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Signature Scent - still up to date?

Signature Scent - still up to date? 12 years ago
Lucasai posted a remarkable statement about signature scents in his blog, and I would like to continue the discussion here.

I think, signature scents are a thing of the past. In pre internet times, everybody relied on the poor supplies of some local perfume shop and the recommendations of presumably badly educated staff. You were simply glad you finally found a decent fragrance despite those limitations, and so you kept on using it, making it your personal 'style'. It was simply much more difficult to explore the world of perfume, and except for some professionals, there were very few people who had a broad overview.

There is a little story about signature scents I heard from a friend who is doing workshops on perfume. At one of these occasions, an elderly lady got really angry about the thought that one could possess more than just one fragrance. She had hopelessly fallen in love with a fragrance when she was a young woman. Her only problem was that this particular perfume had already been chosen by her best friend. So, she said, she had to wait for more then 30 years until her best friend finally died! Just image this old lady entering the perfume shop with a malicious smile on the day of her best friends' funeral!

So, does your best friend have a signature scent? Wink
Re: Signature Scent - still up to date? 12 years ago
Apicius:
Just image this old lady entering the perfume shop with a malicious smile on the day of her best friends' funeral!

Imagine her reaction, when she finds out, that this perfume does NOT smell the way it did 30 years ago! Twisted Evil

My best friend has a signature scent, L'Eau d'Issey PH, no conflict there. Wink

I don't think, that signature scents are a thing of the past. Even crazy people like us often crave a holy grail. Even I myself, having a rather small collection, have trouble deciding on what to wear sometimes and I wish for having one fragrance that I could reach for like it is the most natural thing in the world.

Plus, being individual has become more important in the past decades, I think. Having a signature scent seems to be logical, from that point of view. So:

Large collections are a thing of the past! Shocked
Last edited by Dannyboy on 04.04.2012, 13:26; edited 1 time in total
12 years ago
I agree with Dannyboy with a lot of things!

I imagened the old lady too, told my boyfriend about the story, but he was too appreciative with the lady, feels pity for her (I said, why did she choose herself another one!)

I have a very little collection too, and I decided I will not have more than 5 parfumes!

Signature scent - in my opinion - the scent, about your friends first impression is YOU. I mean they smell the parfume and they just think about you. (was a bit too much explanation Smile )

On the other hand, my best friend does not have a signature scent, because she doesn't like parfumes as much I do.
12 years ago
Ha! I was thinking exactly like Dannyboy - the perfume would have been reformulated by then!

I used to have "signature scents" when I was in high school & college & couldn't afford more than one bottle of perfume at a time. It really surprises me what strong ones I chose (Cachet in high school; L'Air du Temps in college, for instance) - if I had to have a signature now, it would more likely be something like Encre Noire (pour homme) or Putman Preparation Parfumee - an austere, calming, dark gray sort of smell.

But then again, I don't wear such tight jeans any more, either! Laughing

I think there will always people who value comfort and consistency highly and who therefore only have one or two scents. I'm grateful for the internet, though, which has allowed me to be the scent dilettante I am! Wink
11 years ago
My Gawd that is hysterically awful about the old lady, her friend, the perfume, and the funeral!

It's great to be able to have such a wonderful choice as we do today. I could never restrict myself to wearing just one or two. I couldn't even do that when I was in high school.

When I was in high school and college I used to wear such scents as My Sin, Chloe Narcisse, Tresor, Magie Noire, Tabu, Ysatis, Bal a Versailles, Volupte, White Shoulders, Halston, Nuit de Noel, and Oscar. My carefree, youthful-self absolutely reveled in such complex and heavily-animalic concoctions. My body chemistry and my tastes have evolved significantly through the years though. At this point in my life, an excess of indoles and/or bottom-heavy animalic bases rapidly descend into a sour, revolting miasma on me.

My preference has changed in its entire genre! I have changed over the years from preferring heavy floral/oriental/woody/spicy types into preferring fresh florals and floral aquatics. Besides, it IS fun to wear several different perfumes even within the day!

Perfume reapplication is a lovely self-pampering activity anyway.

We should not complain about impermanence, because without impermanence, nothing is possible. Aware of impermanence, you become positive, loving and wise. With impermanence, every door is open for change. Impermanence is an instrument for our liberation.”
- Thich Nhat Hanh
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