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Why we love fragrances

post #1 of 37
8/9/09 at 10:18am
Thread Starter 
This question is so basic, but is one we take for granted because we're enthusiasts: why do we love perfume? What is it that makes this for you more than just a casual or passing interest?

For me, it's twofold. First, wearing a good fragrance is something that I can enjoy and savor all day long, uninterrupted, and privately (assuming I don't douse myself). I have other interests as well, such as music, cars and food, but I can't enjoy those things while I'm at work, or doing more responsible things. On the other hand, I can enjoy a good scent continuously, any time I want to, so it's hard to not be an enthusiast. Secondly, because I have a very stressful job, wearing a cologne that I love keeps me relatively calm all day and puts my mind at ease. I hate the term "aromatherapy", but a good scent accomplishes the purposes of aromatherapy for me during the day. It just makes me feel great, plain and simple.

Recently the scent that's been meeting all my fragrance needs and makes me feel great is Giorgio For Men. It's scents like this that keep me an enthusiast.

What about you?
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post #2 of 37
8/9/09 at 10:32am
Its like a told a fume friend last week , you can look like crap , feel like crap , but smell great
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post #3 of 37
8/9/09 at 11:05am
I think that I personally love perfume especially due to a certain style they bestow upon me, since, whenever I wear a perfume, I also take up a an attitude, a certain mood, an inspiration and countless thoughts and ideas.
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post #4 of 37
8/9/09 at 11:11am
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I never cared much, it just happened! I can't explain it. All of a sudden this nice scents, bottles. I don't know, makes me feel good, regal, boosts my mojo and ego...no words to describe it.
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post #5 of 37
8/9/09 at 11:20am
1. I like to smell good things, and perfumes are one thing that smell good by design
2. Vain reasons like image, style, sex appeal, and collecting frags
3. Trying and studying frags is a learning process
4. Communicating with basenoters and sharing the joy of scent with others in my life
5. Keeps my shopping focused so I don't buy things I won't use. I will use the frags or someone will
6. Maybe my smelling so good will brighten someone else's day- ya never know!
7. I want to find out what my classmates are wearing so I can smell different and feel special (also vain)
8. Sometimes the best frags make me high
9. i like being so passionate about something even if most people I know don't get it
10. By now you could say I'm addicted!!
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post #6 of 37
8/9/09 at 1:59pm
I keep trying to fill a deep empty void in my life by becoming temporarily obsessed with some things (usually expensvie stuff) . Has gone from movies, to music, to cars, to clothes, now cologne. All are still major parts of me but most are on the backburner so to speak.
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post #7 of 37
8/9/09 at 2:15pm
Why do I love fragrances....because its like picking sweets from a big candy shop but for grown ups
and of course because you smell great and unique and this is the most important fact.
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post #8 of 37
8/9/09 at 2:41pm
Because as someone pointed out above, it's a private portable enjoyment. Even if you have a beautiful Raphael painting at home, you can only enjoy it at home. But a good perfume with great longevity and decent sillage you can enjoy all day, even at work. I like to surround myself with some form of beauty - hence the perfume passion.
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post #9 of 37
8/9/09 at 2:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Punisher View Post

I keep trying to fill a deep empty void in my life by becoming temporarily obsessed with some things (usually expensvie stuff) . Has gone from movies, to music, to cars, to clothes, now cologne. All are still major parts of me but most are on the backburner so to speak.

Wow, my life is eerily similar.
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post #10 of 37
8/9/09 at 3:00pm
They make ME feel happy - and that is all that matters.
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post #11 of 37
8/9/09 at 3:07pm
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I love them for the way they smell (at least the ones in my wardrobe), and I love the way they make me feel when I wear them...
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post #12 of 37
8/9/09 at 3:11pm
I just really enjoy pleasant smells. Always have. As a kid I was obsessed with Lip Smackers/other flavored lip balms- not for the moisturizing benefits, not for the taste (was never one of those kids that ate lip gloss ), but for the smell- then scratch n' sniff stickers, then scented pencils and markers, and air fresheners/oils...and on and on. Once I caught on to perfume- good smells that you can actually apply to your person, and enjoy everywhere you went, all day? I was hooked.
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post #13 of 37
8/9/09 at 7:04pm
I love the way they smell on me and so does my wife
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post #14 of 37
8/9/09 at 7:19pm
It is aromatherapy for me. If I'm having a bad day or just worn out from a tough day, I shower and apply a different scent. It's like starting a new page and changes my outlook.

