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I am Jack's Overwhelming Indecisiveness

post #1 of 22
4/24/09 at 8:33pm
Thread Starter 
Warning: I basically blurbed all the way until the last paragraph as a form of catharsis and therapy for myself, so you can skip all the way to the end without missing too much and perhaps answer the real thread-topic question. I also realize this topic has more or less been covered before in some shape or form.

OK, so about a year ago I set out to find the one fragrance that not only suited me but smelled great to myself and others. Seemed simple at the time. I figured there were thousands of fragrances out there, so there had to be one that just clicked.

A year later and 300 samples later, I currently know of about 30 fragrances that "clicked" with me. Throughout all the sampling, my criteria for the perfect fragrance slowly waxed and waned in all sorts of directions. Soon enough, I realized that every fragrance is unique in itself, regardless of what I think I like. In other words, I realized that don't like aquatic fragrances per se, nor do I like only woody or ambery or iris etc. fragrances. I like them all! I now have no selection criteria in particular except for high quality of materials and blending with uniqueness. How liberating... yet frustrating all at once.

The problem comes into the picture when I say that I'm not like most BNers - I can't stand wearing a different fragrance everyday. I want to wear just one, ie. have a signature scent that maybe changes with the season at the most. I think that owning more 4+ fragrances is fantastic, however the thought of rotating so much drives me crazy... weird for a BNer, I know!

So what I'm really getting at is... How do you know which one is the holy grail? I know many of us change holy grails once a week, while others don't believe in it, but if you had to choose just one for say, the next year, how would you go about choosing it?

The best criteria I could muster up are:

- High quality ingredients
- Evolution throughout the day
- Unique
- Doesn't get annoying/boring
- *Just "clicks"

PS. If the thought of choosing just one creates panic attacks for you, I'm with you!
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post #2 of 22
4/24/09 at 8:42pm
I would choose the fragrance that I thought was most versatile, so I guess I would pick Habit Rouge EdT.
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post #3 of 22
4/24/09 at 8:53pm
I like to switch it up. However, if I had to pick a fragrance to wear every day I would pick it using the same criteria I used in deciding my husband was The One:
You are excited to see it in the morning- you honestly look forward to the first spritz;
It changes with you in a good way (ie it is who you are today and who you hope to be tomorrow);
It is versatile (you can wear it at home or to a meeting);
It has depth and balance, strength of character;
And you love it.
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post #4 of 22
4/24/09 at 8:55pm
Just go with what you feel when you wake up. Don't set up artificial rules for yourself. Don't "overthink" it.
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post #5 of 22
4/24/09 at 9:07pm
Personally, I'd have to go with the one that's most versatile and I find can wear any time. Currently that's CdG Original. It's never to heavy or too bland, and it gets a good reaction from those around me.

That being said, if I had to limit it to one... I'd likely just give up this hobby. For me, the fun is in the variety; the adventure; the contrast.

I tend to think of holy grails in terms of notes. Tubereuse Criminelle is my tuberose holy grail. If I had to just have one tuberose fragrance, this would easily be it. However, I can't imagine it as my only fragrance, ever.

Sometimes I'll go through a week or two of mostly wearing the same fragrance, but it's always a choice. I get a sense you're intimidated by the selection, but remember no matter how many fragrances you have... it's alright if you feel like wearing one every day for a year, or only once in a decade. You're never obligated to wear what you own.
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post #6 of 22
4/24/09 at 9:19pm
thats a question I'm still trying to figure out
I guess the best way to put it is that you choose your favorite for each theme
and keep a solid collection of 6 or so fragrances for different occasions/times
and your set
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post #7 of 22
4/24/09 at 9:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hasupk@gmail.com View Post

thats a question I'm still trying to figure out
I guess the best way to put it is that you choose your favorite for each theme
and keep a solid collection of 6 or so fragrances for different occasions/times
and your set


That is the tough part, I find. Every 6 months I add more rubbish to my collection
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post #8 of 22
4/24/09 at 9:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Surfacing View Post

That is the tough part, I find. Every 6 months I add more rubbish to my collection

6 months?
for me its like every week lol
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post #9 of 22
4/25/09 at 12:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by L'aventurier View Post

...The best criteria I could muster up are:

- High quality ingredients
- Evolution throughout the day
- Unique
- Doesn't get annoying/boring
- *Just "clicks"

For me THE HOLY GRAIL perfume must mainly just click,
but it should pass all the other tests as well.

If indirectly - THG also underlies the aging process like everything else on the planet. Even if that process is a slow one - there is the psychological wear and tear which is faster the more you wear that special perfume. One day it will not be as special any more as it holds all the associations with ordinary and extraordinary experiences you went through in its presence. What actually happens is that your own perception of the same perfume will change slowly, and ultimately loose the quality of being special. It's 'only' a process in our minds, but such processes are all we perceive of life anyway.

 For me, the HG scent is one that I almost want to apologize to for wearing it on a day that is probably not good enough for it. I would never wear it for ordinary business, doing exercises, or at work. The more I would do the opposite, the sooner I might wear it out. Anyway, that's what I believe to have learned.
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post #10 of 22
4/25/09 at 1:38am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by narcus View Post

For me THE HOLY GRAIL perfume must mainly just click,
but it should pass all the other tests as well.

If indirectly - THG also underlies the aging process like everything else on the planet. Even if that process is a slow one - there is the psychological wear and tear which is faster the more you wear that special perfume. One day it will not be as special any more as it holds all the associations with ordinary and extraordinary experiences you went through in its presence. What actually happens is that your own perception of the same perfume will change slowly, and ultimately loose the quality of being special. It's 'only' a process in our minds, but such processes are all we perceive of life anyway.

