Parfum de Sévigné No. 1 Sévigné 2010

Disco. Thumping bass. Strobe lights and pink spotlights. Jerking figures on the crowded dance floor. Sultry summer heat. I'm 21, leaning casually against the bar, slightly tipsy, just right, and in the mood to flirt. I feel like going outside for a walk in the night air. Playing an exciting new game with a stranger, who knows what the night will bring…
Barely acknowledging the need, I notice a guy standing two meters away with his friends, drinking beer. Wow! Target acquired and... Action! I stare at him, fixate on him, burn him with my gaze, I'm on fire. Even as I lazily run my fingers through my hair and clearly signal that HE is the one, I feel I’m in love at first sight, it’s him, him, him, him!!!
He can’t escape me, nor should he, he pats his buddy on the shoulder, throws a meaningful glance my way, and comes over, but slows down in the last few centimeters. “Uh... do you have any... fire? I actually wanted to ask you that, b...but you can’t smoke here, hehe. Yeah. I couldn’t think of anything better.” He looks at me nervously with a puppy-dog expression. Laughs uncertainly. His shoulders bob awkwardly up and down. He has razor bumps on his chin. His T-shirt is made of synthetic material and he smells musty of disco sweat and deodorant. His hair isn’t as cool-gelled as it looked from afar, but greasy.
I look at him and am sure I know everything about him already. He still lives at home, his father thinks he’s too soft, he’s three years younger than me and is training to be a media technician, he likes hockey and pizza and enjoys listening to Linkin Park and sometimes Bryan Adams, his father has a CD of that.
I am instantly irrationally personally offended. From a distance, he seemed so special, so attractive, but he’s totally boring and beneath my dignity! Help, how am I going to get rid of him now? “I need to go to the bathroom for a moment,” I lie. He nods understandingly. “Should I get you something to drink in the meantime?” he asks politely. Oh man, he just doesn’t get it! So, I make a bold move. I touch his arm. “No, sorry, let’s forget it, this isn’t going to work!” I turn around to avoid having to endure his gaze and walk away. I hear his friends laughing behind me. Shit!
My mood is in the gutter, I feel like the biggest bitch. He’s probably a really nice guy and I treated him so poorly just because I imagined God knows what about how he should have fit my mood. Hiding behind a pillar, I watch him again. He seems to have already gotten over my rejection; he dances blissfully with his beer in hand. From a distance, he actually looks better again.

Just like that, I felt about Sévigné No. 1. As a fragrance addict, you’re always in the mood to fall in love again. When I sprayed it on, I was totally blown away at first and thought I had something really big on my hands. The pepper that dominates this scent felt mysterious, elegantly sharp and spicy. I would classify the fragrance as unisex, not clearly definable, which is always exciting. Then I brought my arm to my nose and suddenly it was too much of everything, everything pushed forward and jumbled together, cloyingly sweet the magnolia and the rose (I can’t detect fig, my nose doesn’t recognize freesia yet), even more pepper, too much, too loud, and above all too clumsy, the supposed elegance suddenly felt very forced and trained. Additionally, there was a hint of drugstore aroma that presented itself so obviously that I was irrationally personally offended.
Now I had ruined it for myself with my high expectations, I thought, and took my arm away from my nose. But it still clung to me and ultimately proved to be quite a nice guy when the flowers became dark-powdery and calmer, and the incense took the sharpness off the pepper, finally soothing it.

But I just can’t deal well with nice guys, at least not when they get too close.