A few posts back (maybe one of Tom’s?) nope – it was one of Portia’s) March said “As I get older (?) I find more often what I really want is to just “smell good” – and when I read that I nearly cried with relief (okay – not really. Y’all know I don’t cry – I mostly just scream and break things – with a bat).
Maybe it’s the past 4 years, coming out of that ridiculous relationship, rebuilding my business, finding my (local) tribe, starting to ‘find myself’ here in this weird little area… etc etc… but I (like March) find more often what I really want is to just easy scents that make me “smell good”. The perfumista in me keeps wanting to reach for stronger, more challenging perfumes but… oooh! I know ! Maybe it’s the time of year? Hard to compete with SkinSoSoft (for the skeeters) and Hawaiian Tropic (SPF50, don’tchaknow), when every other person stops to tell you that you smell AMAZING, just wearing Hawaiian Tropic! I’ve been having fun quasi-flirting with our new police chief (who’s a cutie, grown-assed man etc) and I actually thanked him for ‘playing’ (because we’re two single people of A Certain Age the entire 1400-person town has us ready for the altar) – his response: ‘darlin’ it’s definitely no hardship! You’re fun and you always smell so damb GOOD!’ – as I’m wafting VS Love. Or Clinique Happy. Or… well, you get the idea. Nobody EVER says that when I’m wearing Mitsouko (dangit!) – except other perfumistas. And there are a full total of ZERO here. And Mitsy scares the snot out of everyone NotUs. Chanel No5, which you’d think everyone from here to Jupiter has smelled, is still a tad unnerving. ‘You smell like perfume’ is the general response (and not quite in a good way). The perfumes I’m currently wearing are pretty, not at all challenging – and folks seem to like them.
Now.. I’m certainly not suggesting my beloved Mitsy (or her ilk) doesn’t smell good – She smells MAGNIFICENT! But I wonder if, in this situation, ‘good’ = ‘innocuous”? Again, not a slam. But I live and work with people who do not embrace perfume the way we Posse do – so, perhaps… I dunno. When I wear VS Love (which is a very pretty scent, btw) I am not challenging their perceptions of perfume the way a lot of the Ones We Love could do. In general the ones I get most complimented on are the fruity-floral, low$types I mentioned above – and for what it’s worth, the way I found out about VS Love was I asked the woman wearing it because, dangit, she smelled SO GOOD!
But I kinda feel like I’m thiiiiis close to getting my Perfumista Card yanked. Do any of you struggle with this? (I should be way the heck over myself, since my giveadamb is busted on pretty much everything these days) – do you feel… odd?… embracing a non-challenging perfume?
Y’all still love me, won’t you? I promise I am still wafting Lyric, No5, and all my other Big’uns… just not on a jobsite. Or at the gym. Or anywhere else where I’m likely to scare the horses.
OOOH! Nearly forgot: MMM’s Lazy Sunday Morning (another ‘you smell goood’ scent) winner: rosarita!
C’mon down! gmail your evilauntieanitaAT and I’ll send you a sample.
Musette, we will love you forever 🙂
I’ve never smelled a VS that didn’t make me want to claw off my face, but there are plenty of cheapo mass market scents that I find perfectly lovely. Goodness knows my husband prefers those. And lots of niche perfumes also make me want to claw off my face, too.
I confess.
My husband’s taste in perfume is akin to his taste in food (give him a hot dog and he’s over the moon). Recently, he bought me this cheapie pear floral thing at Target, and I’ve been WEARING ITTT. Largely to make him happy, but… you know… it’s kinda nice.
That and Daisy. #sorrynotsorry
(It wasn’t totally out of the blue. I broke my little frosted-glass bottle of Petite Cherie and mourned it. He overheard me and went looking for “a pear fragrance.” Sigh. But it was thoughtful of him.)
Awww. He sounds like a lovely man! 🙂 A friend of my daughter’s always wore Daisy. I liked it.
hey, cutie! Glad to see you on here – I kinda like ‘kinda nice’ – sometimes that’s all you need! And what a lovely thing for him to do!
I’m right there with ya, and have been for some time. I’ve always tried to be thoughtful of people who are sensitive to perfumes (because I can be, sometimes) and places that might not be conducive to strong scents (I nearly killed a good friend with OJ Woman and still feel kinda bad about that). And lately, I’ve been on long road trips with my perfume- averse husband, in small rooms leading Bible studies, in doctors’ waiting rooms, and the like, so easy smell goods have become my go-tos. I’ve been wearing Korres White Tea all week so far, and it will probably take me nicely through Saturday’s memorial service for the husband of a friend. When it gets super hot again, Fragonard’s Verbena or Carner Barcelona’s Sel y Limon will be lifesavers.
And that’s fine with me!
those are all lovely, light scents, perfect for what you are doing!
Hehe I think you know we wear the same sunscreen — who doesn’t love the smell of Hawaiian Tropic?!? I wore some AG Gardenia Passion the other day, an oldie but goodie, that was nice. Yeah these days I’m not up for a “challenge” so much. I also got the summer limited edition TJ Brazil Nut body wash which is apparently some cult item that smells like one of those Sol de Janeiros I think? Being re-sold for $$$$ online. It’s nice!
