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Up until last month, Ishir*, 14, hadn't smelled food — his favorite scent — for six months.

It started in November of last year, when he first lost his olfactory sense after contracting COVID-19. Of course, he's not alone in his experience: roughly 80 percent of people have reported anosmia, or a diminished sense of smell, as a symptom of the virus. What's more, a study by the American Academy of Neurology shows that half of people who lost their sense of smell had not regained it even five or more months later. Ishir fell in the latter category, often called "long-haulers" by members of COVID support groups.

"It was a rough first few months, but after a while you get used to it, unfortunately," he said, adding that nothing he tried worked. Then, after countless desperate Google searches, his mother came across a potential solution: veteran perfumer Sue Phillips.

Phillips had launched a scent therapy healing program amid the pandemic at her Upper East Side boutique in New York City, where she has helped more than 20 COVID survivors retrain their noses to smell again with targeted fragrance training. Clients could also book sessions via Zoom.

Read more: https://www.popsugar.com/beauty/covid-sensory-loss-scent-training-48362784

 Tune In for the Fragrance, Stay for the Fashion!  Meet the Scent Whisper, helping  heal those who suffered Covid 19 smell loss! Meet Sue Phillips, who is known lately as the "ScentWhisperer!" Her signature works are with Burberry and Tiffany, today, she is healing people with helping regain their sense of smell, lost due to Covid 19. T. Coffee will be telling her magical story LIVE from her House of Fragrance on 64th Street in Manhattan, a must see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuTV_1XvoPE

Fragrance designer and expert Sue Phillips is credited with helping COVID-19 long haulers regain their sense of smell.

Doctors say she is like a physical therapist for the nose.

Lyss Stern isn't someone who's easily rattled.

The 47-year-old mother of three is a self-titled "mom-preuner."

She's written books, even launched a mask design kit for kids, but COVID-19 threw her.

"I lost my taste and smell. I developed tinnitus, ringing in my ears, which I still have today," Stern said. "Fatigue — insane, conjunctivitis in my eyes."

That was last March. Today, she can only taste about 10 foods.

She takes about 50 vitamins a day and is thankful for the energy she musters to walk her dog around the block.

https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/national/coronavirus/fragrance-designer-helps-covid-19-long-haulers-regain-sense-of-smell

Sue Phillips, who created perfumes for Tiffany, Burberry and other top brands, has helped 20+ COVID victims get back the sense of smell with a customized fragrance journey experience that trains the nose through 18 ingredients. Fox 5 New York covered the story and witnessed the miracle on camera.

Since news of the COVID-19 pandemic first broke in early 2020, one of the most alarming issues has been the previously unknown, complicated, and often interminable side and after-effects of the virus. One puzzling and frequently reported condition is a loss of taste and smell. Most people lose the sense as an early infection symptom only to regain it after the illness runs its course. But many others, possibly up to one million according to some reports, will live with that disfunction chronically—possibly even forever.

For these so-called "long-haulers," scent therapy is recommended, and New York-based perfumer and fragrance expert Sue Phillips has one all her own.

Phillips first developed the healing program after two back-to-back sessions with people for whom this was a last-ditch effort to recover their senses of smell and taste. Phillips, who's developed fragrances for brands Burberry and Lancôme (as well as every celebrity from Zendaya to Lisa Vanderpump), walked them both through a self-described "scent journey" which covers 18 distinct scents, all in the hopes one is recognized.

The first client identified one smell—a woodsy, deep fragrance—after 13 months without scent. Phillips recalls moments just before the breakthrough, "I said, 'Let's just be present, just concentrate, smell with your brain,'" she shares. "'It's okay if you can't smell anything, but just allow the vibrations and the frequencies to come in.'" Suddenly, they had some success. "It was so palpable that she welled up crying." Phillips sent her client home with a bespoke fragrance, a perfume based on the notes she could smell.

Though she's quick to point out that she's not a doctor or chemist, Phillips (and her 43 years of fragrance experience) has a few ideas about why she's been able to help so many people. She notes six recoveries to date. One mechanism, she theorizes, is the connection between a fragrance's molecular vibration and stimulating the brain's limbic system. The other component, according to Phillips, is how you actually do the smelling. She calls it "smelling with your brain," or using concentration—along with aid from your other senses—to pick up on scents and their nuance in a relaxed environment.

While the first recovered scent varies from person to person, Phillips says, she's found the most success with one intensely fruity scent. Some flowers like rose, and deeper scents like vanilla and amber, likely work because of how familiar and potent they are.

