We live in a smell reality that’s much more edited than we realize.
March 29, 2022 8:42 AM Subscribe
How to Choose Your Perfume: A Conversation with Sianne Ngai and Anna Kornbluh (Jude Stewart for the Paris Review)
This feels very 80's to me, when all the romance-y novels I read and all the fashion stuff talked about having a "signature scent." Which sounded fun to me at the time, I had a stash of Elizabeth Taylor perfume, etc.
Meanwhile, IRL, everyone is either allergic, asthmatic, or just plain hates perfume, so I had to give up on that. One guy I dated was literally all (in voice of total disgust) "You don't wear perfume, do you?!" So I guess I'm surprised the industry continues on these days.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:01 AM on March 29, 2022 [7 favorites]
Meanwhile, IRL, everyone is either allergic, asthmatic, or just plain hates perfume, so I had to give up on that. One guy I dated was literally all (in voice of total disgust) "You don't wear perfume, do you?!" So I guess I'm surprised the industry continues on these days.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:01 AM on March 29, 2022 [7 favorites]
A few years ago, I discovered solid men’s cologne, and really love it.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:12 AM on March 29, 2022
posted by Thorzdad at 9:12 AM on March 29, 2022
I'm still clinging to my ancient bottle of Bang by Marc Jacobs, but my current fave is City on Fire by imaginary authors. It smells like a lightly musky house fire and I love it.
posted by Ferreous at 9:16 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Ferreous at 9:16 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
My Eau My by George Takei is running low. I am sad.
posted by Splunge at 9:19 AM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Splunge at 9:19 AM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
So I guess I'm surprised the industry continues on these days.
There's definitely something to that. But as well, there's something so... hmmm, telling about the entire conversation, where it is situating their engagement with these perfumes on Marxist terms, but even as amateur fragrance afficionado that's dropped out of keeping up with everything just before the pandemic, none of the namechecked perfumes would even be found at Sephora, and to keep the French analogy, the most ... 'common' one is the L'Artisan Parfumeur, which you can at least find next door at the BHV Marais in Paris. None of the perfumes of that class that they're talking about would even think of starting with an uncomplicated vanilla base note or a citrusy/fruity one, which unfortunately, is what we plebes would be most used to having available. If you're a little unusual you can of course go for a woodsy masculine base or an aldehyde one.
in any case these days I make my own wax blocks, initially for candles, but once I wrap around how to make a composition for a solid perfume to wear, I'll probably not stop, lol.
posted by cendawanita at 9:21 AM on March 29, 2022 [6 favorites]
There's definitely something to that. But as well, there's something so... hmmm, telling about the entire conversation, where it is situating their engagement with these perfumes on Marxist terms, but even as amateur fragrance afficionado that's dropped out of keeping up with everything just before the pandemic, none of the namechecked perfumes would even be found at Sephora, and to keep the French analogy, the most ... 'common' one is the L'Artisan Parfumeur, which you can at least find next door at the BHV Marais in Paris. None of the perfumes of that class that they're talking about would even think of starting with an uncomplicated vanilla base note or a citrusy/fruity one, which unfortunately, is what we plebes would be most used to having available. If you're a little unusual you can of course go for a woodsy masculine base or an aldehyde one.
in any case these days I make my own wax blocks, initially for candles, but once I wrap around how to make a composition for a solid perfume to wear, I'll probably not stop, lol.
posted by cendawanita at 9:21 AM on March 29, 2022 [6 favorites]
I wanted to get to yes with perfume y’know?
posted by BlunderingArtist at 9:24 AM on March 29, 2022
posted by BlunderingArtist at 9:24 AM on March 29, 2022
I loved this article. I also love my perfume, which, so far, has not impeded my social or romantic relationships (but maybe), though I did once have a houseguest who balked at the fresh flowers on the dining room table and ask how I could bear having that disgusting smell (lilies mostly) in my house.
I keep a drawer full of sample size bottles that remind me of various people I love. And I've almost constantly had a tiny sample Chanel No. 5 somewhere near my person, because in the last 18 months of grieving my grandmother's loss, I can uncork the vial and it's like the scent version of a hug. (Miss you, Nana)
posted by thivaia at 9:27 AM on March 29, 2022 [17 favorites]
I keep a drawer full of sample size bottles that remind me of various people I love. And I've almost constantly had a tiny sample Chanel No. 5 somewhere near my person, because in the last 18 months of grieving my grandmother's loss, I can uncork the vial and it's like the scent version of a hug. (Miss you, Nana)
posted by thivaia at 9:27 AM on March 29, 2022 [17 favorites]
I like perfume/cologne. It's 2022, so of course...DISCLAIMER I don't like far too much scent where it's overbearing. I don't wear cologne as often as I used to, but I like wearing it sometimes. Something about it reminds me of My Home and when I'm at work, say, or running errands and I catch a whiff of the stuff I have on? I'm transported back to My Home, a safe, comfortable place, and I find that pleasant.
posted by SoberHighland at 9:28 AM on March 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by SoberHighland at 9:28 AM on March 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
I really came to love having a bit of perfume on my wrist or such when masking because I could sneak in a whiff of something pleasant and fragrant to temporarily get myself away from the feeling of breathing into a humid filter for hours on end.
posted by Ferreous at 9:30 AM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Ferreous at 9:30 AM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
This seems like a good place to complain that last night I had to throw away half of a hydroponic English cucumber because somebody wearing a really strong "Poison"-like perfume or perfumed lotion had touched it and left their revolting stench on it that actually penetrated the plastic shrink wrap to contaminate the cucumber. Even my partner recoiled in disgust.
posted by HotToddy at 9:33 AM on March 29, 2022
posted by HotToddy at 9:33 AM on March 29, 2022
My partner picked up an earlier version of this sampler pack from etat libre d'orange and it's a really nice mix of scents. They're small but there's a ton and you can experiment in what kind of scent fits your aesthetic/mood.
posted by Ferreous at 9:56 AM on March 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Ferreous at 9:56 AM on March 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
We recently booked our wedding venue, and my future MIL took us to lunch at a fancy shopping hub which included a Chanel. We went in after lunch, and she was telling us about how her mother always wore Chanel #5. The sales associate heard this, and gently asked if she'd like to smell it or try it on. MIL got teary smelling it again after all these years, and so fiancee and I bought her a bottle for her birthday at her request.
