Your nose might be lying to you after COVID, and your perfumes know it

I woke up to the usual duet of espresso steam and the jasmine on my windowsill, then something felt off. The jasmine was a whisper, the coffee was a shout. If you’ve had COVID-19 and your perfumes have been behaving strangely, you are not imagining it.

A recent clinical scent-detection test delivered a gut punch. Among people who reported smell changes after infection, 80% scored low almost two years later. Within that group, 23% were severely impaired or functionally smell-blind. The plot twist is worse. Sixty-six percent of infected participants who felt “fine” still scored abnormally low. Translation for perfume lovers: your perception can be compromised even when you think you’re back to normal.

This is why your beloved Chanel No. 5 can feel like soap and static instead of that fizzy aldehydic halo. Why Le Labo Santal 33 reads as pencil shavings without the creamy sandalwood glide. Why Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540 turns from spun amber-saffron into harsh burnt sugar. Why Byredo Gypsy Water loses the pine-citrus sparkle and collapses into pale musk. Even the swaggering ambroxan hum in Dior Sauvage can go ghostly. When anosmia and hyposmia hang around, whole accords fall out of the choir.

What to do right now:

• Reality check your nose. Smell coffee grounds, orange peel, vinegar, fresh rosemary, and a rose. If two or more feel muted or wrong, take notes for a week.
• Try gentle olfactory training. Twice daily, sniff four distinct materials like rose, lemon, clove, and eucalyptus for 20 seconds each. Track any shifts.
• Sample smarter. Test on skin, not just paper. Revisit the same blotter across hours and days. Avoid blind buys until your baseline stabilizes.
• Choose clarity. Bright citruses and green aromatics can cut through when heavy ambers or dense gourmands feel flat.

I know, none of this is romantic. But the most luxurious note in any bottle is the one you bring to it. Be patient with your nose, and let your collection meet you where you are today. If you’re still in the fog months later, talk to a clinician who understands smell disorders. The bottles will wait. Your senses deserve the encore.