Why do we love the smell of petrol so much? What do we like about its pungent, almost sweet chemical smell that tickles our olfactory bulb? For every person who finds the smell pleasant, there are surely just as many who cannot stand it. But to understand this fanaticism, we have to dig at the source.
What is petrol made of?
Petrol is a real chemical cocktail, which is dangerous to health. It is a combination of many ingredients, such as lubricants, de-icers, rust inhibitors, as well as hundreds of hydrocarbons. Of these, benzene is responsible for petrol’s intoxicating smell.
From a mechanical standpoint, benzene is added to petrol to improve engine performance and fuel efficiency.
On the olfactory side, benzene is both powerful and light, woody and aromatic, dark and green. Thus, most noses are sensitive to it. We can detect it instantly, even at a very low concentration in the air.
This hydrocarbon smell is present in the so-called terpene molecules. If you put your nose in lavender, cannabis, resinous trees like pine, or a ripe mango, you will smell the terpenes in action. These odorous molecules give flowers, plants, trees, and fruits their earthy and even citrusy facets. So why do we love the smell of petrol so much?
The smell of petrol is associated with memories!
Our nose can bring back powerful and vivid memories if it picks up a familiar smell. The smell of cut grass can be enough to recall weekends on grandparents’ green grass when we were children. This powerful link between smell and memory is referred to in Proust’s famous Madeleine. Marcel Proust describes a powerful childhood memory, evoked by the smell of a madeleine dipped in tea.
The sense of smell is in fact the only sense directly linked to the area of the brain involved in emotional response and memory formation. Therefore, smell signals do not pass through an analysis box before becoming anchored in our memory. This is why smells cause our brain to form strong, emotional memories at a completely subconscious level.
But let’s get back to the point. We may have formed powerful and pleasant memories related to the smell of petrol, or more specifically to benzene. Our brains may have associated its smell with happy childhood memories, such as summer car trips, motorboat rides, walks on a paved country road or time spent in a garage…
The smell of benzene can then trigger a feeling of nostalgia linked to a memory that is more or less significant.
Is the smell of petrol also a drug?
Another theory focuses more on the physical effect of benzene and the nerve receptors that detect its smell. Benzene, like other hydrocarbons when inhaled, has an inhibiting effect on our nervous system. This leads to a temporary and pleasant feeling of euphoria, not unlike that of alcohol or other drugs.
This is because the biological process of numbing our nerves activates the mesolimbic pathway, known as the brain’s reward pathway. Every time our olfactory nerves receive a dose of benzene, the mesolimbic system releases dopamine molecules – one of the pleasure, feel-good hormones – thereby inviting addiction.
So be careful and remember that it can be dangerous for your health!
At Sillages Paris, diesel flowers!
So why do we love the smell of petrol so much? Many of us are drawn to the smell of marker pens, new tennis balls, books or other smells closely related to benzene. It may be that we have unconsciously attached a strong and pleasant memory to this smell. Or it could mechanically trigger a satisfying dose of dopamine.
Scientists are still constantly learning new things about this powerful sense.
But at Sillages Paris, perfumers defy all laws to create the unique smell of the essence in a bottle, without any harmful substances.
Our Sillage #396: Diesel Flowers.
A raw, dark start. The smell of gasoline.
Then, an orgy of intoxicating, powdery, animalic flowers.
Finally, a woody and burning leather that sets the place alight.
The essence, bitter and appetizing.
The bet is made, it will make you addicted!
With many memories in a bottle that will only ask to be placed on your neck!
Social