Being scented-up helps me sleep as well. Nothing quite like smelling really good.
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post #15 of 37
8/9/09 at 7:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Punisher View Post

I keep trying to fill a deep empty void in my life by becoming temporarily obsessed with some things (usually expensvie stuff) . Has gone from movies, to music, to cars, to clothes, now cologne. All are still major parts of me but most are on the backburner so to speak.

Me too!
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post #16 of 37
8/9/09 at 8:01pm
I also like to think of it in this way and I've yet to hear someone else say this:

You have 5 senses. Touch, Sight, Taste, Hearing, and Smell.

Each of these senses has, over time, had many works of art that are made specifically to please that particular sense. For example with touch, there are ergonomics, furniture, massages, and so on (this is the weakest example). With sight we have filled thousands of museums with artwork to please our vision. For taste, we have developed distinct cuisine and created wonderful restaurants. With hearing we have created music of every sort. With smell, we have created fragrance, or perhaps captured fragrance.

It is as simple as that. In keeping with my general hedonism for life, I indulge a brilliant fragrance with a similar devotion, and excitement that I would when hearing a brilliant new album or buying a visually stunning piece of art or tasting a wonderful meal.

Indulge your senses.
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post #17 of 37
8/9/09 at 8:07pm
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I feel good wearing a scent that I find desirable, I'm not too analytical about it.

Edit: There is a scent or 2 which I have bonded with purely for sentimental reasons.
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post #18 of 37
8/9/09 at 9:59pm
Very candid. I think this applies to a lot of people.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Punisher View Post

I keep trying to fill a deep empty void in my life by becoming temporarily obsessed with some things (usually expensvie stuff) . Has gone from movies, to music, to cars, to clothes, now cologne. All are still major parts of me but most are on the backburner so to speak.
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post #19 of 37
8/9/09 at 10:01pm
+1

They evoke all sorts of emotions and energies from me. I love when a fragrance somehow triggers a bright, cheerful nostalgia in me.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken_Russell View Post

I think that I personally love perfume especially due to a certain style they bestow upon me, since, whenever I wear a perfume, I also take up a an attitude, a certain mood, an inspiration and countless thoughts and ideas.
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post #20 of 37
8/9/09 at 10:02pm
It is a reflection of the inner self.
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post #21 of 37
8/9/09 at 10:58pm
John Keats said it best: because

" 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' — that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."
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post #22 of 37
8/9/09 at 11:41pm
I really don't know why. My love for scents is a feeling I can't explain.
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post #23 of 37
8/10/09 at 12:00am
Too many reasons all summed up in, fragrances really wake me up to something and make me balance the moment, the past, the ideal, and the real through some use of the brain.
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post #24 of 37
8/10/09 at 12:08am
Its the continuing quest for that supreme scent that hopefully will enshroud me in ecstasy and transcend the mundane world around me by enveloping me in a new dimension of bliss that I love so much....not to sound too much like Star Trek...BUT....it's ' my continuing mission, to explore strange new scents, seek out new fragrances, new perfumes, to boldly smell what no one has smelled before’…;-D not too dramatic...am I?
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post #25 of 37
8/10/09 at 12:34am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nymphaea View Post

Its the continuing quest for that supreme scent that hopefully will enshroud me in ecstasy and transcend the mundane world around me by enveloping me in a new dimension of bliss that I love so much....not to sound too much like Star Trek...BUT....it's ' my continuing mission, to explore strange new scents, seek out new fragrances, new perfumes, to boldly smell what no one has smelled before;-D not too dramatic...am I?

