Perfume (WAS Gift code )

Amy Z lupinesque at yahoo.com
Thu Sep 25 15:41:48 UTC 2003


Cindy wrote:

> Also, there is an anti-perfume backlash around here -- some
> people claim to be allergic.

Oh yeah, we have a scent-free section in church because some people 
have reactions.  It's also a nice place to sit if you're not 
allergic, but just can't stand getting stuck next to someone who 
thinks "a dab behind each ear" means "a good long squirt everywhere 
you can think of."

The problem is definitely exacerbated in large crowds.  My mom used 
to sing in a large chorale, and there was a no-perfume rule because 
even if you aren't particularly sensitive to scent, being shoulder to 
shoulder with 90 people, 40 of whom are wearing 40 different scents, 
could make you keel over.  Of course, it's not just perfume and 
cologne, but any heavily scented soap, deodorant, etc.

Here's a question I have.  The only perfumes I like are very plain, 
identifiable essences of flowers whose smell I particularly love.  
E.g., I could proposition a pure stranger on the subway if she 
smelled like lilacs, so beloved is that scent (*terrible pang of 
homesickness--there don't seem to be many lilacs in my new region*).  
But fancy perfumes never smell like anything but themselves to me.  
They aren't roses or lilacs or lilies of the valley, they're CK or 
Obsession or White Diamonds (what *do* diamonds smell like?).

I realize that considerable research goes into finding scent 
combinations that people will find alluring, so I don't doubt that 
Obsession smells nice to many people, but to me they all just smell 
overpowering.
 
> Cindy -- who never got a whiff of "Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific!"
> shampoo, and now it's off the market

I got a whiff.  It didn't smell particularly terrific.  Give me 
Herbal Essence any day.  But it did have a great name.

Amy Z





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