Intersecting the Senses: Synesthesia to Connect Cosmetics with Emotion via Cosmetics & Toiletries

The term synesthesia is a fusion of two Greek words meaning “together” and “sensation,” which refers to the perception of the same stimulus by two different senses. In some individuals, synesthesia is a physiological condition through which experiences related to perception, such as color or taste, are caused by stimuli that would not normally be associated with that experience.

Synesthesia also can be used as an approach to combine different sensations, or in some cases feelings, and for this reason it has widely been used in music, painting, literature and poetic metaphors.¹

For example:

• Soft as a summer whistle;
• And when he came out of the water and approached, I felt the warmth of his eyes, the scent of his words, the saltiness of his caresses, the sound of her beauty, the brightness of his embrace…
• In suspended sound colors, eyes hear, ears look…
• Francisco de Quevedo’s: I listen to the dead with the eyes; and
• Joan Manuel Serrat’s: Your name tastes like grass.

Synesthetic experiences demonstrate three primary characte­ristics: they are provoked by a stimulus, they are conscious perceptions and they are automatic.² They are an important trend emerging in sectors such as food, beverages and of course, cosmetics.

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