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Weather/environment and fragrance perception

post #1 of 10
3/1/07 at 12:38am
Thread Starter 
This came out of the thread about B.O. and i thought it was interesting enough to warrant its own thread...

Whenever I think about scents or fragrances (which is a huge proportion of my day!) I always wonder how the weather is affecting my perceptions, and therefore I wonder how the climates and environments of Basenotes members affects their perceptions. I live in a very hot, humid climate in a beachy tropical city and so it's got to be clean, clean, clean for me all the way. Any hint of BO turns me right off. But when I travel and am in a cold climate, a man's natural musky scent suddenly becomes far more appealing, and similarly I don't mind skipping a day of showering (I'm a 2 or 3 showers a day girl at home).

Whenever I see people on Basenotes recommending spicy florientals with lots of vanilla, I can't help but wonder if they're from a cold place with lots of glass and concrete and are subliminally trying to gain some warmth in their lives!! And I'm quite sure that my current love (Carolina Herrera 212) is borne out of a desperation for cleanliness and freshness. I also tend to shy away from too much sophistication or mystery in my fragrances - my lifestyle is so casual that they just wouldn't fit. I'm sure the same couldn't be said for someone from Paris!

So what do you think? To what extent do are your fragrance preferences affected by where you live and the climate of your home?
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post #2 of 10
3/1/07 at 5:18am
I think weather and environment has much to do with choosing and prefering fragrances. Being in southern Ontario, Canada, we have 3 distinct seasons:

- cold winters, with lots of snow and freezing temperatures
- hot, humid (not tropical humid) summers, it can get +34C with humidex
- beautiful, crisp autumns
and most recently, perhaps due to global warming, almost a non-existent spring (perhaps 2 weeks worth)

I know that my preferences and perceptions change with the change in seasons. In the winter, I prefer warm, cosy florientals, sometimes with a bit of spice and vanilla. In the autumn, I like the woody orientals, sometimes with a touch of incense. In the summer during the day, I prefer light florals and clean fragrances. With warm summer nights, I can do the more sultry tropical fragrances or the fruity florals.

And then, I have my all purpose frags and my happy frags -- but that's another story.

I think that if I were to wear a sultry tropical in the middle of a cold winter's day, it would be totally out of context and just won't work -- I wouldn't even try it.

Can you tell I'm trying to justify my collection ?
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post #3 of 10
3/1/07 at 5:31am
I really think you're "into" something here.I live in northern Norway.The summer is short,maximum temperatures is around 20 degrees.That's the time of the year when I prefer my fruitier stuff or more clean florals, like Pleasures,Pure Poison and Provocative woman. Autumn varies.Sometimes it's wonderful weather, when other years it's just a whole lot of rain, windy and cold.At this time of the year I'm not into a particular scent mood, but I find Autumn to be really romantic, so I guess my scents mirrors that.Winter can be up to 6 months here, cold and dark before christmas- Januray.With hardly any daylight and freezing ooutside I seem to reach for the florientals or orientals.I guess I need the warmthSpring also varies a lot scentwise, but I love orientals or florientals, and scents with a lot of vanilla,so I reach for them at this time of the year tooBut of all the seasons winther and summer stands out,I guess.
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post #4 of 10
3/1/07 at 7:06am
I think many frags smell great in air-conditioning. The coolness of the air and the fact that fans are blowing. It makes people give me compliments more than at any other time.
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post #5 of 10
3/1/07 at 10:30am
I like Orientals in the fall and winter too, but can't stay away from them in the summer either. I just reach for the "lighter" ones in warmer weather, even for daytime wear. Since I've found this site however, I am expanding out a little more to parts unknown, and will probably purchase a few frags for the summer, that I would not normally wear. Although Orientals will probably always be my first love, I am excited about all the other possibilities waiting for me out there.
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post #6 of 10
3/1/07 at 10:32am
For most people, I think climate plays a big part in perfume selection as well as obviously, clothing. For me, it does not. I like the same type of scent, no matter how cold or hot it is.
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post #7 of 10
3/1/07 at 10:40am
Climate IS important!

For example, there are fragrances I can't STAND in the summer (Angel, anything else with patchouli, too much vanilla), and there are ones I can't handle in the winter (Orange Blossom, Muguet, Coconut).

Also, and this is an oddity, there are fragrances that I can only wear on a rainy day. I love Eternity Moment when it rains-- the sillage brings out the musk and the currants when it's humid. But when it's dry, that perfume just gives me the cold shoulder.
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post #8 of 10
3/1/07 at 12:28pm
I didn't realise how important climate was to my scent perception until one day last summer when I wore Versace Jeans Couture Glam. This scent which had previously seemed thin, weak and insipid in much cooler spring days suddenly found its identity through the summer heat developing into a gentle, sweet fragrance perfect for the much warmer climate. Since then I have been curious to find out how my scents 'play out' in different weathers. Forgive me for using an extremely twee musical analogy here but its almost as though weather/climate is the instrument which bends the scent notes to create different moods and accents.
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post #9 of 10
3/1/07 at 1:25pm
I live where it is hot most of the time so we have to have air conditioning or else. But I love woody orientals most, and anytime of the year. The only rule I follow is that if I am going to be in a room of people for awhile, I go much lighter on the scents. I am a Hawaiian want-to-be and so end up wearing alot of what might be considered Hawaiian scents. I also like Gourmands, some musks and chypres.
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post #10 of 10
7/1/09 at 3:23am
OK I used the search function and it threw this thread up so here goes ....

The past few days have been sweltering hot , no ait con at work and its been up in the 90's ...
Im unsure whether its me or not but does this weather really affect our fragrance as Im sure they seem to smell different ?????
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