Said sales associate also heard we were getting married, and talked about picking a 'wedding scent' that you wear on your wedding day then each anniversary. Basically, creating a scent memory on purpose to associate with your big day. She then gave me a Chanel sample, which I love. Except now I want to try EVERYTHING. I've been ordering samplers and wearing one every few days and taking notes on if it sets off my allergies, how is it after a few hours, etc, etc.
(Current winner is Fidelis by histoire de parfum, which I've seen described as 'what Sophie from Howl's moving castle would wear'- smoky, with floral undertones that fades into a beautiful raspberry oud)
posted by Torosaurus at 10:27 AM on March 29, 2022 [12 favorites]
Said sales associate also heard we were getting married, and talked about picking a 'wedding scent' that you wear on your wedding day then each anniversary. Basically, creating a scent memory on purpose to associate with your big day. She then gave me a Chanel sample, which I love. Except now I want to try EVERYTHING. I've been ordering samplers and wearing one every few days and taking notes on if it sets off my allergies, how is it after a few hours, etc, etc.
(Current winner is Fidelis by histoire de parfum, which I've seen described as 'what Sophie from Howl's moving castle would wear'- smoky, with floral undertones that fades into a beautiful raspberry oud)
posted by Torosaurus at 10:27 AM on March 29, 2022 [12 favorites]
I smell something, I identify it, and it smells good or it’s not good.
I’m still thinking about whether this is true. Spring is starting where I am which means an eruption of outdoor smells. Violets are easy: I like them. Leaves that stayed too wet all winter: dreadful. But stinky Bob, Geranium robertianum ? Strangely ambiguous.
posted by clew at 10:35 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
I’m still thinking about whether this is true. Spring is starting where I am which means an eruption of outdoor smells. Violets are easy: I like them. Leaves that stayed too wet all winter: dreadful. But stinky Bob, Geranium robertianum ? Strangely ambiguous.
posted by clew at 10:35 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Body chemistry is weird. My wife's favorite perfume is the Demeter Fragrance Library's "Gin & Tonic," which seems like too simple an idea to work so well. In college I went shopping and answered the questions about wood, spice, grass, whatever, and almost everything that had the right words in its description just smelled wrong on my skin. One of few the fragrances that worked* on me was marketed as Elizabeth Taylor's "Passion" for men, but I always pronounced it as "Elizabeth Taylor's passion for men" and made the obvious corny joke about how they could manage to bottle it. I'm not proud.
* A lesbian friend leaned in to whisper a secret, did a double take, and said, "you smell delicious."
I'm curious if the stuff that worked on me in college still would, but also I haven't worn cologne since college. Now the only actually-fragrant thing I buy is shaving cream and even that is fraught, having settled on one described as "Spicy, light, and captivating with top notes of Cedar and Sandalwood complemented by subtle hints of Jasmine and Spice" only to find that the manufacturer is really bad about putting the wrong thing in the package (yes, it happened twice; West Indian Lime was at least a pleasant surprise, if not my favorite; the other one actually got a negative reaction from my wife). I've been shopping around other brands to find one that doesn't irritate my skin or hit any particular notes too hard, but I'm afraid of just ending up with Old Man Smell. It might be Clean, Well Groomed, Old Man Smell, but the last three words still apply. I feel like I'm not yet ready for that.
posted by fedward at 10:37 AM on March 29, 2022 [6 favorites]
* A lesbian friend leaned in to whisper a secret, did a double take, and said, "you smell delicious."
I'm curious if the stuff that worked on me in college still would, but also I haven't worn cologne since college. Now the only actually-fragrant thing I buy is shaving cream and even that is fraught, having settled on one described as "Spicy, light, and captivating with top notes of Cedar and Sandalwood complemented by subtle hints of Jasmine and Spice" only to find that the manufacturer is really bad about putting the wrong thing in the package (yes, it happened twice; West Indian Lime was at least a pleasant surprise, if not my favorite; the other one actually got a negative reaction from my wife). I've been shopping around other brands to find one that doesn't irritate my skin or hit any particular notes too hard, but I'm afraid of just ending up with Old Man Smell. It might be Clean, Well Groomed, Old Man Smell, but the last three words still apply. I feel like I'm not yet ready for that.
posted by fedward at 10:37 AM on March 29, 2022 [6 favorites]
I’ve been searching the perfume space for about two years to understand what I like and what complements me and what doesn’t drag openly on my senses so much as just uplift them unconsciously most of the time. I love jasmine and lily, and I can’t stand them on me. I love Freeway, which is orange blossom / road tar and is truly unique for it. And I love Rose Magnetic for being a lovely subtle flowery scent, that doesn’t clash at all but still leaves a hint of girly.
But, unexpectedly, the one I ended up latching onto, that has completely derailed all other scents I enjoy, is Baie: it smells of petrichor, of dust and rain and the aftermath of travel, and it fades into me beautifully, and I miss it if I forget to put it on. I can’t explain why this clicked for me in any logical terms - I thought of the Doctor Who password and decided to sample it and I used half the sample over a week and then left it at a boy’s house by accident* and had to consider whether to get a bottle. (Yes, dear reader, I did.)
And now everyone who gives me a hug mentions confusedly or with a smile or almost blushing that I smell nice, but only if they get close enough to me to tell. It’s a warm, inviting bubble and I’m glad to have left my mark on those who enter it :)
* I have since “stolen” a scrunchie another girl that boy is seeing, indirectly through the boy. Her perfumed scrunchie is fruity and floral and amazing. She, in turn, wore my perfumed scrunchie for an entire day with him. I’m having coffee with her next week and intend to return her scrunchie and offer another one, and I’ve left a scrunchie at his bedside for the next time someone is over. Perfume is powerful, and I had no idea how much I’d enjoy this exchange of power; not in “ownership” or “claim” but in .. attention and awareness and permission. So I seriously doubt it was accidental that I left a sample of my perfume behind. I retrieved it, though!
posted by Callisto Prime at 10:52 AM on March 29, 2022 [11 favorites]
But, unexpectedly, the one I ended up latching onto, that has completely derailed all other scents I enjoy, is Baie: it smells of petrichor, of dust and rain and the aftermath of travel, and it fades into me beautifully, and I miss it if I forget to put it on. I can’t explain why this clicked for me in any logical terms - I thought of the Doctor Who password and decided to sample it and I used half the sample over a week and then left it at a boy’s house by accident* and had to consider whether to get a bottle. (Yes, dear reader, I did.)