Unsurprisingly, news of Phillips' breakthroughs spread rapidly. She says her phone and inbox have never been so busy, but understanding the desperation for relief, she tries to answer every message she can, even if that means ending her workdays well after midnight. "How could I ignore that?" she says. "I'm very excited that people are actually reaching out and that people are finding that there's a way out." For those who can't make it to her lush New York fragrance atelier, The Scentarium, she offers Zoom-lead healing sessions that include all 18 fragrances used in in-person meetings. Additionally, much of her scent theory and methods can be found in her book, The Power of Perfume.

To roughly approximate the experience on your own—or improve your existent olfactory skills—Phillips recommends a process involving a few pieces of fruit and some concentration. "Oranges, limes, lemons, tangerine, mandarins: they all have a beautiful, distinctive aroma," Phillips explains. "When you look at them, and you see them, and you smell them, you can detect the difference in each of them. But if you smell them blind, they're lumped together." This smell-with-your-brain training can help you identify things you might not be able to otherwise, and Phillips hopes the system can provide some relief for olfaction impairment. "I think people might be able to hopefully get this sense of smell back. But if not, I'm here, and I'm happy to help.

Link: https://www.byrdie.com/recover-sense-of-smell-covid-5181535

Jakarta - Menurut studi dari American Academy of Neurology, sebanyak 51% orang kehilangan indra penciumannya karena Covid-19 dan belum kembali setelah lima bulan. Fakta tersebut membuat ahli parfum Sue Phillips menginisiasi untuk membuat terapi wewangian bagi mereka yang tidak bisa lagi merasakan aroma karena virus Corona.

Wanita yang sudah bekerja di industri parfum selama 12 tahun itu mengadakan sesi terapi bernama 'fragrance journey' yang dihargai US$ 650 atau sekitar Rp 9,4 juta. Sue Phillips kini telah mengembalikan penciuman lebih dari 20 orang lewat sesi terapinya.

"Ketika tidak bisa merasakan aroma, hal itu mempengaruhi banyak hal dalam kehidupan, termasuk makanan dan indra pengecap. Orang-orang menjadi sangat tertekan. Rasanya menghancurkan," kata Sue, seperti dikutip dari NY Post.
"Banyak orang yang mengatakan bahwa hidup mereka tidak layak untuk dijalani. Aroma adalah bagian terbesar dari kesenangan hidup," tambahnya.

Sesi terapi wewangian bahkan bisa dilakukan lewat online, dengan mengirimkan strip aroma sebelumnya. Sue juga bisa mengirimkan wewangian khusus sebagai bagian dari terapi.

Wanita yang pernah membuatkan parfum untuk brand Burberry itu mencampur berbagai aroma untuk merangsang indra penciuman. Dia mencampur aroma seperti lavender, musk, amber, dan vanilla yang dibagi dalam top notes, mid notes, dan base notes. Klien kemudian mencium strip beraroma individu untuk membantu membangkitkan indra yang tidak aktif.

"Bagian dari diriku hilang, dan saya gembira bahwa sesuatu yang tidak aktif selama lebih dari satu tahun kembali bangkit. Sekarang indra penciumanku berhembus kembali," ucap Tammy Farrell, salah satu klien Sue Phillips.

Sue Phillips tidak hanya menawarkan strip-strip aroma, namun dia juga memberikan afirmasi-afirmasi positif seperti sesi meditasi. "Hirup aroma dengan otakmu, cobalah menyerap aroma dengan otakmu," ucap Sue kepada kliennya.

Sesi terapi wewangian tersebut pun selama ini telah berhasil. Dalam satu sesi, sejumlah kliennya bahkan sudah bisa kembali merasakan aroma.

https://wolipop.detik.com/makeup-and-skincare/d-5549674/ahli-parfum-buat-terapi-wewangian-untuk-pasien-covid-yang-kehilangan-penciuman

They had a nose for nothing this past year, but now some COVID-19 long-haulers can finally stop to smell the roses — thanks to a legendary perfumer who’s leading them on a $650 “fragrance journey.”

Perfumer Sue Phillips, who has created scents for Tiffany and Burberry, is helping virus survivors who’ve lost their sense of smell.

“A piece of my life was missing, and I’m elated that something dormant for more than a year is triggered. Now [my sense of smell] is on full blast,” said Tammy Farrell, 51, after her hourlong session at Phillips’ eponymous fragrance boutique on the Upper East Side.

Farrell lost her ability to smell when she came down with the coronavirus in March 2020. The Long Island mom of three kept waiting for her nose to kick into action but, despite sniffing garlic powder and walking past fragrant bakeries, she had no luck.

