I would like to tell you a little bit about myself and explain why (I think) I developed a love for and an obsession over perfumes. Some of you may identify with one or another aspect of my story.
During my teenage years, I was very interested in perfumes, but had no money to buy many bottles and no access to good information about fragrances and perfume-making. I relied on female friends and relatives to give me suggestions. Some of the first perfumes I owned were Polo, Azzaro, Jazz, Gucci, and perfumes by "O Boticario", a brazilian brand.
After I grew up and entered college (Mec. Engineering), I simply forgot about my passion for scents, without even noticing it. Somehow it didn't feel right to spend money and time on perfumes. In college, I spent my entire day around men. There was only one woman in our class and nobody wore perfumes. If I wore one, I would probably receive nasty comments from my classmates. It was an environment where machismo ruled. it was very competitive and not so friendly. An interest in perfumes would be considered a weakness or even worse, a sign that you were gay.
It was only when I came here to the US, many years later, that I became interested in perfumes again. There are many reasons for this. The first is that here there was no danger to wear perfumes. People were friendly. The second is that I stopped smoking, and my sense of smell was amplified. When I smoked, I was not capable of sensing delicate or subtle smells, due to sinusitis. The third reason is that I am not exploring my other senses as well as I did before, so I compensated the lack of sensorial experiences by dedicating myself to fragrances. I don't have a full kitchen, so I cannot cook very good food. I am currently taking a medication that prevents me from drinking alcohol, so I cannot explore one of my previous hobbies, wine tasting. Also, during the last 3 years the focus of my life has been on teaching and doing research, and I had little time to dedicate to either love or sex. So, perfumes, music, books and movies are all that I have right now. I tend to get very obsessed about every hobby that I take, and indeed I became very obsessed about perfumes. I now have a very good collection, although modest compared to some by other basenoters.
I just wanted to tell you how I fell in love with perfumes and thank all of you for having helped me with so much information, suggestions and camaraderie.
Thanks, guys!
Lucius
.
During my teenage years, I was very interested in perfumes, but had no money to buy many bottles and no access to good information about fragrances and perfume-making. I relied on female friends and relatives to give me suggestions. Some of the first perfumes I owned were Polo, Azzaro, Jazz, Gucci, and perfumes by "O Boticario", a brazilian brand.
After I grew up and entered college (Mec. Engineering), I simply forgot about my passion for scents, without even noticing it. Somehow it didn't feel right to spend money and time on perfumes. In college, I spent my entire day around men. There was only one woman in our class and nobody wore perfumes. If I wore one, I would probably receive nasty comments from my classmates. It was an environment where machismo ruled. it was very competitive and not so friendly. An interest in perfumes would be considered a weakness or even worse, a sign that you were gay.
It was only when I came here to the US, many years later, that I became interested in perfumes again. There are many reasons for this. The first is that here there was no danger to wear perfumes. People were friendly. The second is that I stopped smoking, and my sense of smell was amplified. When I smoked, I was not capable of sensing delicate or subtle smells, due to sinusitis. The third reason is that I am not exploring my other senses as well as I did before, so I compensated the lack of sensorial experiences by dedicating myself to fragrances. I don't have a full kitchen, so I cannot cook very good food. I am currently taking a medication that prevents me from drinking alcohol, so I cannot explore one of my previous hobbies, wine tasting. Also, during the last 3 years the focus of my life has been on teaching and doing research, and I had little time to dedicate to either love or sex. So, perfumes, music, books and movies are all that I have right now. I tend to get very obsessed about every hobby that I take, and indeed I became very obsessed about perfumes. I now have a very good collection, although modest compared to some by other basenoters.
I just wanted to tell you how I fell in love with perfumes and thank all of you for having helped me with so much information, suggestions and camaraderie.
Thanks, guys!
Lucius
.