And now everyone who gives me a hug mentions confusedly or with a smile or almost blushing that I smell nice, but only if they get close enough to me to tell. It’s a warm, inviting bubble and I’m glad to have left my mark on those who enter it :)
* I have since “stolen” a scrunchie another girl that boy is seeing, indirectly through the boy. Her perfumed scrunchie is fruity and floral and amazing. She, in turn, wore my perfumed scrunchie for an entire day with him. I’m having coffee with her next week and intend to return her scrunchie and offer another one, and I’ve left a scrunchie at his bedside for the next time someone is over. Perfume is powerful, and I had no idea how much I’d enjoy this exchange of power; not in “ownership” or “claim” but in .. attention and awareness and permission. So I seriously doubt it was accidental that I left a sample of my perfume behind. I retrieved it, though!
posted by Callisto Prime at 10:52 AM on March 29, 2022 [11 favorites]
In college I went shopping and answered the questions about wood, spice, grass, whatever, and almost everything that had the right words in its description just smelled wrong on my skin. One of few the fragrances that worked* on me was marketed as Elizabeth Taylor's "Passion" for men
I've had a lot of perfumes that I liked for themselves, or in my house (like, a sachet in my linen closet or a light spritz on my sheets), or on a personal identification level. But one of the only ones that ever "worked" in that way on me was a ten dollar drugstore perfume oil--Skin Musk by Bonne Bell. Instant, universal boy magnet. It smelled like skin but better. But once they got taken over by someone else there was a slight change in the formula and it was 100% a fail -- after ten minutes on my skin, it was overwhelmingly a smell of old pennies. Never have found the like again!
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:04 AM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
I've had a lot of perfumes that I liked for themselves, or in my house (like, a sachet in my linen closet or a light spritz on my sheets), or on a personal identification level. But one of the only ones that ever "worked" in that way on me was a ten dollar drugstore perfume oil--Skin Musk by Bonne Bell. Instant, universal boy magnet. It smelled like skin but better. But once they got taken over by someone else there was a slight change in the formula and it was 100% a fail -- after ten minutes on my skin, it was overwhelmingly a smell of old pennies. Never have found the like again!
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:04 AM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
I don't like Eau de Toilette strength for Men's perfume. They have no staying power for my body type and dissipate too damn fast. It is really difficult to find places that have Eau de Parfum strength for Men. And testing the EdT and EdP for the same perfume seems to me that the scent that lingers is noticeably different. So it makes it really difficult to do testing to figure out what I like.
I know the base notes I like and look for EdP with those and buy samplers from resellers to test. This search has led to to three that I like. But it should not be this difficult for men to find something. The weird thing is that most of the perfumes I like are based on things used for Attars in India, where I grew up. Maybe it is the nostalgia that is driving my choice.
ETA: Also, one of my favorites was reformulated recently; and it smells like sewage to me now. I read that a small change in the molecular structure can make a compound smell great to bad; and maybe that is what I am picking up.
posted by indianbadger1 at 11:15 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
I know the base notes I like and look for EdP with those and buy samplers from resellers to test. This search has led to to three that I like. But it should not be this difficult for men to find something. The weird thing is that most of the perfumes I like are based on things used for Attars in India, where I grew up. Maybe it is the nostalgia that is driving my choice.
ETA: Also, one of my favorites was reformulated recently; and it smells like sewage to me now. I read that a small change in the molecular structure can make a compound smell great to bad; and maybe that is what I am picking up.
posted by indianbadger1 at 11:15 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Skin Musk by Bonne Bell. Instant, universal boy magnet. It smelled like skin but better
I also adored Skin Musk when I was +/-20ish, and then I went back and tried it again years later and couldn't figure out why it had appealed. So it's interesting to know that it was reformulated, and it wasn't just my nose changing with age. I would also love to find something again that matches the way I remember the original.
posted by Dorothea Ladislaw at 11:15 AM on March 29, 2022
I also adored Skin Musk when I was +/-20ish, and then I went back and tried it again years later and couldn't figure out why it had appealed. So it's interesting to know that it was reformulated, and it wasn't just my nose changing with age. I would also love to find something again that matches the way I remember the original.
posted by Dorothea Ladislaw at 11:15 AM on March 29, 2022
She then gave me a Chanel sample, which I love.
Which fragrance?
I miss being able to buy Chanel No. 22 at department stores and the drugstore in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. I loved it so much that a few years ago I bought a tiny spray vial on eBay for what I used to pay at the drugstore. They've changed it a lot (more powdery), so I guess I don't mind that you can only get it from Chanel, and not every Chanel store at that.
Now I wear Lili Bermuda scents, especially Coral (most often), Lily, Pink, and Petals (my favorite). I often layer Lily and Petals. They all do smell like Bermuda, and they remind me of my beloved old-school 22.
posted by jgirl at 11:32 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Which fragrance?
I miss being able to buy Chanel No. 22 at department stores and the drugstore in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. I loved it so much that a few years ago I bought a tiny spray vial on eBay for what I used to pay at the drugstore. They've changed it a lot (more powdery), so I guess I don't mind that you can only get it from Chanel, and not every Chanel store at that.
Now I wear Lili Bermuda scents, especially Coral (most often), Lily, Pink, and Petals (my favorite). I often layer Lily and Petals. They all do smell like Bermuda, and they remind me of my beloved old-school 22.
posted by jgirl at 11:32 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
I would like to be a perfume wearer, but haven't gotten it built into my routine somehow. I buy Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab imps, I bring home the classic cologne from Cologne, and I spritz it around occasionally but I never remember to wear it daily. And some scents I love but get tired of quickly. This description is perfect, Callisto Prime!
what complements me and what doesn’t drag openly on my senses
There are so many scents I like but which drag on my senses somehow.
posted by PussKillian at 11:37 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
what complements me and what doesn’t drag openly on my senses
There are so many scents I like but which drag on my senses somehow.
posted by PussKillian at 11:37 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Oh, God, you guys: out in the world, no one wants to smell you. If you and your sweetie(s) enjoy it for your evenings in, more power to you, and I guess it's not the worst thing you'll smell at the club, either, but 90% of perfume-wearers seem to be unable to judge the throw and make us all suffer.
posted by praemunire at 11:38 AM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 11:38 AM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Ah I was waiting to see how far we got before someone posted that comment.
posted by Ferreous at 11:40 AM on March 29, 2022 [26 favorites]
posted by Ferreous at 11:40 AM on March 29, 2022 [26 favorites]
Well, yes, in an article that talks about perfume as armor and as power move, and is purportedly Marxist, I think the ethical issue is entirely relevant. Unless I'm sleeping with you, I don't want to live in your scent bower.
posted by praemunire at 11:50 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 11:50 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Oh, God, you guys: out in the world, no one wants to smell you.
