Fragrances are there to be enjoyed, not loved blindly. If you don’t like a fragrance, don’t wear it. Just because a fragrance is popular or well respected, doesn’t mean it smells good. Forget what the perfume companies tell you. Forget what the woman at the fragrance counter said. The only nose you can trust in this world is your own.
Conformity
When you’re out to smell your best, it’s easy to get carried away with wearing a certain type of scent. Maybe you watched an advert promoting a new release. Or caught whiff of a top perfume at your local department store. Next minute you’re buying a fragrance that you’re only half-interested in but have high expectations for. Pretending that you like it when secretly you don’t.
True - not all scents grab you from the get-go. And, yes, some perfumes can grow on you with time. But, if a fragrance isn’t to your taste, you should know it pretty quickly. Don’t think that just because you’re not rocking the latest releases, that you’re any less of a man or woman. Real people wear what they want, when they want, rather than conform to what’s expected of them. Up to a point, of course...
Forced non-conformity
Those on the opposite end of the spectrum may find themselves in a similar predicament. Let’s say you’ve been made aware of an old school fragrance that fits your desired scent profile. A “forgotten gem”, too intriguing to pass up on. One to set you apart from the crowd. Only, it doesn’t quite smell the way you’d hoped. And yet you hold on to it. Never wearing it but praying that you’ll one day come around to it.
I made this mistake with Kenzo Pour Homme - an early aquatic and cult classic from 1991. I blind bought bottle of it, assuming it would smell like the “deep blue sea”, but what I got instead was a floral heavy scent that smells more like an old aunty. I really wanted to like this fragrance but couldn’t. Boy did I try though.
In a similar instance of forced non-conformity, I blind bought a tester bottle of Floris 89 - Ian Fleming’s fragrance of choice. Author of the James Bond books. A 50s release with notes of rose, lavender and neroli. On the surface, a pretty easy-going clean classic. How dated can it smell? I thought. A few forced wearings later I had my answer. This oldie isn’t for you it shrieked back.
Loud and pricey isn’t always likeable
A stereotype exists that says that fragrances are only decent if they project for hours and last all day. But what about all the subtle perfumes that diffuse quietly? You know, the fresh cologne style sort which don’t suffocate a room.
If what you’re into is the latter, then stick with it. Don’t feel obliged to purchase something powerful if you don’t want to. From my experience, loud, long lasting fragrances are, more often than not, obnoxious.
How anyone can ever bring themselves to like a scent like Dior Sauvage is beyond me. Clearly advertising had a part to play in its success.
By that same token, pricey scents can also be dislikeable. Just because a fragrance costs a million dollars, doesn’t mean it’s going to make you smell that way. You may try one of the most expensive perfumes out there and find you hate it. That’s not something to feel guilty about. It’s called being human.
Smell the way you want to smell
In summarising, if a fragrance doesn’t put a smile on your face, why bother with it? Do your research. Hunt down perfumes that genuinely enthuse and inspire you, not just scents that you think you should you like. Wear you want to wear. Smell the way you want to smell. You may find you like yourself a bit more in the process.
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