In which Mo gets sniffy
Ok, the most righteously awesome miss_daizy recently asked her flist about their favorite perfumes. Of course, I couldn't keep my mouth shut, and the secret was out.
I'm a Perfume NERRRRRRRD. I spend almost as much time online talking about perfume as I do talking about fanfic. And, it all started so innocently...
I am very smell-oriented. As a child, I would categorise my friends' houses by the way they smelled. Certain scents can call up immediate memories for me. I always wore perfume, from the time I was about 12. But....then the perfume market changed and trends became very monolithic. These days, most department store and mall perfume counters are exclusively populated with celebuscents that are either heavily citrus- floral (Imitating the 1990s trend of Clinique Happy for Women, Calvin Klein Escape, or Estee Lauder Pleasures) or full of sugar and vanilla (Imitating the success of Angel by tormenting us with the entire Harajuku Lovers line, Pink Sugar, and CK Euphoria). Both categories are, to put it mildly, Not My Thing. I actually stopped wearing perfume for a couple years because I couldn't find something I liked!
It was too, too much. But, then, my crazy, internet-hunting, obscure topic finding self discovered the world of the Perfumista. There is a whole second world of perfume out there, and, unless you live in New York or Paris and shop at VERY high-end stores, you won't find it at your department store perfume counter. I plunged in and began to sample from Niche (small, exclusive houses) and Vintage (classics no longer heavily marketed) scents and I was sold!
A great place to read up on different houses and scents is Basenotes. Here is my wardrobe listing, you can browse the whole directory from here and also check out the message boards. AND, if you want to play one of my favorite games, LET'S DO IT! Reply here with a list of 3 or 4 of your favorites, and I'll recommend a few lesser-known scents that might appeal to you. Then, I recommend venturing over to http://theperfumedcourt.com/Default.aspx and getting a little selection of ones that sound good. Fun will ensue, I promise.
I'm a Perfume NERRRRRRRD. I spend almost as much time online talking about perfume as I do talking about fanfic. And, it all started so innocently...
I am very smell-oriented. As a child, I would categorise my friends' houses by the way they smelled. Certain scents can call up immediate memories for me. I always wore perfume, from the time I was about 12. But....then the perfume market changed and trends became very monolithic. These days, most department store and mall perfume counters are exclusively populated with celebuscents that are either heavily citrus- floral (Imitating the 1990s trend of Clinique Happy for Women, Calvin Klein Escape, or Estee Lauder Pleasures) or full of sugar and vanilla (Imitating the success of Angel by tormenting us with the entire Harajuku Lovers line, Pink Sugar, and CK Euphoria). Both categories are, to put it mildly, Not My Thing. I actually stopped wearing perfume for a couple years because I couldn't find something I liked!
It was too, too much. But, then, my crazy, internet-hunting, obscure topic finding self discovered the world of the Perfumista. There is a whole second world of perfume out there, and, unless you live in New York or Paris and shop at VERY high-end stores, you won't find it at your department store perfume counter. I plunged in and began to sample from Niche (small, exclusive houses) and Vintage (classics no longer heavily marketed) scents and I was sold!
A great place to read up on different houses and scents is Basenotes. Here is my wardrobe listing, you can browse the whole directory from here and also check out the message boards. AND, if you want to play one of my favorite games, LET'S DO IT! Reply here with a list of 3 or 4 of your favorites, and I'll recommend a few lesser-known scents that might appeal to you. Then, I recommend venturing over to http://theperfumedcourt.com/Default.aspx and getting a little selection of ones that sound good. Fun will ensue, I promise.