I mean...actually, I do want to smell people. Scents are interesting, they communicate a lot of things that are difficult to articulate. They are a huge part of memory formation--I don't remember anything about my grandmother as clearly as I remember her scent (jergens Cherry Almond lotion during the day, White Diamonds at night). I once rented (and loved) a wholly unsuitable and overpriced apartment because it smelled like I remembered my aunt's house during my childhood.
So, you know. Just an opposite data point.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 12:07 PM on March 29, 2022 [29 favorites]
I mean...actually, I do want to smell people. Scents are interesting, they communicate a lot of things that are difficult to articulate. They are a huge part of memory formation--I don't remember anything about my grandmother as clearly as I remember her scent (jergens Cherry Almond lotion during the day, White Diamonds at night). I once rented (and loved) a wholly unsuitable and overpriced apartment because it smelled like I remembered my aunt's house during my childhood.
So, you know. Just an opposite data point.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 12:07 PM on March 29, 2022 [29 favorites]
Luca Turin is really more eloquent on this than anyone ever, probably because he knows about science.
Chandler Burr’s book on him is a must-read.
posted by Ideefixe at 12:12 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Chandler Burr’s book on him is a must-read.
posted by Ideefixe at 12:12 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Scents are interesting. That doesn't mean that subjecting others to them nonconsensually for one's private aesthetic purposes (or performing white subjectivity? There seems to be a lot of talking around anxieties in this article) is courteous. One can't look away from a scent. One's scent lingers after one leaves a space.
posted by praemunire at 12:18 PM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 12:18 PM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Well, yes, in an article that talks about perfume as armor and as power move, and is purportedly Marxist, I think the ethical issue is entirely relevant. Unless I'm sleeping with you, I don't want to live in your scent bower.
I will say that the whole "it's kind of a giggle to heavily perfume oneself, try on clothes and pop them back on the rack" bit plus Marcuse's bit of foolery* did not impress me at all and were frankly kind of ableist - like, it's not actually uncommon to have perfume as a migraine trigger, for instance. If this were super, super rare, I could see saying that wearing a lot of perfume wherever was fine because 99.9999999% of the time it wouldn't bother anyone, but bad reactions to strong perfume are pretty common.
In fact, I actually like scents (and can technically splash them on because it's the pandemic and I never go anywhere) but my employer (a university) bans perfume and strongly scented soaps/moisturizers/etc and most of the volunteer and arts spaces where I used to spend my free time requested that people avoid scented products as well.
I have one bottle of the old formulation of Miss Dior, which is what my mother wore. (New one is not that grate if you ask me). So I wear it occasionally when I miss her even though it also makes me sad.
*that type of attitude is precisely why people are skeptical of wealthy marxists - just because you can come up with a pat little communist tag line to explain why you live so much better than average people doesn't mean that it is good for the revolution.
posted by Frowner at 12:28 PM on March 29, 2022 [6 favorites]
I will say that the whole "it's kind of a giggle to heavily perfume oneself, try on clothes and pop them back on the rack" bit plus Marcuse's bit of foolery* did not impress me at all and were frankly kind of ableist - like, it's not actually uncommon to have perfume as a migraine trigger, for instance. If this were super, super rare, I could see saying that wearing a lot of perfume wherever was fine because 99.9999999% of the time it wouldn't bother anyone, but bad reactions to strong perfume are pretty common.
In fact, I actually like scents (and can technically splash them on because it's the pandemic and I never go anywhere) but my employer (a university) bans perfume and strongly scented soaps/moisturizers/etc and most of the volunteer and arts spaces where I used to spend my free time requested that people avoid scented products as well.
I have one bottle of the old formulation of Miss Dior, which is what my mother wore. (New one is not that grate if you ask me). So I wear it occasionally when I miss her even though it also makes me sad.
*that type of attitude is precisely why people are skeptical of wealthy marxists - just because you can come up with a pat little communist tag line to explain why you live so much better than average people doesn't mean that it is good for the revolution.
posted by Frowner at 12:28 PM on March 29, 2022 [6 favorites]
Chalk me up as someone who likes to smell other people. Not in a creepy way, but I like that people smell different from one another.
I like all kinds of smells. The world is a smelly, smelly place. We are born in a smelly situation, and we mostly die in a smelly situation. Almost everything has a smell and I want to smell all the scents. There's some smells I don't want to smell again, but I think I am very attuned to smell.
posted by SoberHighland at 12:31 PM on March 29, 2022 [9 favorites]
I like all kinds of smells. The world is a smelly, smelly place. We are born in a smelly situation, and we mostly die in a smelly situation. Almost everything has a smell and I want to smell all the scents. There's some smells I don't want to smell again, but I think I am very attuned to smell.
posted by SoberHighland at 12:31 PM on March 29, 2022 [9 favorites]
frankly kind of ableist - like, it's not actually uncommon to have perfume as a migraine trigger, for instance
I mean...many scents are a migraine trigger for me, so it's not like I haven't considered the impacts of fragrance.
Obviously, one does not need to go rubbing one's scent on new clothing like a total dickface. It seems entirely fine to forbid heavily scented products in an enclosed space where someone is required to be, for a prolonged time (an office, a school, an airplane).
But considering the smells of trash, urine, BO, beer, vomit, bleach, stale coffee, cigarettes, and every other strong aroma that I encounter **just on the short walk between my apartment and the post office** I cannot see myself getting enraged at someone because I caught a whiff of their Coco at the bus stop.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 12:39 PM on March 29, 2022 [19 favorites]
I mean...many scents are a migraine trigger for me, so it's not like I haven't considered the impacts of fragrance.
