Casual sniff vs Note breakdown
8 years ago
I'd like to address something I believe is a big difference maker in how we perceive fragrances, and my apologies if it has already been discussed. When reading fragrance reviews and information, we see enthusiasts or companies break down the notes and analyze them and how they affect the scent, or how much of each note they get along the journey of experiencing a fragrance. I think that is great for companies and enthusiasts in the community, but may not really represent a real world experience to those who may smell it in passing, or even those who we as fragrance wearers interact with often but who have only a casual sniff.
Vague examples might be old school fragrances- a woman may love the notes in a certain perfume, and it may be beautiful on her skin, but to passerby it might remind them of their grandmother. Nothing wrong with the perfume or the perfumed, but the sniffer has associations with their grandmother and that scent. They don't think it's "flirty" or "sexy" or "happy", they may just think "it's Grandma?"
Same with men's old school frags; the wearer may feel it's "sexy" or "confidant" or "regal", but the casual nose may just smell "old" or it may remind of their father.
It also seems the casual nose attempts to grab a single note, and make an immediate association with that one.
For example, I had a travel size Bentley for Men Intense at work, and a colleague commented "That's nice but smells like vanilla". No spices, no leather, no incense, no wood, no rum. Just vanilla (damn you benzoin!).
Not his fault. He has worked in kitchens for years and that's what he smelled that was most familiar to him. I would posit that most casual noses don't really pick up on nuance, only the most prominent thing that they recognize.
Do you have any such examples? Is there a fragrance you were totally smitten with that has depth and nuance, but someone only perceived one flat note?
Feel free to agree, disagree, discuss, eviscerate, etc.
Vague examples might be old school fragrances- a woman may love the notes in a certain perfume, and it may be beautiful on her skin, but to passerby it might remind them of their grandmother. Nothing wrong with the perfume or the perfumed, but the sniffer has associations with their grandmother and that scent. They don't think it's "flirty" or "sexy" or "happy", they may just think "it's Grandma?"
Same with men's old school frags; the wearer may feel it's "sexy" or "confidant" or "regal", but the casual nose may just smell "old" or it may remind of their father.
It also seems the casual nose attempts to grab a single note, and make an immediate association with that one.
For example, I had a travel size Bentley for Men Intense at work, and a colleague commented "That's nice but smells like vanilla". No spices, no leather, no incense, no wood, no rum. Just vanilla (damn you benzoin!).
Not his fault. He has worked in kitchens for years and that's what he smelled that was most familiar to him. I would posit that most casual noses don't really pick up on nuance, only the most prominent thing that they recognize.
Do you have any such examples? Is there a fragrance you were totally smitten with that has depth and nuance, but someone only perceived one flat note?
Feel free to agree, disagree, discuss, eviscerate, etc.