NYC Perfumer Helps Virus Survivors Recover Sense Of Smell

UPPER EAST SIDE — Lyss Stern nearly wept when her senses registered the distant yet still-so-familiar aromas of vanilla and amber. Though she couldn’t quite name the scents, she knew they were there.

More than a year after losing it to the coronavirus, Stern had reclaimed her sense of smell.

It was a huge moment, one that may not have been possible without the help of Sue Phillips, a perfume maker who owns The Scentarium on the Upper East Side.

Forced to pivot because of coronavirus, Phillips told People magazine she found new ways to do business while simultaneously helping others through the pandemic.

“Look, I'm not a doctor, and I'm not a chemist, but I know the extraordinary powers of fragrance," Phillips told People, referring to a conversation she had with Stern.

A temporary loss of smell, or anosmia, is the main neurological symptom and one of the earliest and most commonly reported indicators that a person is infected with COVID-19, according to Harvard Medical School research. Some studies have suggested it actually is a better predictor of the disease than fever or cough.

Through its research, Harvard Medical School found the virus doesn’t affect the sensory neurons responsible for detecting and transmitting the sense of smell to the brain. What it actually targets is the function of supporting olfactory cells.

A study published Jan. 5 in the Journal of Internal Medicine found that 86 percent of patients with mild COVID-19 cases experienced anosmia, compared with 4 percent to 7 percent of those with moderate to severe cases.

Of the 2,581 COVID-19 patients studied, 95 percent of patients regained their sense of smell within six months.

What Phillips does she calls a “fragrance journey.” She guides others through a variety of scents until their brains register one as familiar.

"What they're doing is exercising their brain," Phillips told People. "I want them to smell with their brain, because our olfactory system, our sense of smell, is directly connected to the limbic system in the brain."

The whole process left Stern amazed.

"I felt 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," she told NBC New York.

Phillips’ method can be applied at home by doing some small exercises to regain your sense of smell.

Dr. David Rosen, an otolaryngologist at Jefferson Health, wrote that anyone experiencing loss of smell should start by smelling coffee, perfumes, citrus, or different types of essential oils. Once they can identify those, they should move on to a new scent.