Prompted by new Luckyscent sample pack and Mona di Orio scents.
One of the most important things I learned about the world of perfume is that you cannot just jump in. You cannot go around gathering ideas from what bloggers are writing about, what smells good or is new and interesting at the moment, what the classics are, etc.
If you have no knowledge outside your perfume store and absolutely general and often bad releases we see (smell) each day, you cannot just start smelling stuff at random by reading about what people find great.
I mean, you could (as I did) but most of the time, I failed to come to the same conclusion.
Learning about perfumes (and their constituent parts, i.e. notes) is a long and pretty much never-ending process. And I know this for some time now, but it became very clear tonight after trying some Mona di Orio perfumes. I tried some of them a year and half ago and kept wondering what was in there that everyone liked so much?!
Well, now I understand, and I already have my favourite - Jabu.
But the point I'm trying to make is, you need to take baby steps. Learn a general road of notes, start with some easily likeable but different houses (my favourite for that is L'Artisan Parfumeur) and take it slowly then. Trust me when I say, it takes a while for Mona di Orio (and in my case chypres) to register on the right scale.
And the most important thing - the more you smell perfumes, the more you understand them. There is no other way.
Not a quick word after all. :)
I both agree and disagree. It's really tricky jumping in, and virtually impossible to understand what you're smelling. However, even after a year of smelling, I still feel like an absolute beginner. So what I'm trying to say is that you sort of just have to jump in and start somewhere. Your tastes will grow and develop, but that's really the fun of it.
ReplyDeleteMPL, now you brought my attention to it, I seemed to have phrased it a bit clumsy. What I was trying to say and I agree you have to jump in and start somewhere, is that when you're jumping ii, you better do it at the shallow end and not head straight for the deep and mysterious depths. :)
ReplyDeleteBtw, I think I'll feel like a beginner for years to come. :D
ReplyDeleteYou are so right that this is a long process - I find myself constantly revising my views on things, but I don't know if this is down to my nose growing in competence or my mind being incorrigibly fickle, as befits a sometime "flittersniffer"...
ReplyDeleteI see what you're saying now.
ReplyDeleteToday I tried Chanel No. 5 in my local department store, probably for the 20th time. Bizarrely I LOVED it - whereas before I've always pretty much loathed it. What happens to the nose eh? It's a mystery. But all very interesting along the way.
Ines, you make an important point. Still, for us non-linear thinkers, it sometimes works to try a perfume that is beyond our ability to appreciate. Then, when our nose develops some, we return to that scent and re-assess our first impression. I am one that must often learn things through random experience...
ReplyDeleteHurray to the perfume journey!
ReplyDeleteIt never gets old. ;)
Vanessa, I think when it comes to perfumes, we are all in some ways flittersniffers. I definitely surprise myself with how my thoughts change regarding different perfumes - last one was with Courtesan when I found myself wearing it proudly (and the first time I tried it I thought why in the world would anyone wear this). :) There's a post brewing on that subject.
ReplyDeleteMPL, that's exactly what I was thinking! Although the appeal of Chanel 5 is still a mystery to me, I expect eventually it will be revealed. :)
ReplyDeleteJosephine, I should say I'm the first one who didn't follow my own advice. :) I kept sniffing (and still do) everything I can get my hands on (be it bad or good). That's how I learned that for some things, it takes time and a LOT of learning through smelling to understand them. But it's way too much fun!
ReplyDeleteTamara, perfumes never cease making me smile. :) And the expectation of receiving something new and intriguing to smell is something that I will never get tired of (I hope). :)
ReplyDelete