Smells Like My Heart Feels

Scents are magical. Due to the olfactory senses that we possess with our three-dimensional body, we attach scent to memory, emotion, and idea. I can recognize the scent of my best friend in her clothes, the scent of my grandmother's house in a tablecloth; indeed, a memory tied to a scent can almost paralyze me if caught arbitrarily.

But scent doesn't have to work with memory in a strict, directly experiential sense. I have two people in my life whose signature or favorite perfumes always represent them, even if I didn't often smell them on their skin, or in intimate situations. The association is still strong.

I have never been one to have a signature scent, although for several years I wore Theirry Mugeler's Angel perfume. I wore it out, I think. Over time I just couldn't smell it the way I wanted to anymore. Several people tell me that that scent reminds them of me, but I can't smell it anymore. I wonder if certain perfumes change their recipe, or can't get the same ingredients over time, or something else scientific I can't imagine. My tastes might have simply changed. It is a bit sweet for me nowadays.

For the past few years true commitment to a single scent has eluded me. I want to smell something so incredible that I pledge allegiance to it forever, but it is difficult to find that one fragrance. I would love it even more if that scent was already classic and respected, like Chanel No. 5 or Eau de Joy. But these perfumes are too strong for me, and they remind me that there might have been a time when bodies were not as bleached as they are today; you know, like perhaps there were more organic smells to compete with when the perfume was originally invented. I don't really know. I will smell something that I think I enjoy, then I wear it and get a headache, or get nauseous after a few minutes.

A perfumer that I have grown attached to is Jo Malone. Out of London, Jo Malone's line boasts several single-note fragrances that can be layered and interchanged to make new scents. While most perfumes must have bottom, heart, and top notes all in one bottle, Jo Malone's line lets you create these layers from a variety of notes. My problem is that I often only like lighter notes. I am in love with Nectarine Blossom, and Orange Blossom. Recently I have expanded to Mint and Jasmine Blossom, which I like because it smells almost exactly like a gin and tonic with lime. They also recently came out with a line that smelled of various teas, and I was smitten.



Aren't they lovely?

Recently I stocked up on my usual assortment of Jo Malone, and Neiman Marcus gave me a lovely little rose bag filled with samples of new perfumes, from all different lines and designers. Out of the ten or so sampled I really liked this one, ORIENS, by Van Cleef and Arpel



It's a bit spicy for me, but I think I might have found my grown up perfume. It smells like a romantic hug, or a hug with an open heart, ready to experience anything. It smells like the way my heart feels at the symphony, or the way my heart feels when I read something magical. I suppose it could just be enough to say that it smells like how my heart feels when it is open and vulnerable and filled with light.

And that kind of statement underscores the reason why I think scent is magical. Our bodies that are so marvelous, these vehicles that get us there, and house this energy and ether, need scent to explain other experiences. I hope my time with ORIENS is magical, as I take it with me today to the coffee house and read and write.

Afterward:

I failed to mention that in some cases the desire to smell a certain way is influenced by the whims of a lover. So, I will also be testing out L'ESSANCE Balenciaga Paris.