Compliments: How, Where, When?

I always hear a lot of people around here posting that they've received compliments on what they're wearing. Here's a newbie question, even though I've had my fair share of posts here in the past couple months since I've joined. I'm always self conscious about over spraying or spraying too little of my scents. I've worn plenty of fragrances (albeit mainstream/department store stuff) from my own modest collection and stuff I've tested. I've worn stuff as loud as Le Male to something as subtle as Mugler Cologne with some corny (Paris Hilton Heir and Curve Chill) in between. So it's not like I'm wearing something incredibly weird to the masses. I'm not expecting people to pick out notes or anything, but a normal person would just tell someone if it smells good or not no matter what it is. That is, if it were to happen.

I know some people have worn stuff that has stopped people in their tracks just to ask what it is at the most random places. Never once have I garnered any compliments from anyone. Not even my friends, unless I asked. Usually when I ask, it's "can you smell that from there?" Usually I just ask questions in a way to know if I'm wearing too much or too little. Like once I wore Terre D'Hermes and asked a friend if he could smell it, he responded with a "Oh, yea dude! It's nice!" That's probably the only positive response I've gotten from anyone. There was one time a couple weeks ago while waiting for a table inside a restaurant when my friend said, "Dude, I can smell like...3 colognes." I was wearing TM Cologne, some guy walked by with some heavy oriental Vicks Vapor rub smelling one (M7?), and he was wearing D&G Light Blue himself. I'm usually aiming for a 3-4 feet distance, not smack in the face, but a light hint of it. I've had an instance when I accidentally oversprayed and turned Burberry Touch into Burberry Bitch Slap.

I also have oddly dry skin and a fair skin color, maybe ever-so slightly darker, whatever the typical skin color it is for an Asian male from California. By all means, I'm not ashy dry or anything. It's just that colognes tend to get soaked up into my skin. I'm using lotion/body butter/body oil (not all at once of course) to extend the life of whatever I'm wearing. It helped a lot. L'eau Par Kenzo disappeared on me within 2 hours when I was testing a vial, but after using lotion at the application spots, it extended it's life for 3-4 more hours the next time I wore it. So I sorta understand how my skin works with longevity and sillage. I had to learn that I really need to wear a fragrance 3-4 or even more times to decide if I should buy it yet due to varying conditions with longevity and sillage (weather, skin, mood, environment, etc).

Everyday, I keep hoping someone just asks, "Excuse me, you smell nice, what is that?" Even going as far as randomly walking through crowded areas at the mall or wait in lines for whatever just to do some tests. Highly doubt that would happen in any of those given situations, but it'd make me feel a bit better about the bottle I just plunked some good money for. I can't invest that much into smelling good if it's just for me only. I might as well just buy more Curve and Designer Imposters then. :P A friend of mine who's worn his fair share of colognes told me that the only way he tests them out is at a strip club while getting lap dances. He's told me some of them have gotten extra frisky over DKNY Red Delicious and he has a bite mark to prove it. LOL. I suppose it's a little vain to hope someone says something without you asking. Heh. Just once without me asking would be nice.

Anyhoo, that's the end of my soapbox.

Thanks for the responses guys. I was just wondering why people make it such a point to mention getting compliments (not like it's a bad thing) on a particular fragrance. The whole time, I was like, "Well, no one ever says anything to me." So at least these experiences I'm reading here really shed some light on how, where, and when. It was kind of a "well, if they're getting some, why can't I?" thing. I'm pretty confident I don't own anything that smells bad and at least smells good, so I should just run with that. =)

Haha, you have a point. Maybe that's it. It's like if one of my friends telling me my car is cool or something every time they see it (I drive a Subaru impreza). They're used to it, so it's nothing unusual except, "Hey, wearing something new?" I guess the people around me are used to the way I look and smell nowadays. I lost a bit of weight too, but no one comments or notices since it was a gradual thing and they've seen me quite often. The ones who haven't seen me in months noticed some changes.

It's always the really simple ones that get the compliments.