycle and the Circadian Rhythm (your body's internal 24-hour clock). 
• The orbitofrontal cortex, involved in emotional evaluation, reward and wellbeing. 
• The insula, which helps us interpret our internal emotional and physical state. 

Together, these areas explain why fragrance can sometimes make us feel calmer, more focused, comforted or emotionally connected in just a few moments.

Functional Fragrance is designed to work with these natural neurological pathways. 

Rather than focusing only on creating an attractive perfume, Functional Fragrance combines luxury perfumery with carefully selected aromatic ingredients that have been studied for their interaction with the brain and nervous system. 

At This Works, these fragrances are formulated using selected terpenes and sesquiterpenes found naturally within essential oils. 

Terpenes are aromatic compounds that contribute to the characteristic scent of many plants. Increasingly, research suggests certain terpenes may influence patterns of arousal, supporting either relaxation or mental clarity depending on how they are combined. 

Because these fragrances are created with both neuroscience and perfumery in mind, we refer to them as neuroscents. 

Beautiful fragrance. Purposeful design. 

The way we use perfume is changing. 

For many years, fragrance was largely viewed as something we wore for other people. 

Today, people are increasingly choosing scent for themselves. 

Modern life brings constant stimulation. Endless notifications. Busy schedules. Artificial light. Late-night working. The feeling of never quite switching off. 

It's little surprise that people are searching for small rituals that help create moments of calm throughout the day. 

Fragrance has become one of those rituals. 

Rather than simply marking an occasion, scent is increasingly being used to support emotional wellbeing, encourage mindfulness and help create healthy transitions between different parts of the day.

Our brains thrive on familiarity. 

When the same fragrance is worn consistently at the same time each day, the brain gradually begins to associate that scent with the experience surrounding it. 

This is known as associative learning. 

Over time, an evening fragrance ritual can become a familiar cue that signals the transition from work into rest. 

The ritual itself becomes just as important as the perfume. 

A simple evening routine might include: 

• Applying your fragrance after changing out of work clothes. 
• Inhaling deeply for two seconds before exhaling slowly for six. 
• Softening your shoulders. 
• Switching off bright overhead lighting. 
• Sharing dinner without distractions. 
• Following with your favourite skincare or perfume body oils before bed. 

Small rituals repeated consistently can help create moments of familiarity in increasingly busy lives. 

Own Time was created to support this evening transition. 

Developed through years of neuroscientific research and created alongside neuroscientist Professor Gaby Badre, own time eau de parfum was designed as a neural transition cue, helping signal to the brain that the day is drawing to a close. 

Rather than dulling the senses, it encourages a more conscious shift from daytime alertness into a calmer evening mindset through carefully selected terpene-rich aromatic ingredients and mindful ritual. 

The woody, ambery composition opens with Rose, Lemon Myrtle and Pink Peppercorn before revealing Cardamom, Olibanum and Cyclamen, finishing with comforting Sandalwood, Musk and Incense that linger gently into the evening. 

Independent panel testing found: 

• 71% felt their sleep quality improved.* 
• 74% fell asleep faster.* 
• 69% felt calmer and more relaxed in the evening.** 

*Panel tested. Sleep quality and faster sleep: panel of 42 participants over a 28-day period. 

**Panel tested. Calmer and more relaxed: panel of 45 participants over a 28-day period.

Between 6pm and midnight, the body naturally begins preparing for rest. 

Melatonin gradually rises while cortisol starts to decline, encouraging the shift from daytime activity towards evening recovery. 

Modern life often interrupts this biological rhythm. 

Screens, bright lighting, late meals and constant notifications all compete for our attention long after work has finished. 

Own Time was created to help reclaim these often forgotten evening hours. 

By combining Functional Fragrance with intentional behavioural rituals, it encourages a neurojourney that supports calmer, more meaningful evenings centred around rest, connection and preparation for sleep.

The future of fragrance is no longer just about how you want to smell. 

It's about how you want to feel. 

As neuroscience continues to deepen our understanding of the connection between scent, emotion and the nervous system, fragrance is evolving into something more intentional. More personal. More supportive of everyday wellbeing. 

Functional Fragrance represents this new chapter. 

Whether you're creating a calming evening ritual, looking for a mood fragrance that complements your lifestyle or simply searching for an Own Time perfume that feels as intelligent as it is luxurious, choosing fragrance with purpose can become one small but meaningful act of self-care. 

Because sometimes changing how your evening feels begins with something as simple as taking a breath.