Comfort Zone

Hey, my beloved Posse!  Recently I’ve been hearing a lot of people talk about their Comfort Zone – usually in conjunction with something being ‘outside’ that zone.  Remember the Very Inappropriate Man?  Lordt Floyd!!!! – that was the least attractive thing about him, the clinging to that (eckSTREEEEMLY) limited zone.

A few days ago I lunched with a friend who, when asked about her food likes, said ‘I have a really small comfort zone’. She then looked at me and said ‘ you don’t really have a comfort zone, do you?’.

It got me thinking.  And I think the answer to that is No.  Living as a WoC in a hostile country, in a hostile work environment (but, really, what work environment isn’t hostile ?) if I hope to have any sort of reasonable success in life I must step out of whatever ‘comfort zone’ I might want to inhabit and just get on with it.

Ecksept.  Perfume.  And shoes (more on that some other time).

As a perfume blogger I am constantly introduced to a plethora of perfumes – and so many are interesting, compelling…all the good things.  Then there are those that are less interesting, mundane…or just FreakyAF.  In the early days of blogging I convinced myself that I had to wear – and be intrigued by- any perfume that was deemed ‘uncomfortable’ (drugstore buys and mainstream were ecksempted (my ecks key is wonky – can you tell?) in that snob way)… but anything haute?  I’d better, at the very least, find it ‘fascinating’.  And I’d better be up to wearing it, if only to test it out.

Omg.  The DRAMA of all that!  Here’s the reality:  I’m just a Regular Perfumista, just like errrybody else.  I have my likes and Lordtamighty!  I definitely haz my dislikes!  And I have certain perfumes that make me happy, make me comfortable.  And I am not afraid to love the living snot out of them for reasons that aren’t always at the forefront of elegance (where so many eckspect me to reside, like Aphrodite (or Hera, gods forbid), at all times.  Here are a few that reside – and comprise – my Comfort Zone.  These scents require no thought at all; they’re mindless grabs, and I find myself reaching for them more and more, as times become more…interesting. Right now? New samples are relegated to test strips.  My nerves can’t take the possibility of Discomfort.  Not right now (my bil’s Stage 1 diagnosis was just rediagnosed as Stage 4 – that, along with several more quotidian challenges, has my nerves shredded)

1. Chanel No5.  Yeah, yeah.  I’ve yarked on this one ad infinituum… let’s move on.  It’s perfect.  Yah,yah. But there’s still nothing quite like it for keeping me intact.
2. Ines de la Fressange – the glorious Alberto Morillas version for the glorious Mme Ines. If you asked me if this would be a Comfort Zone perfume I would’ve looked at you like you were bonkers. But.  And yet. In these weird days, with the weird(er) weather (and this is a melancholic time of year for me, anyway)….I find myself reaching for it A Lot.  As I’ve discussed, M. Morillas has a way with those sophisticated fruit notes .   Funnily enough, that linked post was from one of the darker times (Bruno’s decline), so you’d think I would’ve remembered. But the beauty of Morillas’s work is.. it shows up when it’s needed.  This version of Mme Ines is so overtly “I’ve got this'” in that sophisticated fruit/floral (not quite fruitY-floral)…. it demands that you give it some attention, and in doing so it redirects some of the stress.  As Yogi Berra said ‘you can’t think and hit at the same time’ – Morillas takes the thinking out of the equation, so you can settle down enough to hit. I don’t know of any other perfumer who soothes my soul quite like M. Morillas.
3. Femme (contemporary) – as with the Morillas ‘Ines’ (there is a Calice Becker version that is much more….. well, it’s more… structured? Dunno.  It’s gorgeous – but not as delightful)…the contemporary Femme is much more In Yo’ FACE! than the vintage, The current version (in the eckaggerated Mickey Mouse bottle with the black cap) amps the plum and chypre notes… the original was a wartime creation by Edmond Roudnitska for Marcel Rochas.  I can only hope it did for those wartime women what the current does for me in these Interesting Times.  I’m wearing it right this very minute and it’s like being wrapped in a cashmere throw in a slightly chilly house (oh, hey!  that would be me, right now!!).  Something about this scent makes me want to sit up straighter and not swear so much.  And to make sure my pedicure isn’t chipped.  However, it’s not ‘ladylike’ – that word always suggests a particular e(cks)pectation of a certain type of femininity that I’m not always prepared to engage in.  This …. this is a ‘womanly’ perfume.  You might be feeling a bit fragile (Floyd knows I am) but there’s that titanium core that is holding you together.  Femme is helping. When you have time I implore you to read this absolutely stunning article on Fragrantica, which links the vaunted Mae West to Femme.  I’ve always held Mme West’s ethos in high regard – whenever I feel like ‘settling’ or trying to fit in (especially here, where I could no more ‘fit in’ than Godzilla can) I remember how she just jammed a finger (probably the middle one) in the eye of the status quo – and won.

So!  That’s me, trying to stay in my Comfort Zone so I can help my sister navigate her Decidedly UNCOMFORTABLE zone, going forward.  I am stankin’ up the jernt something FIERCE and ask me if I care.  Sometimes you just need to wrap that cashmere throw a bit tighter, so you can knit your titanium core back together.

WINNER!  Tara C, come on DOWN!  gmail me (evilauntieanitaAT) with your deets.  I cannot believe it but I think I’m actually All Caught Up! So there will be a little fun getting to you sooner than later.

ecks,ecks,ecks – and some o’s.

(note: images via pexels, WordPress wouldn’t let Musette add any, hope she doesn’t hate them! ~ March)