Obviously, one does not need to go rubbing one's scent on new clothing like a total dickface. It seems entirely fine to forbid heavily scented products in an enclosed space where someone is required to be, for a prolonged time (an office, a school, an airplane).
But considering the smells of trash, urine, BO, beer, vomit, bleach, stale coffee, cigarettes, and every other strong aroma that I encounter **just on the short walk between my apartment and the post office** I cannot see myself getting enraged at someone because I caught a whiff of their Coco at the bus stop.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 12:39 PM on March 29, 2022 [19 favorites]
The linked article read like a National Lampoon parody of academic-speak. “Let’s spool that out a bit”…. Good christ.
Anyway, don’t overthink an ethereal effect like perfume…you wear it, nor not. It suits you, or not.
Discussing it to death is like analyzing what makes a joke funny. Don’t do it.
~~~Boston Terrier, Mitsouko wearer.
posted by BostonTerrier at 12:56 PM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Anyway, don’t overthink an ethereal effect like perfume…you wear it, nor not. It suits you, or not.
Discussing it to death is like analyzing what makes a joke funny. Don’t do it.
~~~Boston Terrier, Mitsouko wearer.
posted by BostonTerrier at 12:56 PM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Honestly if I encounter people with way way too much scent it's usually younger guys doused in body spray or indoor smokers. People doused in perfume is a rarity.
I have issue with framing it as subjecting others to something nonconsensually as it feels purposely inflammatory and treats existing as a human that smells, makes noise, is visible as requiring buy in from others. I wouldn't call hearing someone on the bus near me talking to a friend as nonconsensually subjecting me to sound even though I can't tune it out. You can apply the same logic that a person should keep making noise limited to the home where they won't bother other people. The coating clothing in scent because you can is obviously a shitty thing to do and I don't think anyone in the thread is defending that.
posted by Ferreous at 12:59 PM on March 29, 2022 [11 favorites]
I have issue with framing it as subjecting others to something nonconsensually as it feels purposely inflammatory and treats existing as a human that smells, makes noise, is visible as requiring buy in from others. I wouldn't call hearing someone on the bus near me talking to a friend as nonconsensually subjecting me to sound even though I can't tune it out. You can apply the same logic that a person should keep making noise limited to the home where they won't bother other people. The coating clothing in scent because you can is obviously a shitty thing to do and I don't think anyone in the thread is defending that.
posted by Ferreous at 12:59 PM on March 29, 2022 [11 favorites]
I’m also a lifelong “scent usually equals icepick migraine” person, so I promise my adventures in scent are controlled, careful, and not on doctor or office days.
posted by Callisto Prime at 1:31 PM on March 29, 2022
posted by Callisto Prime at 1:31 PM on March 29, 2022
I always think perfume is interesting, but unfortunately, as I encounter it out in the world, it's mostly just irritating. Only very, very, very rarely do I ever notice if someone is lightly and pleasantly wearing perfume. The ones I notice are the ones who make you think 'hey, wearing a K95 mask for the rest of my life just in case wouldn't be so bad, would it?'
I don't know what special gift those few people who manage to wear perfume pleasantly have. I am sure that I have never had it and that on those occasions when I have worn perfume, I was probably driving people nuts. Is there a trick to wearing enough that nearby people can detect it, but not so much that you (dear god, otherwise really lovely woman that I think is very nice, restrain yourself!) make it so that someone who is swimming in a giant pool 10 metres away from you can't breathe properly between strokes?
posted by jacquilynne at 1:37 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
I don't know what special gift those few people who manage to wear perfume pleasantly have. I am sure that I have never had it and that on those occasions when I have worn perfume, I was probably driving people nuts. Is there a trick to wearing enough that nearby people can detect it, but not so much that you (dear god, otherwise really lovely woman that I think is very nice, restrain yourself!) make it so that someone who is swimming in a giant pool 10 metres away from you can't breathe properly between strokes?
posted by jacquilynne at 1:37 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
I wouldn't call hearing someone on the bus near me talking to a friend as nonconsensually subjecting me to sound even though I can't tune it out. You can apply the same logic that a person should keep making noise limited to the home where they won't bother other people. The coating clothing in scent because you can is obviously a shitty thing to do and I don't think anyone in the thread is defending that.
I mean like anything involving the public, this is only A Problem because a few jackasses can't be trusted to follow a few basic guidelines or observe fundamental common sense. Just as the train system in my city had to designate half of every train as "quiet cars" because otherwise some blithering assbag would scream into their phone the whole ride, many places have to declare themselves scent-free entirely because otherwise Axe Chad comes in with a full body-spray miasma. The dipshits are why the rest of us can't have nice things, like train conversations or scents.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:39 PM on March 29, 2022 [7 favorites]
I mean like anything involving the public, this is only A Problem because a few jackasses can't be trusted to follow a few basic guidelines or observe fundamental common sense. Just as the train system in my city had to designate half of every train as "quiet cars" because otherwise some blithering assbag would scream into their phone the whole ride, many places have to declare themselves scent-free entirely because otherwise Axe Chad comes in with a full body-spray miasma. The dipshits are why the rest of us can't have nice things, like train conversations or scents.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:39 PM on March 29, 2022 [7 favorites]
Is there a trick to wearing enough that nearby people can detect it, but not so much that you (dear god, otherwise really lovely woman that I think is very nice, restrain yourself!) make it so that someone who is swimming in a giant pool 10 metres away from you can't breathe properly between strokes?
1. use an oil, not a spray
2. turn the bottle upside down a few times with the cap on
3. touch the top of the bottle *right-side-up* to the inside of each wrist. You're not getting a whole drop of the oil on your skin, just the little residue at the top.
If you want to smell it, yourself, more clearly, you can instead touch the tip of the bottle to the hollow in your neck.
I promise this is enough to be faintly detectible to someone who hugs you. It doesn't seem like it, especially after a few minutes, and that's why people overdo it.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:46 PM on March 29, 2022 [7 favorites]
1. use an oil, not a spray
2. turn the bottle upside down a few times with the cap on
3. touch the top of the bottle *right-side-up* to the inside of each wrist. You're not getting a whole drop of the oil on your skin, just the little residue at the top.
If you want to smell it, yourself, more clearly, you can instead touch the tip of the bottle to the hollow in your neck.
