Must-Read: The Importance of Smell

We’re going to keep things relatively light here today, for obvious reasons. (Although come back in a bit and we’ll have an article for you all about how to not lose and arm and a leg in the pocketbook this Christmas season, well worth the read.) But before we embark on a little two-day trip away for the whole Christmas shindig, we though it would not make sense for us to leave you without offering one last piece of advice. Which is why, today, we’re heading over to AskMen.com where they have a listing of ways in order to make sure the smell that you’re giving off is actually giving off the kind of vibe you want. As in, if you’re looking to get some this holiday season — and, please, no jokes about the various family parties you’ll be going to — then one of the best and easiest ways is to make sure you don’t smell like an old shoe. But also, you can actually use it to your advantage if you know enough about how smell works. Take a gander:

Scent conjures emotional memories in a completely involuntary and automatic way. If you?ve ever caught a whiff of an ex-girlfriend?s perfume years after you broke up, you?ll know what I mean: You?re somehow transported to that exact moment in time.

The reason for this is that the olfactory system (which registers smell) is directly wired to the limbic system, the brain?s emotional memory bank, where all the happiness, sorrow, fear, pleasure and anger from our past is stored. Anatomically speaking, the olfactory and limbic systems are neighbors, so the slightest hint of a particular scent can elicit an automatic response in us with very little processing.

So head on over to the link, read some tips, and then work on that smell of yours.