“I figured I’d suck it up for a few weeks, but then weeks turns into months and months,” said Farrell, a customer success manager. She eventually sought out neurologists and had brain scans and blood work done, but everything turned up normal. “I couldn’t smell anything, and no one knew why. You just can’t help but cry,” she said, adding, “I couldn’t smell my favorite candles or my husband’s cologne. I couldn’t enjoy eating — it just became fuel for my body, not pleasure.”

When her daughter alerted her to a gas odor in the basement and Farrell couldn’t smell it, she knew she needed help. “When you can’t smell gasoline leaks, it’s a huge problem,” said Farrell. “I didn’t have any more options.”

Phillips, who has owned her custom perfumery for 12 years, launched the scent therapy healing program earlier this year.

“When smell is out of reach, it affects many realms of life, including eating and taste. People get very depressed … It’s devastating,” said Phillips. “People say their life is not worth living. Smell is such a big part of life’s pleasures.”

According to a study by the American Academy of Neurology, some 51 percent of people who lost their sense of smell due to COVID had not regained it five or more months later.

Starting at $650, clients get one meeting with Phillips (she also offers a Zoom option, where she sends smell strips ahead of time) and a custom fragrance to take home.

She blends scents using ingredients such as lavender, musk, amber and vanilla, which are divided between top, mid and base notes. The client then smells individual scented strips to help arouse the dormant sense.

It sounds simplistic, but Phillips said she has helped 20 people regain at least some of their ability to smell since the new year.

Last Thursday, as she went through various notes with Farrell, the perfumer gave specific commands: “Smell with your brain — try to absorb the aromas with your brain … your brain is fogged up.”

Suddenly, Farrell began to cry. “It smells lovely,” she said of a balsamic vanilla-scented strip. “It smells very rich. I haven’t smelled anything this strong, ever. This is a dream.”

The night after her one session, Farrell said she detected the taste of pepper in her dinner, and she’s committed to doing her “homework,” which includes smelling their own perfume, flowers and fruit throughout the day with a meditation-like focus.

Days later, Farrell said she had smelled garlic, albeit faintly, for the first time in over a year, although she lamented she still can’t smell bacon or popcorn.

Even doctors working with COVID survivors are open to the therapy. “I think it’s interesting and exciting. There may be some opportunities with some stimulation with different scents,” said Dr. Yosef Krespi, an otolaryngologist at Lenox Hill Hospital who noted that two-thirds of the COVID survivors with longterm smell loss are women. “It’s like training or rehabilitation of . . . the nerves located at the roof of the nose. There’s an opportunity for ‘physical therapy’ [and] the re-learning of those scents.”

“I’m still in shock that it works,” said Phillips’ client Marissa Karen, a 27-year-old Google account manager from Soho. She lost her sense of smell after contracting COVID last March. “I went to a million different doctors, six or seven ENTs, a neurologist, and went on oral and nasal steroids to reduce inflammation. I left every doctor hysterically crying.”

She met with Phillips last week and could smell again after one session. “It’s associating smells with memories,” said Karen, who does her training with lemons. “I associate it with going to a lemon farm I went to in Sorrento in southern Italy where I had a lemonade and limoncello tasting.”

Added Karen: “You don’t realize how important smell is until you don’t have it anymore. I can walk outside now and smell the spring flowers blooming.”

Link: https://nypost.com/2021/04/27/perfumer-helps-covid-survivors-regain-smell/

Fragrances weren’t always marketed to men and women specifically. And as new generations welcome and help shape a more fluid world, the fragrance industry is moving right along with it.

History Lesson

In ancient Egypt, perfume was used as a way to honor the gods in religious ceremonies; the Romans and Greeks applied jasmine and scents from other flowers to cover their body odor. “Even in the Bible it said you should put scent on yourself to cover body odor, but there were no stories about gender,” says fifth-generation perfumer Ben Krigler of artisanal fragrance house Krigler.

According to fragrance expert Sue Phillips, founder of The Scentarium, scent was considered universal until 1921 when Chanel launched its now-iconic No5, and Coco Chanel marketed it to women. “This was followed by a slew of other ‘designer fragrances’ that were also marketed to women, such as Dior and Arpège, and suddenly ‘perfume’ became the fragrance name associated with women,” she explains. “The most famous American men’s cologne actually started out as a women’s fragrance under the name of ‘Early American Old Spice,’ but it flopped, so it was re-released as the new ‘Old Spice’ in 1937 and targeted to men, thus began the marketing of ‘colognes’ for men.” In the 1940s and beyond, “fragrance marketing and advertising became sexualized with the focus on attracting men or women in very traditional sexual stereotypical roles,” says Linda Levy, president of The Fragrance Foundation.