I promise this is enough to be faintly detectible to someone who hugs you. It doesn't seem like it, especially after a few minutes, and that's why people overdo it.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:46 PM on March 29, 2022 [7 favorites]
The first part of the article is implicitly and explicitly about what people (mostly women) are allowed to do and how much space they may take up.
I remember an acquaintance from a different country; our interactions were often prickly due to miscommunication. I went to a party wearing a little bit of Chanel Bois des Iles; she was a few feet away and said she liked it; I immediately started apologizing for her being able to smell it without me being in hugging distance. “God!” she said. “I’m not being bitchy and passive aggressive! I really do like it!”
posted by Hypatia at 1:55 PM on March 29, 2022 [11 favorites]
I remember an acquaintance from a different country; our interactions were often prickly due to miscommunication. I went to a party wearing a little bit of Chanel Bois des Iles; she was a few feet away and said she liked it; I immediately started apologizing for her being able to smell it without me being in hugging distance. “God!” she said. “I’m not being bitchy and passive aggressive! I really do like it!”
posted by Hypatia at 1:55 PM on March 29, 2022 [11 favorites]
I wonder if part of the generally more negative reaction to scents vs noise from people is that very few people have a lifestyle/job where they can avoid noise, but there's definitely a privilege to having a lifestyle or especially job where you can avoid unwanted smells in general. I'm not claiming that wearing a scent is fighting some sort of entrenched privilege but that most low paid work is smelly and you can't really escape that. Kitchens, cleaning, childcare, construction, landscaping, a lot of retail etc; they all are jobs where you have no choice but to deal with strong odors.
posted by Ferreous at 1:59 PM on March 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by Ferreous at 1:59 PM on March 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
Only twenty percent of fragrances are luxury perfumes, the ones we’re talking about. The other eighty percent are so-called functional perfumes in laundry detergents and personal products.
Maybe if people decided having an exclusive, intimate-distance signature scent was an important thing they'd all stop embalming their clothes in scented fabric softener. (Laundry and some housecleaning fragrances are my icepick-migraine trigger, and should all be propelled into the sun posthaste.)
posted by pernoctalian at 3:07 PM on March 29, 2022 [10 favorites]
Maybe if people decided having an exclusive, intimate-distance signature scent was an important thing they'd all stop embalming their clothes in scented fabric softener. (Laundry and some housecleaning fragrances are my icepick-migraine trigger, and should all be propelled into the sun posthaste.)
posted by pernoctalian at 3:07 PM on March 29, 2022 [10 favorites]
I don’t think fragrances are quite equivalent to other smells. If my coworker farts, I don’t love that, but it’s just a fleeting annoyance. Perfume for me is often overwhelmingly unpleasant even if I don’t hate the scent itself. To compare to sound, it’s like someone performing a Broadway number in my office versus regular talking.
Also, despite being a perfume-hater, I suspect my fellow perfume-haters have an exaggerated perception of the unreasonableness of the majority of perfume-wearers because the reasonable wearers don’t wear so much that we easily recognize they are even wearing perfume.
posted by Comet Bug at 3:46 PM on March 29, 2022 [8 favorites]
Also, despite being a perfume-hater, I suspect my fellow perfume-haters have an exaggerated perception of the unreasonableness of the majority of perfume-wearers because the reasonable wearers don’t wear so much that we easily recognize they are even wearing perfume.
posted by Comet Bug at 3:46 PM on March 29, 2022 [8 favorites]
My fave scent my husband says smells like a hippie bookstore and I’m like YES THATS EXACTLY THE POINT.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 3:51 PM on March 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by St. Peepsburg at 3:51 PM on March 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
During the relatively early stages of lock-down, somewhere between sourdough bread and my Breath of the Wild addiction, I started exploring fragrances. I had already amassed a few samples from luckyscent.com and I bought several more…enough to make a tournament style bracket (so maybe 32?) At $3-6 a pop, it wasn’t cheap, but I was saving so much money and I thought that it would be fun. Initially, I wanted to just find a scent that was *me,* but eventually it wasn’t about fragrances that I necessarily wanted to wear; I just wanted to smell all the things.
I began writing little blurbs about each one, 1-2 per night. Often after some scotch or a puff of the vape. They are ridiculous, but when I go back and read them, I can usually recall exactly what each smelled like. I now know that if I pick up on the smell of the bathroom soap at Manhattan bar in Athens, GA, that’s geranium. I know that my grandpa smelled like a fougere and that if I smell my great aunt, that’s amber and frankencense. Mom’s Paloma Picasso has strong notes of civet, which is the glandular secretion from the perineum of the tropical mammal of the same name. (I didn’t inform her of this.) I was sad when I finished the bracket, but I did end up with a fragrance or two that I love wearing.
posted by Fritzle at 4:43 PM on March 29, 2022 [12 favorites]
I began writing little blurbs about each one, 1-2 per night. Often after some scotch or a puff of the vape. They are ridiculous, but when I go back and read them, I can usually recall exactly what each smelled like. I now know that if I pick up on the smell of the bathroom soap at Manhattan bar in Athens, GA, that’s geranium. I know that my grandpa smelled like a fougere and that if I smell my great aunt, that’s amber and frankencense. Mom’s Paloma Picasso has strong notes of civet, which is the glandular secretion from the perineum of the tropical mammal of the same name. (I didn’t inform her of this.) I was sad when I finished the bracket, but I did end up with a fragrance or two that I love wearing.
posted by Fritzle at 4:43 PM on March 29, 2022 [12 favorites]
I can usually recall exactly what each smelled like.
I've learned to try not to be too surprised about self-reported variations in memory (it's a wide & multi-dimensional spectrum, and we're just figuring a lot of that out), but what's that like?
Are you saying that when you try remembering something, you get some sort of sense memory associated with the smell?
I know there's the literary flourish of a "mind's eye", so would you describe this as a "mind's nose"? Does this work for other senses for you? (Can you conjure up mental images of what your memories looked like?)
That sounds intense, & possibly disorienting if walking around smelling things kept raising up memories unwarranted.
posted by CrystalDave at 5:15 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
I've learned to try not to be too surprised about self-reported variations in memory (it's a wide & multi-dimensional spectrum, and we're just figuring a lot of that out), but what's that like?
Are you saying that when you try remembering something, you get some sort of sense memory associated with the smell?
