Earthbound

....I'm completely hooked on this one, if I may say so.

I wanted to participate in another lush sharing, and the person also offered Dirty. Although mint in fragrances is not really my thing (strongly understated, I avoided the note like a coughing person on the train), I remembered that I had quite liked the corresponding soap about 15 years ago and thought that at the ml price, I could afford this attempt despite the economic situation.

A week later, I spray Dirty on the back of my hand and think "oh....what is that?". It smells fresh and clean yet somehow herbaceous-earthy. The other reviewers were right! After a few minutes, it strongly reminds me of the scent of skin with seawater on it.
I have a little existential crisis. I don't like fresh or even aquatic fragrances (does a "seawater" association count as aquatic?). I've always categorically excluded mint. I usually wear fragrances like "Soul of the forest," "Hwyl," or sometimes even a gourmand. What does that mean now??

Above all, it means that for the following weeks, I smell almost exclusively of "Dirty." I can't get enough of it. It never annoys me, is never too much for me (the concentration of a body spray is very accommodating to my sensitive nose), and it just fits always. Despite the cold temperatures. It leans towards 'freshly showered,' but with character. The Lush DNA is definitely in there, but in my opinion, it doesn't stand out that much. No association with incense sticks or scented candles.

Recently, I discovered "Above us, Steorra," and since then, it and "Dirty" alternate.

I feel a little guilty for neglecting my signature scent this autumn/winter, but it's not going anywhere. It's nice to discover other directions for myself :)

I'm just happy and remain open to further surprises.

I have always been someone who couldn't wear perfumes in the summer. My fragrance taste tends to lean towards the woody, dark side, and I just can't handle that in the summer. I have a very sensitive nose, and in the heat, all scents are intensified... most fragrances overwhelm me.
Furthermore, I was also convinced that citrusy, aquatic, and generally fresh scents simply do not suit me.

A few weeks ago, I listened to an episode of one of my favorite podcasts - Stories from History. It was about Eau de Cologne, and I became curious. Since the original version (farina 1709) is comparatively not so easily available, I first went to the drugstore to test 4711. I was prepared to find the scent horrendous, after all, it's supposed to be that old people's fragrance... and I was surprised. It smells really good?!

It still smelled good on me. Despite the summer, the scent was pleasant, didn't overwhelm me, but rather made me feel a bit fresher.

So I have now disproved some assumptions about myself and found a summer fragrance for me :)

Eau de Cologne has triggered a phase of experimentation - I have since tested several fresh, salty, aquatic, etc. fragrances and can confidently say that they are indeed for me. How wonderful!

I have also been able to test the one from farina 1709 - the two are really very different. I prefer the spicy-herbaceous note in 4711, my partner the exact opposite.

Back to the scent itself:
It smells very fresh and slightly spicy to me. Maybe one has to get over the "old" association briefly, but once that is achieved, it is really pleasant. You can find it in every drugstore, and a blind buy is absolutely justifiable - it is really very inexpensive, and you will surely find someone who will take it if you don't like it.
The longevity is quite short, but I find that okay. You can simply reapply if you want a quick refresh. I often find that (regardless of the season) one spray of perfume is too much for me (I am _really_ sensitive), and I find it very pleasant with Eau de Cologne that I don't have to worry about it and can just spray away.

I keep reaching for this scent and assume that it will permanently be in my collection.

One evening, I found myself in a pub; a situation I rarely find myself in. We were celebrating a friend's birthday. Two were still missing and finally sent a message saying they would be there soon, it took longer because she had to get ready. An hour passed, and then she was there: the coolest woman I had seen in a long time. Everything about her was well thought out, nothing was accidental. The dark clothing, hair, makeup, jewelry....and...her scent? Since she arrived, there was a new fragrance in the air, it could only come from her, even though I wouldn't have expected it. I would have expected her to wear Black Opium, Hypnotic Poison, maybe Alien... but what kept wafting towards me was simply sweet and somehow fruity. To me, she smelled like raspberry syrup. Raspberries are my favorite fruit.
Later, I stood outside with her; she was smoking, I was taking a break from the noise. My first impression was further confirmed. How can someone be so cool?
When she said goodbye, I asked her about her perfume. She pulled out a tiny bottle with red liquid and said she had bought it on vacation. She seemed pleased that I asked.

