What is the Perfume Project?

This blog is a constantly evolving forum for thoughts on perfume, perfume-making, plants (especially orchids and flora of the Pacific Northwest) and life in general. It started out chronicling the adventures of Olympic Orchids Perfumes, established in July 2010, and has expanded in other directions. A big part of the blog is thinking about the ongoing process of learning and experimentation that leads to new perfumes, the exploration of perfumery materials, the theory and practice of perfume making, the challenges of marketing perfumes and other fragrance products, and random observations on philosophy and society. Spam comments will be marked as such and deleted; any comments that go beyond the boundaries of civil discourse will also be deleted. I am grateful to all of you, the readers, who contribute to the blog by commenting and making this a truly interactive perfume project.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Travel report part 2: Would you be caught dead wearing a celebrity perfume?


I have a love-hate relationship with flying. I love the feeling of taking off, building to the exuberant burst of speed that allows the plane to become airborne. I love looking out the window and seeing the clouds and landscape pass by below. I love the surreal experience of boarding the plane one evening and waking up the next morning in a different country. I hate all of the rituals that have grown up around the act of flying. I hate the long security lines and the gratuitous inspection of our toilet articles, shoes, laptops, and bodies. I hate being herded to the gates, like animals going to the slaughterhouse. Most of all I hate the thought that my life is suspended in a piece of machinery manufactured, maintained, and piloted by fallible human beings.

I’ve had a few close calls while flying, most notably the time when one of the engines caught on fire in full view of myself and a few other passengers while flying from Sydney to Melbourne. Of course the public announcement to the passengers simply said that there was a “small mechanical problem” and that we would be going back to Sydney even though we were two-thirds of the way to Melbourne. Turned out the repair crew were in Sydney, so forget about passengers’ safety and convenience.

One never quite knows how close a call is, since the public announcements typically dissemble, omit information, or actually lie. However, on my last trip we had an unsettling experience that made me think of the question in today’s title. Here’s an excerpt from my notes:

Tuesday, March 5: When traveling I always like to enhance my sniffing experience by spending time in the duty-free shops at all of the airports I pass through, and usually end up covering myself with a psychedelic mix of scents that I’m sure must be a joy to the passengers on the next flight. I’ve almost suffocated myself a few times. I’m looking forward to seeing whether the duty-free shops offer anything that I’ve never tried. Last time they were a disappointment because it was just all the same old stuff, and I concluded that I was getting jaded.

The Seattle duty-free shop was no exception. It had the usual array of mid- to upscale mass-market fragrances along with some celebrity scents. It’s getting harder and harder to find something new in the duty-free shops, which seem to stick to a standard, tried-and-true inventory. However, I did find two that I’d never tried, Lady Gaga’s Fame, and Chanel No. 19 Poudre. Well, only Lady Gaga was new given that No. 19 Poudre is technically a flanker, but it was the best I could do. I sprayed one on each wrist and settled in for the flight to Chicago where we would change to a Lufthansa flight to Munich. Here are my notes from the plane:


Fame isn’t bad at all! It’s a conventional fruity-floral mass-market scent, but it’s a nice one. The big surprise is that I like it better than the Chanel, which starts out with an odd, plastic note that reminds me of stinkbugs and lasts for over an hour. No. 19 Poudre eventually loses the plastic-stinkbug notes, ending up as a green, non-sweet, grassy, quasi-chypre type scent with a hint of powder, but not much powder. It’s pleasant, and actually goes well with Fame. The two complement each other nicely. After the initial fruity-floral blast, Fame turns out to be a really nice, spicy-fruity, soft, sexy, mash-up between a standard fruity-floral and a good oriental. (Note added later: Both of them have moderate sillage and last over 12 hours).

As we approached Chicago, we learned that it was snowing there. The plane circled for a good while, and as we neared the ground, it became clear that it was not just snowing, Chicago was having a blizzard. Flying close to the tops of buildings, streets, freeways, and lights, it was as if everything was nearly obscured by a thick layer of cotton. Then, just at the moment when the plane was about to touch down on the runway, it jerked around to the side and roared back up into the air, laboring to get airborne again. I have no idea what really happened, but we were told that the plane was “re-directed to another runway that was in better condition”. It seemed like a near wipe-out to me. After circling for another 45 minutes, we finally landed successfully. Michael observed that landing on several inches of snow makes for a nice, soft landing, if done properly.

While the near-disaster was happening, I remember smelling Lady Gaga Fame and thinking to myself that if we all died in a plane crash, I would be wearing a celebrity perfume. I also remember thinking that I could do a lot worse. Not that it would matter in the end, but it did give new meaning to the expression, “wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a celebrity scent” and lent a certain amount of humor to the situation.

[Clouds and blizzard photos adapted from Wikimedia. Perfume pics adapted from internet sources] 

8 comments:

  1. OMG-I'm dead, I'm lying on a marble slab, and I'm wearing a celebrity perfume. You made my day; I actually choked on my afternoon coffee from laughter! I'm glad there are other members of the "traveling class" with a delightfully dark sense of humor....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Marla, I'm glad to hear that I generated a laugh. You'll be amused to know that while I was gone the house-sitter watered my lithops assiduously, and they're suddenly putting out new leaves!

      Delete
  2. I *adore* Cumming, Alan Cumming's fragrance he helped Christopher Brosius create. It's just a brilliantly-crafted juice, as witty and refined as any niche fragrance out there. I can't think of another celebrity fragrance I particularly enjoy. I don't remember much about Tilda Swinton Like This from ELd'O and their Rossy de Palma was emphatically Not My Style.

    Still, unless we're talking Britney/Paris/JLO Coty juggernauts (but honestly, are they *that* much worse than the crimes being perpetrated at Dior these days?)I don't think we should necessary throw the perfumed baby out with the bathwater.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rhiannon, My point exactly. You never know where the next scent you love is going to pop up, and I am an equal opportunity sniffer. I don't think there's much of a difference between Coty/celebrity fragrances and designer ones like Dior. I suspect they're all made in the same factories.

      Delete
  3. I have to admit that lately I have been trying and wearing a lot of celebrities and find little difference between these fragrances, the designers and even some of the niche. I am embarrassed to name what I am wearing right now, but it is a warm, very boozy and bright Parlux offering. It might not be sophisticated (and it did take some getting used to) but I feel relaxed and happy when I wear it. Also, this scent is a total mystery to my family and friends. I imagine they have no idea what I am wearing or that I paid $6.50 for a new 50ml bottle of EDP (or perhaps they are just too polite to say anything). No matter, for I am just as happy with this celebrity as I am with my latest niche favorites.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gail, Ooooh ... what are you wearing? Don't be embarrassed to name it. I'd like to try it, too!

      Delete
  4. No, Elly, not the Lithops! But seriously, they should be fine, and I have a trick to get a stuck Lithops in the middle of re-leafing to grow again and shed those old leaves--water it. It's Lithops heresy, but there you go...And on the main topic, I noticed I liked the Jennifer Aniston perfume a lot more than most of the niche samples I've tried this year....Indie perfumes have made me happy recently, but the bigger niche houses, not so much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Marla, the lithops seem to be just fine, pushing out their new leaves. I agree with you that there's no longer a lot of difference in quality between many of the bigger niche lines and the designer/celebrity fragrances. Of course the indies are all over the place, but it makes me happy to smell one that's truly original. I haven't tried Jennifer Anniston, but should do so. Maybe they'll send me a sample to review :-)

      Delete