Turning Point

In 1994, things changed when Calvin Klein’s CK ONE hit the market with a bang. “CK ONE is a major milestone in fragrance history as it was a disruptor in the industry and the first fragrance to be marketed as unisex, or universal, as we currently have named this category at The Fragrance Foundation,” says Levy. One of the perfumers who created the radical scent, Alberto Morillas, reflects on the game-changing launch: “CK ONE moves beyond old codes of gender, sexuality and race, and embodies the idea of freedom. Calvin Klein anticipated a new cultural shift toward unisex fragrances and codes in its early stages, and leaned in at the right moment. The fragrance has been a best-seller since.”

Modern Minds

Today, there are many fragrances blurring gender norms, which Levy says is truly the current state of society and will be for the future. “These include but are not limited to Le Labo, Tom Ford, diptyque, Byredo, Maison Margiela, Atelier Colonge and Jo Malone, which are widely known. Some brands, such as Boy Smells and the Phluid Project, are making gender fluidity a major statement in their marketing.”

Krigler has also noticed a significant change in consumer behavior as more people are turning to the internet for fragrance education. “I can see it with our younger customers, and even our male customers: there’s less worrying about what is ‘for men,’ and what they can and can’t wear. They’re more interested in the notes and the ingredients, and how they will react with their body chemistry and their lifestyle. Fragrance is personal—it’s not about the latest trend or what marketing tells you is best.”

Love Notes

Regardless of gender, Phillips says “Americans generally like to smell fresh and clean, and those notes are typically found in the citrus family, such as lemons, oranges, bergamot, green grass and ozonic sea breezy notes. It harkens back to Americans’ obsession with cleanliness.” Globally, Krigler points to a desire for people to wear scents that make them feel closer to nature. “Fresh notes like bergamot and orange blossom are very universal, but also notes like patchouli, amber, sandalwood and tonka bean. And vanilla! This is one note everybody is crazy about these days. It’s very addictive and makes you feel comfortable.”

Future Focus

Picture a department store floor without sections for men and women, but rather one big celebration of scent. Experts predict this is the future, but they’re not sure how long it will take to get there. “I believe we’re entering that phase now, in fact,” says Morillas. “Many of the client briefs I receive stipulate a unisex approach to creation, and I find that many of my inspirations and reference points are now genderless, and linked closely to an emotion I’m trying to evoke, rather than using specific ingredients for gender codes. The more accepting a society becomes of discarding stereotypes, the more our narrative as perfumers changes as well.”

Universal Language

Three genderless scents we’re loving right now: one that stands the test of time and two newcomers to the scene this year.

Link: https://www.newbeauty.com/unisex-fragrance-trend/

 A Covid survivor who was unable to smell or taste for a year managed to regain some of her senses during a trip to a perfume shop.

Lyss Stern, from New York City, New York, lost her sense of smell and taste after contracting coronavirus in March last year and until today, has not smelled anything since then.

But after a long 12 months she has finally had a breakthrough, thanks to a visit to the The Scentarium in Upper East Side in New York.

Speaking to NBC New York, Stern said she was able to teach herself how to smell again.

She said the last year has been a struggle and despite having low points, she always hoped her senses would come back again.

Stern said: ‘It’s very frustrating, but I have to stay positive. I’m a survivor, it could’ve been a lot worse, so I had to put that into perspective.

‘However, I’m not going to lie to you, it’s very frustrating.

‘I do believe that over time, and hopefully with something like where I am today, and with the studies that I’m doing, we will eventually be able – even if it’s just a little bit – to get back a little of my smell and taste.

‘I’ll take whatever I can get back.’

Her ability to regain her sense of smell came while trying out various scents at the perfumery to see if she can detect anything.

With the help of owner, Sue Phillips, Stern tried out a long list different samples. While many smells failed for Stern, the odor of vanilla provided some much-needed hope.

From there, Phillips put together what few fragrances triggered a reaction to enable Stern to smell a fragrance.

‘Something beautiful. I’m gonna cry’, Stern said.

‘I fell very emotional because, not only to smell something, but to smell something that’s beautiful, as the first time to really be able to smell something It’s amazing.’

For Phillips, she said getting to that point made it all worth it for her.

‘This for me, this is what I live for’, Phillips.

https://metro.co.uk/2021/04/16/covid-survivor-unable-to-smell-for-a-year-has-breakthrough-moment-at-perfumery-14422112/