Well...so I later found myself online, searching for "Flor de Granada". I found it and thought I finally had a fragrance that smelled sweet like raspberries. But somehow....not. It smells sweet, but just floral, not fruity. Welcome to another episode of "It smelled completely different on someone else!".

So taken on its own, it’s a scent that you would typically sniff in an esoteric shop, or maybe at a market stall. In a lineup with fragrances labeled "Opium", "Green Tea", "Patchouli", you know... For that, I find it very pleasant. I can smell it well. It is one-dimensional (which is usually the point of this type of perfume, they are supposed to smell like what they say and nothing more), and very floral. You can pick it up if you’re there, but you don’t have to seek it out specifically.

So I’m left with the memory of this absolutely cool person and how good she smelled, and a small bottle of floral-scented liquid. Someday I will find my raspberry candy scent. (But I won’t be that cool then either.)

This scent has merged with me.

I spend a lot of time outdoors, especially in the forest, learning a lot about nature and happily sharing with others what I have seen and experienced. I talk about edible wild plants, animal encounters, interestingly grown trees... basically everything that comes my way. On my social media, if you catch a glimpse of me, you'll see pictures of those encounters and finds. I make jewelry and decorations from the things I find. I always have at least one chestnut in my bag (I also like to hide it in other people's bags ;)). Right now, I'm wearing a fern leaf cast in resin as a pendant around my neck.

The consequence of this: My surroundings associate me with the forest.

Soul of the Forest supports this image incredibly well! It smells wonderfully woody on me, harmonious and unobtrusive. Piney, mossy, fresh, and woody at the same time - wow!
After some time, when most of the scent has faded, the base merges with me and lasts easily for 1-2 days. It simply smells "good." Just like a pleasantly scented person smells - you don't want to stop smelling it. What remains smells more like a feeling than a specific scent. At least that's how my boyfriend describes it, who has also quickly declared it my signature scent. I thought I already had one, but well! I'm not resisting.

This scent surprised me! I thought that 'Wald' by Euphorium Brooklyn would be exactly my thing and might become my signature scent, but no, Soul of the Forest is a whole lot less edgy, more fragrant, and merges with me perfectly like no other scent before.

The sillage is not very strong, which I personally quite like. I have a rather sensitive nose and usually only use one spray of perfume, as it quickly becomes too much for me (I'm always surprised when people say they need "only" 3 sprays of a scent - uff!). But here, even I can manage two. The longevity isn't that high, but certainly solid: after a few hours, only the mentioned pleasant base scent remains, but it is then very close to the skin. The shorter longevity could, of course, also be due to my sparing use.

Overall: Wonderful!

For years, I only wore sweet fragrances. The typical representatives like Poison Girl and occasionally vanilla or fruity scents were found in my perfume box. As long as it was sweet! That was great for a while, but then my life changed significantly. The sweet scents that my ex-boyfriend loved smelling on me just weren't me anymore. Too girly, too young, too sweet. I was (and am :-)) no longer an insecure young girl, but an independent, self-confident woman.

So, new fragrances had to be explored, and when I heard the word "niche," I thought "maybe that suits me," I took a chance and bought several samples that appealed to me, including Thundra. I believe I was looking for woody scents. The name already intrigued me; I immediately had an idea of what a tundra scent could smell like, and I found that idea very appealing.

From the very first sniff, I knew this was my fragrance.
It represents my newly discovered sides, my personal transformation. It smells like a confident "Here I am!" Not for everyone, but absolutely coherent in itself. Earthy, resinous, a bit wild, yet at the same time so calm and grounded. Just like me.

The only thing I find a bit unfortunate is that the sillage and longevity leave something to be desired on me. I can't get through the day without reapplying. On one hand, I find that a bit impractical, and on the other hand, such a bottle isn't the cheapest, and I would have expected better longevity. I can still smell it on me for a relatively long time, but then it becomes so subtle that no one else notices it anymore. Maybe we just match so well that we can't be distinguished by scent anymore ;-)
(It's not that I'm becoming olfactorily blind to it - I've gathered feedback from other people).

I don't think it's important to have a signature scent, but I guess I have one now.