smell me

Tasting and touching is so overrated. For many, smell can be one of the most powerful senses. It can be nostalgic, or cathartic, heck, it can be a serious aphrodisiac, too. I'm somewhat of a junkie when it comes to perfumes. You name it. I've owned it. I can peg a bottled fragrance on just about anyone. Show me a billboard and I probably can't read it. Speak to me in a crowd and I probably can't hear you. But wear a perfume anywhere in my basic vicinity, and I can usually track you down. The gift of compensation, I suppose.

Just as I associate many smells with individual people, places, or times in my life, I would like others to be able to do the same for me. I love that when I smell Tom Ford I think of Tara, maple syrup or vanilla bean reminds me of Michelle, and Benson and Hedges reminds me of my mother (and I truly mean that affectionately). Being an eau du toilette aficionado, I've gone through so many scents that it would be impossible for anyone to appoint any one bouquet as being exclusively mine.

Thus, I am on the hunt for a signature fragrance, as it were. Suggestions are warmly welcomed, but for the mean time, a list of scents that I either:

a) already own.

b) have owned at one time.

c) would consider owning, and adopting as my permanent preference, in the very near future.

Creed, Spring Flower

I have always loved Creed because it's a scent that my Pop used to wear. It has forever been marketed as a unisex fragrance, but the brand has been in a constant state of evolution, and has presented a few more femmy variations to choose from over the years.
Truth be told, they can incorporate as many "flowers" or butterflies or unicorns as they like, but at the end of the day, all Creed smells very much the same – which is a more of an accolade to the product, than it is a criticism of the brand.

Bond No. 9:
Silver Factory

Oh, Andy Warhol. Ever such a consumer's trend. Fortunately for me, and my buyer's conscience, this fragrance is a part of a line totally inspired by the city of New York – and not just Andy. The Warhol thing just happens to be a coincidence. I swear. Chris suggested I give this one a try. Although unmistakably masculine and woody, the overall tone incorporates lavender, and a bit of citrus, and isn’t as alcoholy as other cologne- inspired-perfumes.

I like it. A lot.

YSL Elle

I have always been a bit perplexed by the packaging of this fragrance, being that the letters Y, S and L usually evoke images of long, androgynous women in perfect pant suits and black lipstick. This scent, just like its name, is unmistakably girly. I've worn it before, and enjoyed the piquancy of the perfume just after it had been freshly sprayed. Although, after a few hours of wear I start to smell less like peppery patchouli, and more like a pretty princess.

Dior Hypnotic Poison

Call me a bubbie if you like, but I just adore this scent. The perfume reminds me of something warm, and I don’t care what; Hot chocolate. A bathtub. A puppy. I don’t know. But I do know that it might be exactly what I need to stay cozy in the frosty winter to come.

DSquared sheWOOD

As a response to their first fragrance for men, heWOOD, DSquared has just recently introduced it's sister scent. Literally. The dynamic duo said this in a press release about their new perfume:
"We started from a men's fragrance and made it feminine. We didn't start off by saying let's do woman's fragrance. It's not that girly that we can't wear it, I like doing fragrances that are a bit more unisex. Both of our scents are complementary and timeless."
Thankfully, the smell isn't nearly as boring as their press kit. As a matter of fact, it's actually quite delicious.
sheWOOD? Oh yes. I would.