Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Finding the Perfect Scent - So What's the Fuss?

Most people don't know that much about perfume and cologne. Combine basic ignorance with any of the following:
  • A scent that once thrilled, but now annoys
  • A discontinued favorite
  • Confusion morphing to outrage as we accept the reality that manufacturers tamper with the formula and eau de wonderful is now eau de just ok
  • Discomfort with the department store scene
  • The search for one's very first fragrance -- a potentially joyful but intimidating rite of passage at any age
Goodness knows Adonis and Aphrodite in the glossy perfume advertisement (you know, the three pager with no scent strip) are not spilling the juice in the bottle. Her face says, “You bore me to tears, but I can’t live without Brand X perfume.” His face says: “It’s the body, stupid, and Brand Y cologne.” A picture is worth one thousand words and precisely zero smells.

Actually, the words don’t help much either. Perfume Advertising Bingo (scroll down the page, you won't miss it) spoofs the futility of seeking guidance from industry promotions. At any moment in time, a fragrance manufacturer, advertiser or retailer may not be motivated to promote the scent that is Perfect for You. You suspect that it exists. But how to find it…
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3 comments:

  1. TMJuly 14, 2008 at 7:45 PM

    Ah yes! How familiar that frustration is when a faithful scent is suddenly abandoned or worse - it no longer makes magic on my skin! Does our skin chemistry change over time or is it the formula? And why mess with a good thing?

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  2. MyitoJuly 17, 2008 at 12:57 AM

    I have tried many scents but never took the time to even learn what was included. I'm assuming we are usually drawn to a familiar scent?

    Maisha

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  3. Laura DonnaJuly 18, 2008 at 11:38 AM

    TM - Skin chemistry changes with age, hormones and diet. Also our sense of smell diminishes, explaining why older women tend to apply stronger scents. Some truly great fragrances have changed because ingredients once used have been outlawed (as known or suspected allergens or to eliminate cruel practices involving animals with great smelly parts) or to save money using cheaper ingredients. Good things are messed with routinely and we have to be ready to find the next wonderful scent to fill a big void.

    Maisha - When Rudyard Kipling said "Smells are surer than sounds or sights To make your heart-strings crack" he was talking about the smell/memory connection. Of course that can be a good thing or a bad thing. Not too many people have been mugged as 2nd graders by a batch of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. Is that why we love the smell of vanilla, sugar and butter?

    A PBS Nova special: Mystery of the Senses said our preference for taste (sour, salty, bitter and sweet) is innate, while the preference for scent is learned. I'd like to know more on the science of that, since it seems conditioned response would be a factor, but that genetics would play a large role as well.

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