I had a jar of the Brazil Nut body creme – it was lovely! It usually comes out around the hollerdays so keep an eye peeled.
I have no idea why but Mitsouko is garners the most compliments when I wear it and Lyric is the 2nd. No 5 Eau Premiere is the one I wear most often to work. With the weather being inconsistent, I can’t wear a lot of heavy hitters or too complex.
My Quings! I’m glad you get compliments on them – I just get odd, vaguely fearful looks.
Or maybe it’s just…me..
I don’t own many ‘challenging’ fragrances, at least not as many as my mother did, and those I do are buried in the winter collection box. Across the board, the majority compliments I receive are from gourmands. Who doesn’t love the scent of cookies?! My most-complimented fragrances ever–Hilde Soliani Crema di Latte, Hilde Soliani Orgasmo, and LaVanilla Vanilla Coconut.
if they smell anything like the names, I’ll bet they smell amazing!
I have a sneaking suspicion that many of us need a break from anything too extreme. Maybe it’s post plague, the state of the world or the fear of what comes next. Everyone seems to be wanting comfort
I think you’re right, alityke! I am trying very hard not to think too hard about… well, pretty much anything! So… yeah.. easygoing perfumes!
I veer hard one way or the other: no middle ground at the moment. Between samples for posts I’m doing damage to my sample of Lutens Dompteuse, which is just so so pretty and … smoky incense. I think that might be because we keep veering between lovely and sunny, hot and way too humid and muggy, and grey and rainy. Mother Nature isn’t interested in consistency this summer.
Over here, Mother Nature seems most interested in tearing us to bits!
Thanks for the sample win Ms A!
I have been feeling the same way about just smelling good. It’s summer, it’s hot, time to relax and not think too hard. I have made friends with a French woman locally and she turned me on to Perles de Lalique which is lovely, I found it practically free. But I get no perfume compliments in the wild so I always wear what I want anyway. Just not in the mood for complex.
Don’t forget to gmail me!
I rarely get perfume compliments from women but I always give them. And… weirdly enough… they are all pretty, mainstream types. The most recent one (which smelled GREAT!) was some dupe of something vaguely mainstream – she couldn’t remember the name, alas. But she smelled awesome!
I enjoy all perfume, the heavy-hitter complex vintages, and the easy-to-wear pretty perfumes. I love them all. And always one of the best compliments “you smell good!”
Inorite? That always makes my day!
Musette, I have been having this conversation with perfumistas for years.
It reminds me of the religious/feminists/gays/muscle-builders etc etc etc who say it’s only right “This Way”.
Nope. Any way you want to slice it, as long as you’re not hurting anyone, is OK by me.
Wear what you like.
Portia xx
I agree! (but sometimes I feel like a fraud, which is absurd)
No struggle here. I fell in love with perfume for one reason, it smells good, and I still love it for the same reason. I’ve grown, and expanded my range in perfumes but I always have to like or love them. I think I mentioned it before but the perfume that still gets the most compliments when I wear it is Aroma M Botan oil. Everyone loves it.
Oooh… I don’t know that one – and you KNOW I do loves me some oil…
Because of my chronic migraines and asthma, I’m firmly in the Ethereal, Light, and Lovely camp. I can enjoy the classics like Mitsouko on a cold day, on my forearms. Can’t do the heavy hitter base notes like oud, saffron, tobacco. Amber is tricky. Some of the modern aromachemicals are problematic. I love the topnotes, but the drydown is awful. Vintage scents seem to work much better. I say enjoy what you enjoy. I’m not about to steal anyone’s perfumista card!
I’m glad you’re able to at least enjoy perfume, despite the limitations!
I’m sort of in this camp. Portrait of a Lady has literally made a guy move over in the bus and open a window to get away from me. I think, well, I just won’t wear it on the bus, but I don’t drive, so…
Okay – that made me laugh! PoL isn’t ‘that’ kinda perfume – at least not in my opinion.
What a Drama Mama! Move AND open a window? sigh
Hey, no criticism at all. Sometimes it’s nice to just smell.. nice. I get more complements of simple things like Eau Sauvage or Canoe or that wonderful Spanish lemony stuff alityke turned me onto than anything. Will that stop me from wearing stuff that smells of magnolia, Limburger cheese, and poodle armpit? Hell to the no! But sometimes nice is nice.
Poodle armpit smells of digestive biscuits. Not the worst smell in the world
I now have to go find a poodle and sniff an armpit
And this (Tom and alityke) is why I cannot quit you!
I’ve been wearing a lot of indie oils…some of them might be considered a bit challenging or unusual but they also wear really close to the skin so they aren’t reaching out to tweak non-perfume lovers noses. They never YELL if you know what I mean. 🙂
I do know what you mean – and it’s why I wear a lot of scented body creams instead of the perfume.
No criticism here. I’m mostly wearing Mon Guerlain lately, or vanilla lotion. Not in the mood for challenging.
I’m not, either. I wonder if that’s the reason – that and the heat. And the dirt. and the torrential rains. And the heat.