eye of the storm

[permetaform]

Took a zen break today and broke out the Sea of Glass from my current BPAL pile to sniff, and I started trying to write an extended review for the BPAL scents and then realized that I have an absolute lack of
1) vocabulary
2) scent sense
I have no clue what I'm smelling half the time. huh. 'cause I know what I like but damned if I'm able to figure out what it is or why I do.

...I think it's like some people complain about when trying to review vids. huh.

In any case I find it funny that both my memory and my sense of smell is shot to hell because of the connections to scent and memory ::wry grin:: it's like that side of the brain has been pruned so that I can parse single frames. XD

On a side note, it seems that my skin totally eats up scent. Don't know if it's the amount I'm using, if it's my body chemistry, or if it's just 'cause *I* can't smell it. Any advice?

Comments

[devikun.livejournal.com]

On a side note, it seems that my skin totally eats up scent. Don't know if it's the amount I'm using, if it's my body chemistry, or if it's just 'cause *I* can't smell it. Any advice?

Hey P-chan, just popping in.

Actually you can't smell it because your senses have adjusted to it and filtered it out of your awareness. Ask someone around you if they can still smell it when you realise you can't. Probably, they will be able to.

And if not, at least it made for a good excuse to get them to stick their noses against your neck and snuffle like a puppy! I think if more people acted like puppies, the world would be a much happier place!! ~_^

[hannahrorlove.livejournal.com]

Heh. Do you want me to come back over and play the Miles to your Jack?

'cause I know what I like but damned if I'm able to figure out what it is or why I do.
I have always been trying to figure out why I like stuff. Even back in second grade, I would try to figure out why stuff was cool, or cute. Which explains a lot.

[sithjawa.livejournal.com]

I used to be able to get nothing coherent out of the BPAL scents except "Ooh, I like this." I find I'm able to differentiate stuff more with practice. Sometimes it's very odd. I got a vial of Cerberus and was very disconcerted to discover that it smells exactly like lemon truffle despite having nothing lemon-y in it according to the site. Now I'm able to detect the sweet scent and the sharp scent that combine to make lemon, and if I think about each of them individually it's nothing like lemon. Which actually makes it even weirder. (I used to be able to figure out what each scent was, but I can't right now, possibly because I woke up about 5 minutes ago)

Most of the BPAL scents that I like, I can't smell myself wearing unless I put my nose right up to my wrist and sniff, and everything except the musk wears off in about two hours. The exeption are the flower scents, which seem to get into the air a lot more. Some things seem to last longer with lotion as a carrier (I can't even wear sudha segara straight, for example. It just goes away. But it works in lotion). I think somebody on the LJ community originally suggested that to me as a way to make the scents diffuse into the air less. I have no idea how it works. *is mystified by chemistry*

[rydra_wong]

...I think it's like some people complain about when trying to review vids. huh.

Interesting - I think I learned to analyse scents in the same way I'm currently trying to learn to analyse vids.

As with vids, having examples of analysis and commentary is really helpful.

You could try finding a few scents you like where you can find a breakdown of the main ingredients online - preferably divided into head, heart and base notes. Different perfume notes are more or less volatile, so the "head" notes are the stuff you smell first off (often the lighter, fresher stuff), the "base" notes are the stuff it dries down to after several hours (often heavier, wood or musk-type stuff), and the "heart" is everything in the middle.

Then practice. If it says it's got rose in, see if you can smell the rose. If you can't recall what a particular element smells like (which will inevitably happen - labelling smells verbally is not something most cultures develop), then sneak off to a local health shop (or friend who cooks or uses aromatherapy) and sniff their spices & essential oils.

[permetaform]

possibly, but I've also tested the same scent simultaneously on clothes and wood and it sticks like WHOA. on my skin? gone, in like 30 min. which is abnormal for these scents.

...but hee!! great idea with the body sniffing! will keep that one in mind!

[permetaform]

oooooooo, yes please!

and me too, I've always been interested in that, but in this case I'm totally befuddled as to where to start learning what I want to learn...

[permetaform]

I will definately have to look into the lotion thing, esp. for Sea of Glass. And you're right, I think I'll just have to practice at it.

[permetaform]

That makes tons of sense, thank you! And also gives me an excuse to goof off and make excel spread sheets...::mad scientist cackle::

[rydra_wong]

Btw, I have quite a few scent references books, so happy to share info at any point - I admit I'm a perfumery geek.

