Could Other Stronger Scents or Aromas in the Air Affect Your Vaping Sessions?

Have you ever noticed that when you’re around a strong smell, the flavor of your e-liquid is off? This isn’t just your imagination. It turns out that scents play a big role in the way in which we perceive flavor, and this applies to our vape juices as much as anything else.

Flavor and Your Olfactory Glands

What does a smell have to do with the taste of our e-liquids? Well, when we vape, we’re perceiving the flavor with more than just our taste buds. Believe it or not, a huge amount of our sensory experience is smell, not taste. Our olfactory glands that are found in the nose perceive aroma notes that influence the way in which a flavor is perceived.

If you don’t believe us, try this experiment. The next time you eat something, hold your nose. Then, ask yourself how strong the flavor of what you are eating is. Chances are, you’ll have a hard time tasting your food. This just proves that what we smell when we’re eating plays a bigger role in the flavor than we may think.

So naturally, scents can influence our vaping experience. Each time we take an inhale, a lot of what we think we are tasting, we are actually smelling. And what this also means is that if we are around a particularly strong smell, our olfactory glands are picking that up along with the scent of our e-liquid. This can create sensory confusion, as the olfactory glands can’t differentiate between the aroma notes of the vape juice and the aroma notes in our surroundings. So what happens? We believe that our e-juice tastes different.

Ways in Which Scents Can Interfere with Your Vapes

What kinds of scents can interfere with vaping? Well, anything that’s particularly strong or complex. A heavy perfume is a good example, as are food being cooked and garbage nearby that’s rotting. All of these scents are known to be overpowering and can play a big role in our sensory experience while we vape.

Another factor can be the familiarity of the smell. The more used to a smell we are, the less we perceive it. This is proven by the smell in our home. When we walk into a new house, we notice its unique smell right away. But, we believe that our own house doesn’t have a smell. This is just because we’re used to it, so our senses no longer bother to perceive it.

A new smell is more likely to be perceived than one that we are used to. So, if you’re smelling something unique for the first time, it’s more likely to take up all the attention of your olfactory glands, dominating the flavor notes of your e-liquid.

How to Not Let This Happen

Of course, an easy way to avoid this happening is to simply leave the area. If you find that while you’re vaping, you can’t help but pick up on a strong scent, then walk away to a more neutral-smelling area, if you can. Go outside, or go by a window, or just leave the room.

If you can’t do this, just be willing to wait things out. Once the smell is gone, your vape juice will taste just like it should once again.