Basically looking for the holy grail?
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post #26 of 37
8/10/09 at 12:39am
Because we are Artists ( perfume for me is an art, like painting or music or any other kind of art ), we are sensitive persons, we are very good persons and we like to smell good !!!
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post #27 of 37
8/10/09 at 12:41am
3 Reasons:

1. It feels good when I smell great, esp. with my favorite frag.
2. It is fulfilling when others around me feels invigorated or enlightened with my scent
3. To make my wife cuddle with me more. Not that she doesn't, but she knows how to appreciate the fragrance i am wearing
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post #28 of 37
8/10/09 at 5:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AromiErotici View Post

It is aromatherapy for me. ...Nothing quite like smelling really good.

End of story!

Fragrances delight my soul!
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post #29 of 37
8/10/09 at 10:38am
What Chris and Roberto said. My own language for it would have to do with helping me to stay focused, alive to my senses. Helps control anxiety, actually, and helps me feel awake and happy. I'm really grateful for frags, and it's nice to feel that they don't have to be expensive or particular to do me a lot of good.
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post #30 of 37
8/10/09 at 10:59am
Fragrances make my life a little less mundane and boring.

Fragrances help keep the smell of B.O at bay

Fragrances attract the attention of other people around me.
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post #31 of 37
8/10/09 at 12:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GourmandHomme View Post

Because as someone pointed out above, it's a private portable enjoyment. Even if you have a beautiful Raphael painting at home, you can only enjoy it at home. But a good perfume with great longevity and decent sillage you can enjoy all day, even at work. I like to surround myself with some form of beauty - hence the perfume passion.

+1
!!:wave:
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post #32 of 37
8/10/09 at 1:20pm
I love the people and the things in life that make me happy, and perfume is definitely one of them.

Oh, and because sometimes perfumes also act like "a movie for your nose" as well.
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post #33 of 37
8/10/09 at 1:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Punisher View Post

I keep trying to fill a deep empty void in my life by becoming temporarily obsessed with some things (usually expensvie stuff) . Has gone from movies, to music, to cars, to clothes, now cologne. All are still major parts of me but most are on the backburner so to speak.

Man, I can relate to this! I've jumped from one obsession to the next in varying degrees. Fragrances have joined this long obsessive train in my life.

I do gather much pleasure in wearing fragrances as well as sampling and collecting the ones I love or have learned to love. To smell good is certainly an olfactory extention of my personality. It is nice to have something that stands out from the rest as well. It is always nice to recieve compliments, but that is certainly not the primary reason why I love to wear frags.
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post #34 of 37
8/10/09 at 1:43pm
I like wearing fragrances! They're fun and brighten my day. It's something enjoyable I can take anywhere - into class, work, etc. No deep psychological reasons. I just love walking over to my frag cabinet and picking out what I want to wear today, sniffing the bottles, looking at the bottles, etc, etc. The other part is that it's a natural extension of caring about what I look like. I'll never leave the house without showering, and I always throw on "proper" clothes before going anywhere, take care of my skin and body, etc. Fragrance is another level on top of all that.
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post #35 of 37
8/10/09 at 8:32pm
I've covered this ground elsewhere in this post: http://community.basenotes.net/showp...4&postcount=15

The post I reference from the_good_life pretty much says it all: http://community.basenotes.net/showp...64&postcount=4

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post #36 of 37
8/10/09 at 8:53pm
I love looking after myself part of which includes perfume. Fragrance helps me live the moment.
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post #37 of 37
8/11/09 at 12:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GourmandHomme View Post

Because as someone pointed out above, it's a private portable enjoyment. Even if you have a beautiful Raphael painting at home, you can only enjoy it at home. But a good perfume with great longevity and decent sillage you can enjoy all day, even at work. I like to surround myself with some form of beauty - hence the perfume passion.


Really well said! Wearing a good fragrance is better than carrying an iPod some days! Portable, reassuring, and enticing all at the same time. I can't think of many other things that bring such satisfaction.
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