[permetaform]

OOO! Neat! Do they say anything specific about buttery/foody scents or how best to store them?

[rydra_wong]

Scents that smell buttery/foody, not ones actually containing butter/food, right? :)

Generally, most scents will store fine somewhere away from sources of heat and light. It's a good idea to keep them in the original box (or another box) to keep light out - bright light can make them go "off" (otherwise they should last for several years, although all scents tend to degenerate eventually). So, cupboard good, sunny windowsill bad.

For most scents, the actual perfume oils make up a pretty small percentage of the total - it's the base (alcohol-and-water or oil) which might affect how you store them, not the scent notes. Are BPAL scents oils?

Foody scents in general are increasingly being classed as a group unto themselves (sometimes called "gourmand" scents). Most scents contain at least some ingredients from food sources (like spices, fruit, citrus, etc.) but it's in the last few decades that people have started making scents that really push the food angle, e.g. with notes like coffee, rum, caramel, chocolate, etc.. I can list some if you're interested.

[permetaform]

ooo, thank you!

BPAL's website says that it's 80~100% oils, and yeah, I really adore the gourmand scents, please do list them? ::bounces::

[rydra_wong]

BPAL's website says that it's 80~100% oils,

Then I'd guess just store them like you would essential oils - somewhere cool and dark. Some people actually store alcohol-and-water-based scents in the fridge, but that could solidify an oil base.

Gourmand scents ... there are so many! I don't know the BPAL scents, so don't know which of them would fall into this category. But off the top of my head, first thing in the morning, before I've had enough cups of coffee, a totally skewed and personal list:

Okay, the first really famous gourmand scent was Thierry Mugler's "Angel", chocolate and caramel and candy-floss. Some people love it, some people find it way too sweet.

Yohji Yamamoto's "Yohji Homme" has gorgeous coffee and rum notes, and a bit of licorice (N.B. scents for men and women actually draw on exactly the same range of ingredients; the gender distinction is just stereotyping and marketing - e.g. a heavily floral scent probably won't be marketed to men. So ignore the rules and buy what you like - you can engage in olfactory cross-dressing without anyone noticing!).

L'Artisan Parfumeur's "Dzing!" is incredibly interesting; it's got a real caramel note in there, but overall isn't sweet. And most people seem to think the top notes smell like cardboard, but mostly "in a good way". Seems to react very differently on different people - some people say it just smells like burnt rubber on them.

I think some of their other scents are also pretty foody - "Mechant Loup" has a hazelnut note, for example.

Givenchy's "Pi" isn't strictly a gourmand, but has the most wonderful benzoin core - like vanilla, but more complex. "Le Feu d'Issey" - again, not strictly a gourmand, but it's got this milky note in with pepper and spices.

Comme des Garcons have a whole new range called "Sweet", with scents like "Burnt Sugar", "Spicy Cocoa" and "Sticky Cake". All very sweet, obviously.

Demeter do lots of single-note scents, some of which are very foody.

(Are you interested in tea-based scents, by the way?)

[permetaform]

ooooooo, nice, and yes I would love some tea-based scents (me = tea freak), my favorite would be the savoryness of oolong translated into a scent, but is that even possible??

[rydra_wong]

Oh, there are some gorgeous tea-centred scents out there - Bulgari has a nice scent with a really sharp green tea note (Eau Parfumee au The Verte), and apparently they now have a white tea-based scent (Eau Parfumee au The Blanc, logically enough). Thé Pour un Été by L'Artisan Parfumeur has jasmine tea, I think.

Tea notes have actually become relatively frequent lately - IIRC, there's a green tea note in in CKOne, for example - but mostly in things which are green, floral or oceanic, generally relatively light and fresh. But "Comme Des Garcons 2" has a green mate tea note in with sumi ink and cedar and all sorts of dark things.

One I really love is Comme Des Garcons "Tea" scent (in the "Leaves" series) - it's not quite a single note, but has this amazing smoky black tea note with hints of bergamot and rose and cedar.

Apparently there's actually a scent called Eau D'Oolong, but I don't know what it's like. And I've read some raves about Crabtree and Evelyn Song de Chine, which has oolong in - it's discontinued, but it's often possible to find discontinued scents online. We Live Like This does an "Oolong & Mulberry" range, but again, I can't vouch for it.

[permetaform]

ooo, sorry for the late reply, but thank you so so much for giving me these tips! awesome, truly! =D