I know there's the literary flourish of a "mind's eye", so would you describe this as a "mind's nose"? Does this work for other senses for you? (Can you conjure up mental images of what your memories looked like?)
That sounds intense, & possibly disorienting if walking around smelling things kept raising up memories unwarranted.
posted by CrystalDave at 5:15 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have lost my sense of smell for reasons (not COVID, long story), and I would be so glad to get knocked backwards just one more time by a big stupid '80s perfume like L'Air du Temps or Youth Dew.
posted by Countess Elena at 5:54 PM on March 29, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 5:54 PM on March 29, 2022 [12 favorites]
I too started exploring fragrances during lockdown. Scent has always been very evocative and fascinating for me, and there are some wonderful books on the topic, but before lockdown I only really wore fragrance on special occasions. I read somewhere that changing your scent each day was a good way to fool your brain into thinking you were in a different situation and therefore break up the dreary sameness of working from home.
I bought several discovery sets, and then more. Now I really enjoy fragrance and wear it most days. Mostly indie scents, some local makers with great imaginations. I'm a sucker for a scent with an interesting name or story, or that's trying to evoke a sensation or atmosphere. I don't want to project it, I want it for me, and I'm careful not to use much. I've discovered some favourites which I've bought full bottles of, but I love having a lot of different ones to try. I haven't finished all my testers and samples yet by a long shot (one place I bought a full bottle from sent me fifteen samples! Fifteen!)
I've enjoyed trying to detect the separate notes in each fragrance, and learned a lot about what I like and what smells good or terrible on me. Ylang-ylang smells like a bushfire on my skin and some vanillas make me feel ill but some are beautiful. Even two presentations of the same note can be completely different depending on where the note comes from and the other notes in the fragrance. Imaginary Authors' A City on Fire is the only fragrance I've ever washed off almost immediately - what Ferreous experiences as a gentle house fire is a harsh smoky bushfire to me - and yet I have jealously hoarded my sample of Carner's Sandor 70s, which I adore despite a really ashtray-like smoke note (it smells exactly like browsing in a hippie bookshop while standing next to a heavy smoker in a leather jacket who's severely hung over.)
I tried a tester of Fougere L'Aube by Lore Perfumery recently. Most modern fougeres don't smell right to me, some give me a headache. This one smelled like the memory of perfumes of my childhood, like my nanna's going-out dresses and handbags. I just wanted to keep smelling. It was so evocative. Scent is like that.
posted by andraste at 7:47 PM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
I bought several discovery sets, and then more. Now I really enjoy fragrance and wear it most days. Mostly indie scents, some local makers with great imaginations. I'm a sucker for a scent with an interesting name or story, or that's trying to evoke a sensation or atmosphere. I don't want to project it, I want it for me, and I'm careful not to use much. I've discovered some favourites which I've bought full bottles of, but I love having a lot of different ones to try. I haven't finished all my testers and samples yet by a long shot (one place I bought a full bottle from sent me fifteen samples! Fifteen!)
I've enjoyed trying to detect the separate notes in each fragrance, and learned a lot about what I like and what smells good or terrible on me. Ylang-ylang smells like a bushfire on my skin and some vanillas make me feel ill but some are beautiful. Even two presentations of the same note can be completely different depending on where the note comes from and the other notes in the fragrance. Imaginary Authors' A City on Fire is the only fragrance I've ever washed off almost immediately - what Ferreous experiences as a gentle house fire is a harsh smoky bushfire to me - and yet I have jealously hoarded my sample of Carner's Sandor 70s, which I adore despite a really ashtray-like smoke note (it smells exactly like browsing in a hippie bookshop while standing next to a heavy smoker in a leather jacket who's severely hung over.)
I tried a tester of Fougere L'Aube by Lore Perfumery recently. Most modern fougeres don't smell right to me, some give me a headache. This one smelled like the memory of perfumes of my childhood, like my nanna's going-out dresses and handbags. I just wanted to keep smelling. It was so evocative. Scent is like that.
posted by andraste at 7:47 PM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
I know there's the literary flourish of a "mind's eye", so would you describe this as a "mind's nose"? Does this work for other senses for you? (Can you conjure up mental images of what your memories looked like?)
..."Mind's eye" isn't...a literary flourish? I know it's not universal but it does exist. I realize I'm not the poster you're responding to but yes, most of my memories have one or more sense memories attached. (Almost all of my memories have a mental image attached. The only memories that don't are memories of information rather than experience, e.g., remembering I have a dentist's appointment on Friday, or remembering a story someone else told me.) For example if I recall my 39th birthday party I can picture the bar and where we were sitting--but I can definitely also "smell" the beer-and-bleach aroma that bar has in abundance.
I couldn't tell you what every place I've been smells like or anything, but yes, if a scent was memorable or attached to something/someone/sometime important, my brain can definitely re-create that for me in a meaningful way.
That sounds intense, & possibly disorienting if walking around smelling things kept raising up memories unwarranted.
All of my days involve ...I dunno, probably literally hundreds of involuntary memories? But it's not disorienting, it's just, how being alive feels.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 7:53 PM on March 29, 2022 [7 favorites]
..."Mind's eye" isn't...a literary flourish? I know it's not universal but it does exist. I realize I'm not the poster you're responding to but yes, most of my memories have one or more sense memories attached. (Almost all of my memories have a mental image attached. The only memories that don't are memories of information rather than experience, e.g., remembering I have a dentist's appointment on Friday, or remembering a story someone else told me.) For example if I recall my 39th birthday party I can picture the bar and where we were sitting--but I can definitely also "smell" the beer-and-bleach aroma that bar has in abundance.
I couldn't tell you what every place I've been smells like or anything, but yes, if a scent was memorable or attached to something/someone/sometime important, my brain can definitely re-create that for me in a meaningful way.
That sounds intense, & possibly disorienting if walking around smelling things kept raising up memories unwarranted.
