It is certainly true that one will notice an attractive and enticing smell long before we become aware of it’s origin?
As a young boy, I certainly was warned shortly before elderly female relatives grabbed my cheeks and planted an unwanted kiss apon me! Their ‘flowery’ essence spoke to me… run!… only my legs were a little bit too slow!
We know what we like … but how do folks find and put together those wonderful variations found in perfumes that tickle our memories so that we remember who we were with and where we were when we first enjoyed it?
A book came out last year and maybe you saw it… but I doubt it, unless you were combing the biology section of your local book store. It is the story of Perfume. It is entitled:
“the Secret of Scent” by Luca Turin
I won’t promise you that it will answer every question… but the author has a wonderful sense of humor that will make the technical and artistic aspects of perfume development understandable in an appreciably short time.
So, what do I like?
Michael Kors “Hawaii” — review
Caron’s Infini
Caron’s Bellodgia
Estee Lauder Intuition
Estee Lauder Pleasures
YSL Opium
I do recommend the book… it may not help you pick the ‘perfect’ gift… or maybe it will… but at least you will actually enjoy the process So instead of handing a bottle to your hun and saying…’ ah… it smells nice’… maybe you might say like the author:
“What ‘Nombre Noir’ said was ‘flower.’ But the way it said it was an epipthany. The flower at the core of the ‘Nombre Noir’ was halfway between a rose and a violet…(with) almost saintly background of cigar box cedar notes…”
Enjoy your discoveries.
Roger Freberg