Where do you now stand in your understanding of frags?

[Bigsly]

If none of the poll choices apply, go ahead and explain your sense of where you stand.

[SoGent]

It's been less than a year since I joined here and I've found that the more I think I know the more I learn the deeper I go.

I've also learned my tastes continuously change but that's alright, I'm enjoying the journey and how it integrates with life in general.

[StylinLA]

^^^^^^ Yup

The changing taste thing is a killer, eh?

[Buzzlepuff]

The more I know . . . the more I realize how little I know. Anyone who says they know all that they can know doesn't know what they don't know. Ya know?

[Sugandaraja]

I voted for #3, but there is SO much more I want to learn in this hobby. I'm very ignorant of the aromachemicals that play such a very important part in modern perfumery, rather than the - largely - nature-referencing "notes" that act as guidelines.

[justaguy]

You can always learn more!

[JON RODGERS]

Same as Galamb - I went for #3. I'm fairly competent but always learning something new.

[The_Cologneist]

Gotta agree with the last 3 posts. Although It has helped me tremendously now knowing that perfume/cologne refers to the strength and not the sex it's marketed to.

[knit at nite]

When i grow up I want to have a nose at least in the same ballpark as mrclmind

[adonis]

When i grow up I want to have a nose at least in the same ballpark as mrclmind

+1 .

[gerbick]

I'm a definite neophyte and don't mind admitting it since that means I get to continuously learn from folks. Can't say that Basenotes has changed my tastes as much as it's helped me figure out why I liked what I like.

[knit at nite]

+1 .

high 5, adonis baby!

[Ken_Russell]

I guess I am somewhere in between intermediate and upper-intermediate level

[Jimi Hendrix]

I can only smell one note in a fragrance. For example, I just can't feel any more then vanilla in Givenchy's Pi.
I can't differentiate amber from leather. I can't tell what is amber and what is leather.
When I smelled Habit Rouge I felt only woods in it.
In Kouros I can feel incense, civet, vanilla, honey, corriander and woods. This is my most complex fragrance.
In Terre's d' Hermes I feel only lemon.
JOOP! Homme smells sooo good, but I don't know what it is in there.
In Jaipur I feel....ah...(this is hard to do...)...flowers....aaah....vanilla. That is the single note I understand.
In Dior Homme I feel....nothing....there is not a single note that I know. I just can't tell what this smells like, even through I used it twice from a sample.
etc etc etc

Jimi Hendrix

[Le Grand Duc]

The more I know . . . the more I realize how little I know. Anyone who says they know all that they can know doesn't know what they don't know. Ya know?

+1

I'm no newbie, I've been into frags in 16 years now, since I was 14.
But I cannot detect various notes in a frag, well, some of course, but
not many. I simply dosn't interest me, I'm more into the overall smell,
flacon design, and such things.

I'm fairly good at placing frags in genres.

I voted #2.

[Geikamir]

I can detect at least one note in most things I smell. Sometimes I can even get 2 to 3 notes right the first time. I'm new to even trying to separate the different scents. I, as others have mentioned, typically prefer to take the whole scent in. Picking out each scent kind of takes away the mystery and allure of finding new scents. Yeah, it makes blind buys harder that way, but that's half the fun .

[The_Cologneist]

Kind of off topic, but a great way to test our noses would be to go to a place where there are open testers (without pesky counter girls trying to get you to buy) and try out some stuff. Write down what we think is in it, or text it to ourselves or email.. then come back home and see how accurate we were based on the pyramids and other resources. I think I'll do this in the days to come.

[mtgprox05]

I'm somewhere between option 2 and 3. I've sampled hundreds of scents, but I still don't have near the level of skill at identifying notes as many others on these boards. But, I DO know what I like, so that's at least a good thing.

[Pour_Monsieur]

I would say I was probably #2 , still consider myself a novice enthusiast with an insatiable appetite for knowledge

Not half as articulate as you lot but I know what I like

[slimbob714]

There is a large gap between #2 and #3. How about - sampled hundreds and can identify some/ many?

[boosh]

I've just taken a step up from #1 to #2, I think. Learnt a lot in the last month

[jcrich]

I'm a 2 as well. I've learned a great deal from BN but I'll never be a "nose".

[Emlynevermore]

I am somewhere between Options Two and Three, having sampled over a hundred fragrances and being able to identify many notes. Floral notes give me trouble because my experience with the real things is limited, if improving, thanks to a gardening-crazy mother. Importantly, I am able distinguish what I actually like from what I can appreciate from what I don't like and from what I don't appreciate. That's certainly a start...

As with all education, fragrance appreciation is an ongoing-process and secretly, I hope never to reach a state where I feel as if scent has nothing more to teach me. When it stops being fun, I'm outtie.

[N_Tesla]

I cannot imagine ever knowing all that is about fragrance but, I certainly look forward to the journey on the path of that goal. Fragrance is one of the few things that bring me joy in this world.

[Diamondflame]

I'm still a newbie as far as I'm concerned. One who can't keep his nose from sticking into other people's fragrances, I'm afraid.

I was at a perfume store earlier, when a Japanese lady walked in and asked the SA if they stock 'Rumeur'. The SA looked perplexed and asked, 'Rumeur?' And I couldn't help but intervened with the quip: "Rumeur from Lanvin". Her boss was amused but the SA was not. That's a little payback for refusing to test the Diorissimo on my skin beyond a cursory dab of her finger (It's an EDT for God's sake, not parfum! And how many people actually walk in to sample the relatively obscure Diorissimo?)

[odysseusm]

I voted #3, based more on the number I've sampled than the notes I can detect. I am getting better with the notes, but like others have said I feel I still have much to learn.

[jenson]

I can identify several notes and understand at least some of the genres

[perfaddict]

I can identify several notes and understand at least some of the genres

Same here, though my "several" may not be that many. and that is after about 32+ years of almost daily fragrance use. I am more into the experience and enjoyment of frags than into analysis. In the analysis aspect, i am a newb. I may know a lot about designer classics, but not so much about their component notes. My membership of BaseNotes makes up for my handicap.

[lacellrein]

when people here describe fragrances it seem like an olympic dive. you know opening, middle, base. i wish i could do that. to me it's just linear. even though i know this is not what i smelled a few minutes ago. i can never tell that it is changing on me.

[actiasluna]

The more I know . . . the more I realize how little I know. Anyone who says they know all that they can know doesn't know what they don't know. Ya know?

Oh, I know... I know! (love it. There is ALWAYS more to learn.) +1