Tuesday, September 29, 2009

please comment, readers

people use fragrance for different purposes, or encounter fragrance in different ways. here are a few ways of using fragrance i could think of:

-to be perceived in a certain way (sexy, clean, trendy, innocent, edgy, scary, intimidating, fashionable, a hippie)
-to perceive oneself in a certain way (see above)
-to trigger or express an emotion or physical sensation, in oneself or in others (comfort, calm, vigor, all the aromatherapy cliches you can think of)
-to express an idea or maybe an era ("the 50s" or "aldehydes", "the ubiquity of technology and manufactured objects", "riding", "fashion has replaced religion", "commercial fragrance is disgusting")

we get a lot of information from smells, and we try very hard to communicate things with fragrance. we're more or less successful.

a woman in my church congregation growing up used to probably dip herself in buckets of eternity. she could literally be smelled entering the chapel. this was a powerful message: "i am here, i am important, you all notice me. the room is mine. it doesn't matter what you think of me; we'll worry about that later. but my presence registers with each person in this large room."

so, if anyone is reading this, please answer this question (triggered by marcilyn's comment):

what do you want fragrance to do for you? why do you wear fragrance? please add to my tiny list of reasons people wear fragrance.

11 comments:

Amelia said...

although I'm a bit young for fragrance (maybe), i think the reason i wear it is because I want to leave an impression of myself on people. well, no, that's the wrong way to say it. I want to always be the same and have a familiar smell that people know is me. does that make sense?

emily said...

yes, that totally makes sense. the "signature scent". that's a good one.

what impression do you want to leave? just: amelia? or do you want it to say something more?

and thanks for your comment, meems!

Nathaniel said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Nathaniel said...

The two uses that occur to me, as a semi-oblivious spectator, are to be noticed or not. In some circumstances, a fragrance is expected enough that the lack of one would be noticeable, and the presence of one serves almost as camouflage.

On the flip side, some of the most vivid scent-memories I have are ones where I have no idea what it smelled like, I just remember smelling something and then, through that, becoming aware of the person wearing it. As the person on the receiving end, in those cases what I was perceiving seemed much less important than the fact i was perceiving something.

isafetydance said...

I find that the right fragrance is an immediate confidence booster, even if I'm having an off day and feeling kind of blah its an instant pick me up.

I love being out and catching a scent, just for an instant that reminds me of my best friend especially when she's not around.

Luckily, I had amazing smelling grandmothers and sometimes I wear a perfume that has gardenia or jasmine notes because it brings me to a really calm place.

nukkle said...

I want people to think I'm yummy. That's pretty much it. I remember after Traudi (Eternity church lady) was holding baby Eliza, and then dad was holding her and he said, "Oh, you smell like the Stake President's wife. Yes you do!"

Hi dad.

Traudi liked to imprint herself on all.

(Not Greg, but Marni)

marshall p said...

I always liked it when Ocean smelled like D&G "the one" because Mishka wore it.

I like to smell myself throughout the day and think I smell pretty. it gives me something to think about/focus on... a place to go to when I'm stressed or bored or just overwhelmed. it's like I'm carrying around my very own environment just for me.

Bing said...

I wear fragrance very rarely-- of course my shampoos and lotions and so forth are all scented, but I only put on legit perfume when I want to feel like "I am now officially beautiful; I am dolled up, this is a special occasion". You know? What I love about smells, though, is the power they have over memory-- I never fully understood this until I was in Germany and Bammy sent me some lavendar from across the way in a letter.

crystal said...

I feel like I am more "present" when I wear a fragrance. Maybe because I am engaging other's senses in a more complex way? What you wrote about triggering a persona rang true, but I find that I chicken out of wearing scents with strong personalities!

emily said...

bingy, that story of bam sending you lavender makes me choke up! so cute.

these are very interesting and varied comments. thanks to all of you. and keep commenting!

Eva said...

Just started looking at this again! Too late to comment? Hope not.
I had this Jasmine oil that I bought on the street on a trip to NY to look at colleges a few years ago and started wearing it pretty much every day, I wanted a signature scent like people were saying. Then one day, about a year and a half later, Bam was giving Moses a bath and must've thought it was some sort of shampoo or bubble bath because she dumped almost all of it in the tub with him, so that, after being used to splashing it on generously every time I showered I suddenly had to use it sparingly. Now I wear it to remember myself as I was then, when feel like I need a reminder to keep in mind who I was, the trajectory of my life, etc. Hokey?