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What Is the Smell Of A Person?

post #1 of 14
11/28/10 at 11:19am
Thread Starter 
I see many, many (many) topics relating to signature fragrances. Many of us on here have favorites, but avoid the concept of a "signature" for the sake of variety.

My discussion question is this: Is there really a fragrance that so perfectly compliments a person? Is there such thing as that one smell, that one blending of oils that is meant to be on a certain person's skin?
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post #2 of 14
11/28/10 at 11:24am
This so reminds me of the awesome movie Perfume.
I'm sure each person's smell is unique according to so many anatomic, phsyiologic, environmental, dietary, et al variables. It would be nice to see if we could get a personal gas chromatograph and find out if we could actually synthesize our own scent.
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post #3 of 14
11/28/10 at 11:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JickyMan View Post

This so reminds me of the awesome movie Perfume.
I'm sure each person's smell is unique according to so many anatomic, phsyiologic, environmental, dietary, et al variables. It would be nice to see if we could get a personal gas chromatograph and find out if we could actually synthesize our own scent.

ls this what Neurosis meant? l thought he meant is there such a thing as the perfect man-made fragrance that is perfect for you & your skin chemistry etc, or perfectly compliments & expresses your personality? Did l understand correctly?
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post #4 of 14
11/28/10 at 11:38am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by teardrop View Post

ls this what Neurosis meant? l thought he meant is there such a thing as the perfect man-made fragrance that is perfect for you & your skin chemistry etc, or perfectly compliments & expresses your personality? Did l understand correctly?

Teardrop, you understood me right. I read what Jicky said and had to re-read what I said to make sure what I was trying to say came out right. I'm not talking about our own odor, more so the blending of a fragrance with our skin.
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post #5 of 14
11/28/10 at 11:43am
Sorry about my ADHD response. Hmmm. I wonder.
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post #6 of 14
11/28/10 at 11:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neurosis View Post

Teardrop, you understood me right. I read what Jicky said and had to re-read what I said to make sure what I was trying to say came out right. I'm not talking about our own odor, more so the blending of a fragrance with our skin.

Cool! Very interesting question. l guess in a way you're talking about that elusive "holy grail" we all dream of. Personally l don't really believe a fragrance exists that would capture all my moods & work for every occasion, but it's fun looking for it! As a wise lady once said; "the joy is in the journey".
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post #7 of 14
11/28/10 at 12:32pm
I found my signature scent which I've been wearing everyday and get very positive reactions from coworkers and customers. A beautiful blond female perfume connoisseur even told me that I smelled very good and she liked it very much, although she can't figure out what it was. Girls also like to be close to me on the bus and at work. I tested many fragrances (about $400 worth) before finding the right one that makes my body odor smells really good. I do move around a lot at work, so I tend to smell pretty bad in the afternoon. Now, I smell good even on the next morning.

Of course, you have to experiment and wear a lot of fragrances to get there. Sometimes, I smelled so bad with the wrong fragrance, that people made it known to me on the bus. I take a crowded bus to work and back home. I had to wear a fragrance several days, before I can make a decision. So it does take some time (over 1 month) and money.

When you are testing a fragrance, do not wear it on your chest. It will lead to olfactory fatigue, and you won't be able to properly evaluate it at the end of the day. Once you found the right fragrance, you can spray it anywhere you want with confidence.
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post #8 of 14
11/28/10 at 12:52pm
While skin type and other biological factors where never an issue or a concern while choosing a fragrance, I must say that I always chose what (purely subjectively and personally) "smelled good on me", though I still have no idea whether my skin chemistry had any contribution to that
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post #9 of 14
11/28/10 at 7:40pm
I've been sporting a new fragrance for about two months now that I feel mirrors my personality perfectly. It's been about 25 years since I felt this connection to a fragrance. A great deal of what I was sampling since that time had too many properties that were of the same value, nothing stood out. Sample, sample and then sample again and again to find the right one. I have found that if you really enjoy a fragrance and others enjoy it on you, it's usually a good match.
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post #10 of 14
11/28/10 at 7:56pm
I don't think that's possible. We aren't that one dimensional. Even people themselves aren't their perfect self through time either. Which facet of the person is the one that should be taken into account to be adorned with the said perfect scent? Even when the intention of the perfume is to help convey the image the person wants to convey to others, that is never one single -realistic- image.

Anyway, If I was offered the perfect scent for me, on the condition of not having any other fragrance, I would quickly turn it down.
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post #11 of 14
11/28/10 at 8:05pm
There are many parts of a persons personality that are stagnant through time. These are the traits that make us who we are and how people know us to be. I was just making reference to bowing to those parts of our personality through fragrance. I have worn many fragrances that I know spoke to those intrinsic elements.
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post #12 of 14
11/28/10 at 8:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neurosis View Post

I see many, many (many) topics relating to signature fragrances. Many of us on here have favorites, but avoid the concept of a "signature" for the sake of variety. My discussion question is this: Is there really a fragrance that so perfectly compliments a person? Is there such thing as that one smell, that one blending of oils that is meant to be on a certain person's skin?


I think that is over-stating the concept of "signature fragrance". Your signature fragrance is the one you wear "all" the time, and by which you are recognised; that is, it's your signature.

And it is only your signature if others recognise you by it.

Whilst I think it is essential that you like the fragrance, and wear it well; I can't buy the proposition that a signature fragrance needs to "perfectly compliment a person" or that there is one fragrance "that is meant to be on a certain person's skin".

That is to say, I don't think "perfectly compliment a person" and "meant to be on a certain person's skin" are the definition of "signature fragrance".
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post #13 of 14
12/18/10 at 2:43pm
This is a nice topic.
I have been looking for my holy grail too. And i have been looking for the man of my life as well. I have encountered both. More than once.

By now, i accept that a scent will be "me" for a number of years, or months, just like a job, a love relationship, a house. When there is a great change, my fragrances (i ususally have 2 signatures for going with small changes like weather, mood, etc) want to change too.

and like with the madeleine cake of Proust, when i smell a fragrance of my past, i will remember those times vividly. I love the girl i was when wearing Poison but i am way past her now, and would not want to wear it.
Reversly, i would like to have some of the happiness of the times when wearing Spellbound, so i might wear it again just to see if the scent brings out something i might be missing. Who knows it might trigger something. Perfume is so mysterious in the way it works on ones mind.
Probably i will settle for a fragrance (or 2..)that looks like me today with some elements of scents in my past that worked well.
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post #14 of 14
2/19/11 at 5:46pm
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I've always been amazed at how utterly differently a perfume can smell from one person to another. What smells great on one may be a horror on another. It's always made me wonder if one could, one day, distill the chemicals that your skin gives off and then find a complimentary scent by using the results. I am new here and am looking forward to reading more discussions like this!
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