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.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

THE LILITH EFFECT (AND A DRAWING)


This morning I filtered the first production batch of Lilith (aka LIL) and, as usual, made sure I got some on myself while doing it. It wasn’t a lot, just the equivalent of a medium-sized spray dose. About an hour later I went out for a run.

The first inkling I had of the “Lilith Phenomenon” or “Lilith Effect”, first described by Tarleisio in this blog post, was when I was doing my warm-up walk down our little street to the main road and passed a group of three 7- or 8-year old boys playing in a puddle. As I got close, they all looked up, eyes wide as saucers, promptly stood at attention facing me, and politely said “hello”. They seemed in awe. I was flabbergasted. As I continued on with my run I thought of Tarleisio’s post, and started to connect the dots.


As I made my way around the neighborhood, everyone I passed on my side of the road looked at me, smiled in a friendly way, and made it a point to politely say “hello”. Except for the postal delivery woman, I knew none of these people. Even though I stared intently at people on the other side of the road, they did not react. Now this might not seem worthy of note except for the fact that in the Pacific Northwest, people tend to act uncomfortable and look the other way when they pass another human being on the street or road. It’s very unusual for even one person to acknowledge my presence when I’m out walking or running, let alone everyone I pass. Maybe there’s something in LIL that makes people shape up and be polite.

Have you ever experienced unusual reactions from random people when wearing a specific perfume? If so, leave a comment about the perfume and your experience. You will be entered in a random drawing, the winner of which will receive a 3 ml spray sample of LIL to try for yourself and see whether there’s anything to the Lilith Effect besides our overactive imaginations. Moreover, you’ll have a chance to try this fragrance before it’s officially released at the San Francisco Artisan Fragrance Salon on July 8. The drawing will take place on Wednesday, June 20.

12 comments:

  1. That is so weird, but if any perfume could have that, "Stand up straight and call me Ma'am!" effect, it's LIL! For me, I notice that whenever I wear vintage Guerlain L'Heure Bleue, people nuzzle and hug me, all ages, both sexes, doesn't matter, I'm getting snuggled up the whole time I'm wearing it. It's a very strange, but cuddly, experience, and I have no scientific explanation.

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  2. So far, I only noticed people tend to smile at me a lot and offer help in a number of ways when I'm wearing Artemisia by Penhaligon's (which is why I call it my undercover perfume, the effect of it is that I can usually have my way).

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  3. Funnily it has happened twice with two different perfumes. The first was with Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Woman and people could not stop sniffing around me saying "ca sent la foret?"..I guess a sheer greenness foresty smell in the centre of Paris is quite unusual. The second time was with Manoumalia(LesNez)and at first, I put it on the account of a guy wearing florals but it did feel menacing and noone dared approach me the whole day..a very strange experience.
    I have a feeling your Gujarat will have the same effect and Lil seems superb..

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  4. I haven't noticed any changes in people's behavior based on the perfume I wear but maybe it's because I always wear something nice? :)

    Don't enter me into the draw, I'll make sure to check it out at the Salon so I want to leave more chances to those who can't make it to that wonderful event.

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    1. Oh, I won't enter you in the drawing. I look forward to meeting you in San Francisco in a few weeks!

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  5. Unfortunately, I don't believe I've experienced the Lilith effect. Would love to, though!
    Thank you for the draw.
    Taffy J

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  6. That would be Chanel 5 Premiere. People start talking to me without a particular reason. And smile. That is not really common in NY. :)))

    I would love love to try your new fragrance. It sounds special! Thank you for the draw. And good luck with the exhibition.

    Celina

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  7. Really, the only time I've had something similar happen was when I was wearing a gourmand fragrance I was messing about with. It had vanilla, chocolate, creaminess and tonka and I can't remember what else. People wanted to get near me, but I suspect they were trying to find hidden cookies! I'd love to try your Lilith and see what happens!

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  8. Marla, Ines, Yash, Undina, TaffyJ, Celina, and Laurie Brown, you're all entered in the LIL draw. Seems like a lot of you have had unusual reactions from people when wearing specific perfumes, not just sniffing nose-wrinkling, or nostril-flaring.

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  9. Interesting question. I think it happened with natural perfumes, especially if they were spicy-gourmand...

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  10. Well, I was going to say don't enter me in the drawing, because I already have a sample of LIL. But then I realized I already HAD a sample. Used it up. When I was alone. Now I have no way to experiment with the LIL Effect. So yeah, I'll be in the drawing!

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    1. Marla, Too funny. You're back in the drawing!

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