Did Covid- 19 impact your sense of smell?

If you were one of the millions of Americans who contracted Covid-19, you may or may not have lost your sense of smell and/or taste. I was one of those who lost their sense of smell.

For me, that was terrifying for so many reasons. Among the many reasons, I need my sense of smell to make candles. I was extremely grateful that I made it through Covid-19 with mild symptoms; I was nervous that my sense of smell could take months to return, or worse, forever be impacted.

Almost four months later and my sense of smell is about 90%. Most of my scented candles for District 78 have already been pre-mixed in large quantities, so I wasn't too worried about scents that I'd already created. I was concerned about the custom scents for brands that were in progress. I'm lucky enough to have a strong connection between my memory and smell. But creating a custom scent is such a personal and creative expression for me I didn't want to present something that wasn't my best work. I graciously worked with any pending brands and postponed creating their scent until my nose was ready to go.

On the other hand, I had a customer asking me if I changed my scents' concentration because they seemed "faint." I knew no changes had been made to my recipes, so I asked if they had tested positive for Covid-19, and sure enough, they had.

I write this blog to let people know that even once your sense of smell seems to be back to normal, you may experience some subtle changes in how you smell. Some changes you might notice are how you experience various notes in candles, fragrances, taste food, and smell food. Although this can be frustrating, you might also find that you smell notes that you didn't notice before. As your sense of smell changes, consider this a perfect time to try new candles and food. You might discover new favorites, and I know I did. Chime in below if you experience a loss of smell.

Take care of yourself and be well,

Erikka