This morning I was surprised to see a short article entitled
“How to find your signature scent”. How many of those have you seen over the
years? It doesn’t appear to be a zombie article from decades ago because it was
published just this week on a website mostly dedicated to business, not perfume.
In all fairness it’s probably directed at people who have never used perfume
before. Still, I thought that the alliterative concept of the single “signature
scent” was a relic of the 20th century. Maybe I lead a sheltered
life in the ivory tower of perfumista-hood.
The advice on how to choose a signature scent was basically,
“go to a department store, try a few things, decide what you like and buy the
perfume and a matching lotion”. OK. That’s one approach. What I wonder is how
many people today actually do that? How many people ever did that? I know that
even in my pre-perfumista days I liked to smell a variety of scents and would
never have worn the same perfume two days in a row, or even two days in the
same week. I always checked out every perfume shop I saw, looking for new
things, especially mini-bottles. I’ve had a collection of those as far back as
I can remember.
Wearing a signature scent makes about as much sense as
wearing just one type of clothing all the time. Come to think of it, some
people do exactly that, like Steve Jobs and his iconic black turtlenecks, or my
colleague from Texas who is never seen without his one cowboy hat and one pair
of cowboy boots. I guess it makes life easy if you don’t have to spend any time
thinking about what to wear or what to spray. However, to me, life is too short
to spend it as a caricature of myself. On the other hand, maybe this strategy is
the ultimate form of self-actualization. Is it a metaphysical achievement to
find the one thing that epitomizes one’s being and stick with it exclusively
and faithfully, setting aside all curiosity about everything else?
I really didn’t intend to make this post philosophical, but
the question of severely limiting one’s style is an interesting one to explore,
as are the pros and cons of having one perfume that announces your presence
like a fanfare leitmotif and prompts people to say, “Oh, it smells like X was/is
here in the room”.
One thing I love about living in the 21st
century is the amazing variety and lack of rigid societal norms about what we
wear, either as clothing or perfume. We are free to play. I would not want to
give up that freedom for an iconic “signature scent” or a black turtleneck. What do you
think?
[Steve Jobs headshot from Wikipedia; poor Pepe Le Pew, who cannot get away from his/her signature scent, is from a Loony Tunes themed website, the sterile perfume counter is from a commercial website]
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Hi Ellen,
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I am one of those people who likes to wear the same clothing everyday. I have a closet full of identical skirts, sweaters and jeans, all in black. There are lovely colors in that closet too, as well as edgy black styles and outrageous shoes, but I rarely, if ever, wear those things.
Perhaps my inability to coordinate clothing has to do with all of my years in school uniforms. I have sincerely tried to change but these very old habits die hard and I simply don't want to take the time to plan or think about what I will wear. My "uniforms" free me to play with other things, namely perfume! I try and use every fragrance I can get my hands on, from the cheapest celebs to pricey niche. When I am overwhelmed by black I throw on some jewelry and dab on a little Mardi Gras.
Azar
I never wore school uniforms, but still fall prey to the "just wear black" strategy, especially when I have to be somewhere early in the morning and want to spend as little time as possible getting dressed. Black is the best default!
ReplyDeleteI never was a signature scent kind of gal: ever since I was a little girl, I looooved smelling, wearing, having as many perfume as I liked the smell of. I think a SS is kind of an old-fashioned concept at this point. Also, I had a boss who was (too) heavily perfumed, had worn the same one for 20 years... and I couldn't stand how it smelled. So there can be a drawback to a SS too!
ReplyDeleteLarkin, I agree that the SS is an outdated concept, if it was ever a viable concept. I've known too many people who were always over-perfumed with the same scent. Men seem like even worse offenders than women.
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