How Can AI, Brain Science Help Create Fragrances?

Beauty brands are looking to research and technology to sniff out the factors that lure buyers
Beauty brands are looking to research and technology to sniff out the factors that lure buyers
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How Can AI, Brain Science Help Create Fragrances?

Beauty brands are looking to research and technology to sniff out the factors that lure buyers
Beauty brands are looking to research and technology to sniff out the factors that lure buyers

Beauty brands are looking to research and technology to sniff out the factors that lure buyers, according to a report by The Guardian.

Making perfume is an art that can be traced back to ancient Greece but now modern-day perfumiers are beginning to look beyond their noses to develop the scents most likely to appeal to us. They are, instead, turning to AI.

Perfumes can now be designed to trigger emotional responses using ingredients known as neuroscents – odors shown by biometric measures to arouse different positive feelings such as calm, euphoria or sleepiness. Hugo Ferreira, a researcher at the Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering in Lisbon, is mapping brain activity and response to perfumes to build a database of neuroscents.

He says the sense of smell is fascinating. “With sight and hearing, you can imagine the face of a loved one or favorite tune. It’s hard to imagine a smell even though it can provoke a torrent of emotions and memories.”

Ferreira says this is due to the structure of the olfactory system. Messages from scent receptors are sent via the olfactory bulb to different brain areas that control everything from memory or thirst to stress reactions.

“Olfaction is the most diverse sense with many different receptors. It’s estimated that there are about 400 different olfactory receptor gene families. Among other things these various connections may explain how we can ‘smell fear’, or the smell of victory,” he added.

Many beauty brands have invested in neuroscent research and technology, as the possibilities of creating fragrances proven to make consumers feel good are obviously big. L’Oréal has partnered with neurotechnology company Emotiv to create a scent choice “experience”.

During 2023, shoppers at certain Yves Saint Laurent stores worldwide have used a headset to create an electroencephalogram – EEG – to discover which scents appealed to them. Results so far show that 95% of customers who used the headset found the right perfume.

Fashion and fragrance business Puig says it took 45 million brain readings from men aged 18-35 to finesse the cologne Phantom by Paco Rabanne, adding lavender and lemon to the formula as a result of its research.

Givenchy Irresistible eau de parfum – the latest iteration of the Very Irresistible range that has been a bestseller for 20 years – includes a rose extract dubbed “anti-morose”, chosen after biometric research.



Nepal Plans to Restrict Everest Permits to Experienced Climbers

FILE PHOTO: A mountaineer holds on to the rope during an ice climbing session at Everest base camp, Nepal April 15, 2025. REUTERS/Purnima Shrestha
FILE PHOTO: A mountaineer holds on to the rope during an ice climbing session at Everest base camp, Nepal April 15, 2025. REUTERS/Purnima Shrestha
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Nepal Plans to Restrict Everest Permits to Experienced Climbers

FILE PHOTO: A mountaineer holds on to the rope during an ice climbing session at Everest base camp, Nepal April 15, 2025. REUTERS/Purnima Shrestha
FILE PHOTO: A mountaineer holds on to the rope during an ice climbing session at Everest base camp, Nepal April 15, 2025. REUTERS/Purnima Shrestha

Nepal will issue Everest permits only to climbers with experience of scaling at least one of the Himalayan nation's 7,000-meter (22,965 ft) peaks, according to the draft of a new law aimed at reducing overcrowding and improving safety.
Nepal, which is heavily reliant on climbing, trekking and tourism for foreign exchange, has faced criticism for permitting too many climbers, including inexperienced ones, to try to ascend the 8,849-meter (29,032 ft) peak, Reuters reported.
This often results in long queues of climbers in the 'death Zone', an area below the summit with insufficient natural oxygen for survival.
Overcrowding has been blamed for the high number of deaths on the mountain. At least 12 climbers died, and another five went missing on Everest's slopes in 2023 when Nepal issued 478 permits. Eight climbers died last year.
Under the proposed law, an Everest permit would be issued only after a climber provides evidence of having climbed at least one 7,000-meter mountain in Nepal.
The sardar, or the head of local staff, and the mountain guide accompanying climbers must also be Nepali citizens.
The draft law has been registered at the National Assembly, the upper house of parliament, where the ruling alliance holds a majority required to pass the bill.
International expedition operators have urged Nepal to allow any 7,000-meter peak, not just those in the Himalayan nation, for the Everest permit.
"That wouldn't make any sense. And I would also add mountains that are close to 7,000 meters to that list and that are widely used as preparation, like Ama Dablam, Aconcagua, Denali and others," said Lukas Furtenbach of Austria-based expedition organizer, Furtenbach Adventures.
Furtenbach, currently leading an expedition on Everest, said mountain guides from other countries must also be allowed to work on Everest, as there are not enough qualified Nepali mountain guides.
"It is important that mountain guides have a qualification like IFMGA (International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations), no matter what nationality they are. We do also welcome Nepali IFMGA guides to work in the Alps in Europe," he told Reuters.
Garrett Madison of the US-based Madison Mountaineering also said a 6,500-meter peak anywhere in the world would be a better idea.
"It's too difficult to find a reasonable 7,000-meter plus peak in Nepal," Madison said.