Perfume

Some people think it is funny that I own perfume. I get a little annoyed at their logic. Just because I have no sense of smell means I should not bother trying to smell pleasant? As if I should head for the woods and stop bathing. Instead, I shower, use soap, and clean my clothes on a regular basis. I do not do it just because I love the feeling of being clean (and believe me I do!), but because I want people to at least be able to withstand and hopefully even enjoy my scent. It sounds a little silly, but obviously–evolutionarily, regulating and manipulating your scent to attract others is not a novel idea. Just because I cannot enjoy the world of scent does not mean it is useless to manage my own scent.

The process I go through for finding a perfume is different and complex (making it similar to how I purchase shoes). I have gone into stores with walls of perfume and colognes without a clue as to what any one of them smells like. I remember in middle school enjoying the smell of Clinique Happy and being disgusted by CK One. In order to achieve variety, and not wear Clinique Happy for the rest of my life, I have to trust descriptions and even more so, I have to trust people. This becomes complicated because scent is subjective. Not everyone agrees as to what smells good, what smells bad, and what smells like a cheap trick. I have gone into Sephora and jokingly asked, “what kind of scent looks like it would match me?” I find that people, not just retail workers, are unable to describe scents; “It smells like… uhh……. good!” Thanks, buddy, not helpful! Sometimes it feels like pulling teeth when I try to get someone to conjure up a couple of adjectives to describe a smell. I have theorized that maybe there is too much pressure in advising someone in scent, that it is too personal and intimate of a topic, as if they were telling me who I should choose to marry. Another theory that is more realistic is that maybe they just take advantage of their ability to smell and do not bother thinking about a scent further than a binary thought of good or bad. My favorite theory is that maybe they know they have bad taste and do not want it to spread. Regardless as to why, it makes me want to send a memo out to the whole world! In the end, what has proved to be most effective for me is to research perfumes and then go into the store explaining my situation, explaining what I like/don’t like, and hope that the person helping me is knowledgeable.

The perfume I use currently is Viktor & Rolf’s Flowerbomb. People always compliment on how good it smells, or how good I smell when I wear it. I have found a blog, Now Smell This, that reviews perfume. Here is their review of Flowerbomb. The next complication I have with perfume is how to gauge what is enough. I do not want to put on too much, but I definitely do not want to little. Usually, the people closest to me will let me know when I am wearing too much. In the end, it is quite an involved process from start to finish, making running into the woods not seem so bad of an idea after all.