Remember that NYLON party we went to a couple weeks ago?
Well, I walked away with the prettiest glass bottle of Chloé perfume. The smell, however, wasn’t nearly as nice. But I tried it, just in case. Natalie said, “all wrong” and “too woodsy”.
I tried again. My roommates loved it, and so did my boy neighbors. And the woman shopping in Jumelle. And the girl who stopped me on the street today to ask what “divine” scent I was wearing. Even Natalie asked, “Wow, what is that?”
I know scents vary depending on the person, but do they vary on the same person from the first spritz to the third? Did my skin somehow adapt? Is that even possible?
Ruth La Ferla just wrote about bloggers and the dramatic way in which they’re changing the fragrance industry. They’ve cracked open the world of niche perfumes to an audience that’s used to learning about new scents in People or the billboard above their gas station, giving giants like Estée Lauder and Coty a mini panic attack.
Natalie is indeed prompted to smell a new perfume based on a positive review whereas I’m influenced by the print ads, (ridiculous, I know). And yet we’re both aware it’s impossible to form an opinion of a scent without wearing it repeatedly.
If I’d read Chandler Burr’s scathing review of the Chloé scent and trusted my initial sniff, I would have kept Chloé as a pretty paperweight. Instead, it’s replaced the YSL Homme I’ve trusted for almost a year.
Do you read scent reviews? How do you determine which perfume is right for you without wearing it for a bit? And more importantly, has an offensive scent ever become your fave?
posted by piccolina42
Apr 17, 2008 1:19PM
For some reason I hate perfumes that a lot of other people wear, so the second mass advertising starts I'm usually a lot less interested. I just find it weird when I walk down the street and smell someone in the same perfume!
That said, I always try mine first. It takes me forever to pick a new one because I will go on various days and check out a million of them and then spray it on myself to see how it wears.
OTT, maybe? But still... it's nice to think that a certain scent might one day remind someone of you specifically and not just 'girls at nightclubs.' ;)