 For me, the HG scent is one that I almost want to apologize to for wearing it on a day that is probably not good enough for it. I would never wear it for ordinary business, doing exercises, or at work. The more I would do the opposite, the sooner I might wear it out. Anyway, that's what I believe to have learned.

Wow. I can't agree with you more. I haven't thought about the repercussions of wearing the HG every day. I've had signature scents in the past and that is exactly what happened to them.

I will add though, that once you stop wearing the said "overworn" fragrance for an extended period of time and then come back to it, long forgotten emotional memories of all the extreme high points and low points (with none of the mundane in and outs of life) from the era in which you wore it come rushing back in, as though suddenly set free from some deeply-rooted, otherwise inaccessible part of your brain. Trying the fragrance again at this point, which is much later on, the fragrance seems to have the same spark of life as when you first started wearing it, at least for a little while. Such an experience almost makes it worth it to stick to one fragrance a month (or season/year) just so you can go back to it on single occasions later on, like listening to the your favorite song from your youth.

Ah the ups and downs of having a signature fragrance. I think I'm still over-analyzing
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post #11 of 22
4/25/09 at 3:14am
My innocent years with just a few perfumes in two decades were the best!

You are so right with memories attached to the oldies! I sometimes suspect that some vintage perfumes may not have been as great as they live in our minds...

I had signature scents when I didn't even know the term for that. My father had two or three fragrances in his whole life. He never talked about them (except perhaps to my mother). But I think he must have loved those about as much as I love the damn lot in my cabinet.

The holy grail, if we are honest, is just a myth.


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post #12 of 22
4/25/09 at 6:29am
I've settled into 4 in my regular rotation now but recently I've decided if I can only take a frag with me to the moon, it's Prada Infusion d'Iris.

It is the default frag I go to when I can't decide what to wear on the day. I also spray it on my scarves and my cap so that I always have a bit of it with me no matter what other frags I'm wearing that day...

I'm not in love with it per se, but it's the most versatile in my collection: I've taken it to the office, dancing, a night out, etc. and it has never disappointed me.
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post #13 of 22
4/25/09 at 7:35am
I hope your name is Jack too
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post #14 of 22
4/25/09 at 10:02pm
I take it you're a Chuck Palahniuk fan, Original Poster?
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post #15 of 22
4/25/09 at 10:13pm
It's such a cliche thing to say, but, here goes: Variety is the spice of life.
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post #16 of 22
4/25/09 at 10:21pm
My holy grail is Burberry Touch in the winter and Guerlain Vetiver in the summer
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post #17 of 22
4/25/09 at 10:24pm
I have some thoughts. First of all, I came into this hobby having the classification of "signature scent" and then one that was simply good enough to buy. I ended up with YSL L'Homme, CDG Sequoia, and a few others. And then the rest of the bottles were just really fun to have in rotation. However, my first epiphany came with GIT, and I knew it was a scent I wanted to keep around for a really long time. That's the definition of my holy grail. Secondly, I felt the exact same way very recently with Tauer's L'Air du Desert Marocain. So those are my two "Holy Grails" as they call them, and then I have about 5-10 signature scents, and the rest are to spice things up.

At best this holy grail thing just makes my mind screech to a halt to focus on smelling alone. I wore Tauer's fragrance three days in a row and didn't think about buying anything else for a few weeks.
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post #18 of 22
4/25/09 at 10:58pm
Every now and then you'll come across a fragrance that makes your eyes roll into the back of your head, and you decide immediately that you will own a bottle. When you get the bottle you can't stop sniffing it. and when you wear all is right with the universe. That's when you know you may have a HG on your hands!
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post #19 of 22
4/25/09 at 11:43pm
I must admit L'Air du Desert Marocain would come damn close to the one, if I was able to choose just the one.
However I do find that the one biggest problem with wearing just the one, continuously, every day for extended periods of time ... Is the problem of habituation, that will inevatibly happen. Where by a few days in, and your nose can no longer smell that you are wearing anything at all. ... That is why I suggest, that at the very least, one should have a minimum of two HGS. That you can wear on alternate days, to minimise the possibility of this happening. (In which case , I would then choose the second one, to be the furthest from L'Air as is possible. It's opposite essentially. Can't think which frag that would be, though, at this very moment ).
Though, to be honest, the idea of only ever wearing just two scents, I find most disturbing. Why should I restrict myself from all that pleasure. That a scent a day brings to me, on a daily basis ;o) !
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post #20 of 22
4/26/09 at 7:46am
I've noticed that the fragrance industry seems to be a staunch believer in signature scents too. I've wondered why - not sure if I can put my finger on it, but it seems that if they can get you to believe that Fragrance X is that holy grail / signature scent you've been looking for, then you will be more likely to buy it.
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post #21 of 22
4/26/09 at 8:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by L'aventurier View Post

So what I'm really getting at is... How do you know which one is the holy grail?

Pick the one that a 33 year old Jewish Carpenter would wear.

I can only imagine that it would contain Frankincense and Myrrh notes as reminders of childhood.
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post #22 of 22
4/26/09 at 2:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by thaifighter View Post

Pick the one that a 33 year old Jewish Carpenter would wear.

I can only imagine that it would contain Frankincense and Myrrh notes as reminders of childhood.

And sawdust.
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