All of my days involve ...I dunno, probably literally hundreds of involuntary memories? But it's not disorienting, it's just, how being alive feels.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 7:53 PM on March 29, 2022 [7 favorites]
Scent memories are some of the richest and most unexpected because oftentimes when they get triggered I end up briefly transported to places or times I would have otherwise sworn were lost to the sands of time. It's the most amazing thing. Like the coffee shop bathroom soap that reminded me of buying strips of Lisa Frank stickers from those giant sticker wheels from a shop in a long-gone strip mall in my hometown. Or the afternoon back in November that smelled like winter, but a particular variety of winter that both evoked a used bookstore in a small English town I went to with my grandfather when I was 12 and the particular scent (damp leaves, paper, leather, wool, smoke, something I can only describe as snowy wind and the teensiest edge of laundry detergent). Or those unseasonably warm nights that smell like the electricity and ocean even when you are (as I am) 140 odd miles inland that smelled like being in bed with the windows open as a child and believing, for a moment, that all magic is real. I would bottle all of them if I could.
posted by thivaia at 8:41 PM on March 29, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by thivaia at 8:41 PM on March 29, 2022 [11 favorites]
something I can only describe as snowy wind and the teensiest edge of laundry detergent).
I know EXACTLY what you mean. I'm not kidding.
posted by SoberHighland at 8:59 PM on March 29, 2022 [7 favorites]
I know EXACTLY what you mean. I'm not kidding.
posted by SoberHighland at 8:59 PM on March 29, 2022 [7 favorites]
My partner picked up an earlier version of this sampler pack from etat libre d'orange
Made the mistake of clicking yes when asked if i want to go to a more geographically appropriate store. The curse of my upper middle-income global south optimism! Now i have to remember to delete the cookies (i won't) because naturally I'm funnelled to the European storefront which has kindly informed me they do not ship to my country. No wonder the culturally aspiring of my society have embarassing affectations like bulk ordering Coach bags.
Man I have to remember my skills on how to actually purchase these things located where i am.
posted by cendawanita at 10:27 PM on March 29, 2022
Made the mistake of clicking yes when asked if i want to go to a more geographically appropriate store. The curse of my upper middle-income global south optimism! Now i have to remember to delete the cookies (i won't) because naturally I'm funnelled to the European storefront which has kindly informed me they do not ship to my country. No wonder the culturally aspiring of my society have embarassing affectations like bulk ordering Coach bags.
Man I have to remember my skills on how to actually purchase these things located where i am.
posted by cendawanita at 10:27 PM on March 29, 2022
Those complaining about "not wanting to smell people" have a good point, but it's not because of "perfume wearers" - it's about people who overdo it. The point isn't to have everyone smell you. The point is to only have people who come in close to you smell you.
It's meant to be a sort of sorta-kinda sexually alluring thing - like, you've been flirting with someone all night, and they've been ever-so-slowly edging a little closer to you - and now that they've gotten juuuuuuuust close enough, they get one last little enticement to go in for the close and kiss you finally. That's how subtle it's supposed to be, as I understand it.
I very rarely wear perfume, but usually when I do - I have a couple bottles of Demeter fragrances, one of Patchouli and one of "Chai Tea", and the two combined are what I prefer. One spritz of each on each wrist, one spritz of each under my chin, and I'm good.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:24 AM on March 30, 2022 [4 favorites]
It's meant to be a sort of sorta-kinda sexually alluring thing - like, you've been flirting with someone all night, and they've been ever-so-slowly edging a little closer to you - and now that they've gotten juuuuuuuust close enough, they get one last little enticement to go in for the close and kiss you finally. That's how subtle it's supposed to be, as I understand it.
I very rarely wear perfume, but usually when I do - I have a couple bottles of Demeter fragrances, one of Patchouli and one of "Chai Tea", and the two combined are what I prefer. One spritz of each on each wrist, one spritz of each under my chin, and I'm good.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:24 AM on March 30, 2022 [4 favorites]
most of my memories have one or more sense memories attached
i'd say 85% of my sense memories are either about the scent and taste of a 1986 box of Smurfberry Crunch cereal, or remembering times that I was thinking about Smurfberry Crunch cereal so hard I could still taste it decades later
goddamn I miss Smurfberry Crunch
posted by FatherDagon at 11:10 AM on March 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
i'd say 85% of my sense memories are either about the scent and taste of a 1986 box of Smurfberry Crunch cereal, or remembering times that I was thinking about Smurfberry Crunch cereal so hard I could still taste it decades later
goddamn I miss Smurfberry Crunch
posted by FatherDagon at 11:10 AM on March 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
Are Cap'n Crunch's Crunch Berries similar to Smurfberry Crunch?
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:45 AM on March 30, 2022
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:45 AM on March 30, 2022
Is there a trick to wearing enough that nearby people can detect it, but not so much that you (dear god, otherwise really lovely woman that I think is very nice, restrain yourself!) make it so that someone who is swimming in a giant pool 10 metres away from you can't breathe properly between strokes?
1. use an oil, not a spray
Not every frangrance comes in oil formulation, so the trick I use for sprays is to squirt one spritz into the air and then jump*, walk, lurch, or lean into that cloud of scent.
Many, many years ago a friend of mine described visiting another friend that they "caught jumping into their perfume". It was such a joyful image that I couldn't help smiling every time I saw the perfume-jumper.
posted by oneirodynia at 2:06 PM on March 30, 2022 [4 favorites]
1. use an oil, not a spray
Not every frangrance comes in oil formulation, so the trick I use for sprays is to squirt one spritz into the air and then jump*, walk, lurch, or lean into that cloud of scent.
Many, many years ago a friend of mine described visiting another friend that they "caught jumping into their perfume". It was such a joyful image that I couldn't help smiling every time I saw the perfume-jumper.
posted by oneirodynia at 2:06 PM on March 30, 2022 [4 favorites]
Are Cap'n Crunch's Crunch Berries similar to Smurfberry Crunch?
NO
posted by FatherDagon at 11:55 AM on March 31, 2022 [1 favorite]
NO
posted by FatherDagon at 11:55 AM on March 31, 2022 [1 favorite]
The version of "jumping into your perfume" I was taught was, you do it before you've put on your clothes; which would be a memorable thing to catch on a visit.
posted by clew at 4:56 PM on March 31, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by clew at 4:56 PM on March 31, 2022 [3 favorites]
Does anyone else remember Nine Flags Cologne? I rocked that stuff as a teenager.
posted by Splunge at 4:32 PM on April 3, 2022
posted by Splunge at 4:32 PM on April 3, 2022
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God, I only had a sample decant of Dzing! but I REALLY LOVE THAT SCENT TOO. T_T
posted by cendawanita at 8:57 AM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]