Hello and Welcome! My name is Yazz aka Girl Who Cant Smell.

I was born with anosmia, which is the medical term for the lack of sense of smell.

As a congenital anosmic, I am unaware of what flowers, my favorite foods, or what stinky socks smell like.  “Scents don’t make sense to me.”

Before I knew more about anosmia, I used to feel different, like something was wrong with me. As a kid, I learned to “fake smell,” (pick up cues about pleasant and unpleasant smells from friends and classmates) and acted like I could smell around others because I wanted to feel like I fit in.

Anosmia was my biggest secret.

Keeping quiet about such an important part of me, made me feel alone. I also felt sad. Deep down I knew I was missing out on a special way of bonding with my friends and loved ones.

Feelings aside, not being able to pick up on any type of scent signals (especially the kinds that alert to impending dangers) has been a real problem for me. Being oblivious to nearby gas leaks, fires and spoiled food has affected my quality of life. But honestly, my biggest issue revolves around my fear of when I’m out socializing, I might smell bad and not even know it.

Opening up to others, automatically insures I’ll hear the following phrase: “Wow, you’re so lucky!” Also, many people go as far as telling me that if they had to choose, they would give up their sense of smell over any others.

My feelings of frustration and inability to fully relate to others, gave way to a quick google search on anosmia, four years ago. As expected, I found mostly scientific journals and research publications on this topic, but I also realized, there weren’t many websites that talked about what it’s really like to live without a sense of smell.

So, I started this blog.

After writing about my personal experience living with anosmia, I found out that there are a lot of people who cant smell either! My blog has allowed me to connect with other awesome anosmics (or “nosmies” as I like to call us). The anosmia community that has emerged has allowed me to form new friendships, expand my knowledge about our condition and most importantly, raise awareness.  I love sharing what nobody nose about life with anosmia and I’ve done so primarily by using humor and not being afraid to post about my funny, scary and embarrassing stories.