Losing your sense of smell after being sick can feel like dropping out of touch with the small things that make life enjoyable. Smelling your morning coffee, catching the scent of fresh air outside, or enjoying your favorite meals take a backseat when your nose no longer works the way it used to. And when your sense of smell disappears, taste often goes with it. Many people who’ve had colds, sinus infections, or other illnesses say that food loses all flavor. It’s frustrating, disorienting, and can throw off your routine.
For anyone ready to reconnect with those everyday scents, smell kits are a great tool. These kits come with focused scents to help your brain and nose start working together again. Think of it as retraining your senses to remember what things should smell like. If you’ve been sick recently and your sense of smell hasn’t come back yet, you’re far from alone. Getting a better idea of why this happens is the first step in starting that road to recovery.
Understanding Smell Loss After Illness
A lot of health issues can affect your sense of smell, but upper respiratory illnesses are a common trigger. When you’re dealing with a cold, the flu, or even just a bad sinus infection, your nasal passages can swell up and make it harder for scent molecules to reach your smell receptors. Once the illness clears up, it can still take a while for everything to return to how it was.
Smell and taste work closely together. If you can’t smell, most things you eat will seem dull or flavorless. No matter how much spice you use or how carefully the food is prepared, without your sense of smell, flavor just doesn’t come through the same way. This loss might go on for a few weeks, or even months, and that slow progress can feel discouraging.
The path to recovery isn’t the same for everyone. Some people notice their scent recognition comes back gradually. Others deal with strange or mixed-up smells, like an orange that suddenly smells like something completely unfamiliar. For many, stronger smells return first while the subtle ones lag behind. It all comes down to how well your nose and brain are rebuilding their connection after the illness. That’s where smell training and smell kits come in to kickstart the process.
How Smell Kits Work
Smell kits are simple, structured tools meant to give your nose familiar scents to practice with. Most kits come with a small selection of clearly identifiable fragrance oils. The idea is to expose your nose to the same scents regularly, helping your brain re-learn what each one is supposed to smell like.
Most smell kits include the following:
- Four to six known fragrances like lemon, rose, clove, and eucalyptus
- Small containers that hold the oils without leaking or drying out
- A schedule or basic instructions for regular use
- A journal or chart to track your progress
Here’s how you typically use a kit: choose a quiet time in the morning and evening, close your eyes, and inhale one scent deeply for a few seconds. As you do this, say the name of the scent in your head and try to imagine what it smells like from memory. After 20 seconds, move to the next scent and repeat the process. Doing this daily, over a few weeks or more, can help guide your recovery.
This method works a lot like physical rehab, but for your senses. You repeat the movements — in this case, scent recognition — to help your brain reconnect the dots. It takes consistency and time, but small steps can add up. Smell kits bring structure to that process without overwhelming you.
Recommended Essential Oils for Smell Loss
When you’re recovering your sense of smell, certain essential oils offer a better chance of success because they’re strong, distinct, and easily recognizable. Instead of using random fragrances, training with a short list of targeted oils allows your brain to work with familiar cues.
These four oils have become popular choices among those doing smell training:
- Lemon: Bright and citrusy. It cuts through stuffy noses and offers a strong, distinguishable scent that’s hard to miss.
- Rose: A sweet floral note that stands out because of its classic softness and soothing profile.
- Eucalyptus: Refreshing and clean with that cool, open-air feeling. It’s helpful when residual congestion is still sticking around.
- Clove: Bold, spicy, and grounding. It adds complexity and helps activate different scent receptors for contrast.
Each of these has its job in pulling your scent memory back to the surface. Sticking to the same oils at the start gives your brain time to strengthen its scent recognition without too many variables. Later on, you can begin testing more subtle or complex scents.
And remember, strength isn’t everything. You don’t need to breathe these in forcefully. A gentle, deliberate sniff is usually more effective over time than overloading your nose.
Tips for Enhancing Recovery with Essential Oils
Building smell training into your day-to-day makes it easier to stick with it. One of the common setbacks is forgetting or skipping sessions because it doesn’t feel urgent at the moment. But like any routine, small habits build momentum.
Here are a few ways to get more out of your smell training sessions:
1. Set alarms or calendar reminders to keep you on track morning and night.
2. Use a notebook or phone app to track changes so you can spot improvements, even if they’re small.
3. Keep one or two oils nearby during daily activities. For example, smell lemon oil while preparing food.
4. Put your smell kit somewhere visible like your bathroom counter or dresser.
5. Use a calm, undisturbed space where you can focus your attention on the scent itself.
Try pairing a diffuser session with a focused sniff. You might also test steam inhalation by adding a drop of oil to hot water and breathing in gently. For a less intense option, place a few drops on tissue and take shallow breaths. This lets you engage without overwhelming your senses.
Go easy on yourself. Some days will feel flat, others better, and that’s normal. The act of showing up and repeating the training gives your system something measurable to work with.
Rediscovering Scents and Tastes
Progress doesn’t always mean everything smells exactly like it used to. You might pick up something new before your favorite scent returns, or certain foods may still taste strange. That’s okay. Your sense of smell is adjusting and learning again.
At first, your laundry might smell funny, or your coffee might carry a scent you don’t recognize. These changes often signal that recovery is happening. The brain is rebuilding those scent memories, and sometimes it gets a little messy.
Taste may trail behind smell, but you can help it catch up. Before taking a bite, pause and smell your food. Connecting that aroma to the flavor can improve how everything tastes. This trick is especially helpful during meals with garlic, citrus, herbs, or other strong ingredients.
You can even turn meals into mini training sessions. One trick is to carry a small scent bottle with you when eating out, so you can test your reactions to food-related scents. Moments like tasting cinnamon toast or recognizing the smell of fresh herbs again can lead to more memories falling back into place. That’s part of the fun of regaining your senses.
Smell Training Is a Journey Worth Starting
Smell and taste recovery is rarely instant, but that doesn’t make it any less meaningful. With a daily routine and a strong set of scents, you can give your body a steady path toward rejoining the everyday joys that smell brings. Whether you're trying to enjoy seasonal meals again or just want to breathe in the scent of clean laundry, those small wins matter.
Smell kits give that process structure. Layering in supportive essential oils strengthens scent identification and gives you touchpoints to measure your progress. Even if results feel slow, each session works toward restoring the connection between brain and nose.
Stick with your process, celebrate little milestones, and stay curious about what might return next. The sooner you start, the closer you are to rediscovering all those familiar fragrances that bring comfort, joy, and flavor back into your life.
Explore how using essential oils for loss of taste and smell can support your journey to restoring your senses. Whether you're recovering gradually or just starting to notice changes, MOXE offers gentle, plant-based options to help refresh your routine and bring comfort back into your day.