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I hate perfume
I really, really do. All perfume, and yes that means yours too. But I loved the book Perfumes: The Guide, by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez. If you are rating this book along the single dimension of how skillfully it informs the reader, it is one of the best non-fiction books I have read, ever.
Plus it has good sentences like:
Nobody ever died from wearing Mitsouko, but lots of babies were born as a result of it.
And:
Fragrances for men are mostly identical crap, designed to trap you and give you away as a lout.
Recommended.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on May 8, 2008 at 12:59 PM in Books | Permalink
Comments
I hate perfume too -- gives me headaches, nothing seductive about that. It's such a strong physical response I have that I don't show up at as many classical-music or opera evenings as I otherwise might. All those moneyed ol' gals who fill the seats, every single one of them wears 'way too much perfume. Makes me wonder if perfume isn't something women do not for men but to make themselves feel good
On the other hand, the scents in some oils can hit me in the most pleasurable way. Vanilla, for instance ... Yum.
Posted by: Michael Blowhard at May 8, 2008 1:59:34 PM
I am by and large an environmentally-friendly person. But I am also one of those gals who can't leave home without wearing a few drops of perfume. Once I am used to a certain perfume, I no longer smell it that much, so I overdose. As a preventative measure, I pick from several perfumes every morning so I won’t get too used to anyone of them. I have heard some complaints, mostly from men, including, if not especially, when I am wearing Mitsouko. But I manage to convince myself that I love the zoo in spite of all the smell of it.
Posted by: Yan Li at May 8, 2008 2:45:44 PM
Thanks for the perfect Mother's Day gift recommendation!
Posted by: Jeff Berens at May 8, 2008 3:23:55 PM
Friend of mine wears vanilla extract as perfume.
Posted by: Pam at May 8, 2008 3:31:52 PM
Has anyone of you read "The Perfume" by Patrick Süskind? It's fictional, but it's amazing! (was also made into a movie last year or in 2006, but that's of course not as good as the book)
Posted by: Finja at May 8, 2008 3:55:18 PM
I hate perfume
Me too!
Posted by: Floccina at May 8, 2008 5:14:32 PM
As some one with allergies, I hate perfume/cologne. Forget trans-fats ban public wearing of perfume and close all those counters at department stores not to mention magazine inserts.
Foghorn Leghorn
Posted by: ron at May 8, 2008 6:44:43 PM
Finja,
yes. The book is maginificent, strongly recommended. The film is mediocre.
Posted by: LemmusLemmus at May 8, 2008 6:49:30 PM
It's odd to "hate perfume" in general, as opposed to certain scents, and odder still to declare a hatred of perfume and a love of vanilla, which is in fact an element in many perfumes.
Posted by: Virginia Postrel at May 8, 2008 7:30:35 PM
heard said that nothing turns a man on more than the smell of cinammon - such a buns in the oven
never cared for perfumes - and the history of how they were (are?) made can be most nauseating
most olfactories, though, can tell the difference between great (expensive) and cheap ones
older search dogs would be the most grateful if everyone wore some
some staunch wearers can leave their signature behind in a work area for up to ten mins.
why give a red scent when the vanilla white natural odors work best in human chemistry
better to use the good stuff infrequently, for special occasions - than the eau de yuck every waking hour
Cheers to pleasant whiffs
Posted by: TomG at May 9, 2008 5:26:07 AM
People actually like the smell of vanilla? Ugh!
Posted by: Tracy W at May 9, 2008 6:10:10 AM
Virginia -- A chemist who I asked about the allergic-to-perfume (while tolerating and liking vanilla) tells me, "My guess is that what's bothering you is one or more of the various scent bases and fixatives - musk, vetiver, ambergris, balsam, civet, and so on. You don't find those as much in non-perfume products, whose scent isn't their whole purpose." Further: "Vanilla is one of the scents whose note is almost entirely due to one compound, and it doesn't matter much if it was pressed from a bean from Madagascar or was loaded off a truck from a lab in Newark ...
Most other natural aromas are a lot more complicated."
Posted by: Michael Blowhard at May 9, 2008 7:04:53 PM
Your chemist is right on target on both counts, MB. Vanilla is indeed one of the simplest scents, chemically speaking. Burning rubber is in the same category - most of that smell is a lovely compound called thiophenol. And you can get most of the way to banana with isoamyl acetate, although since that's used so much as a cheap substitute, what it mostly smells like is imitation banana.
Luca Turin is a very interesting fellow - I wrote about him here, and he was kind enough to send along a copy of his "The Secret of Scent", on the science of odors. Some of his ideas on the subject are controversial, but the jury's still out on the key ones.
Posted by: Derek Lowe at May 12, 2008 12:22:19 PM
Hates all perfume but still bothered to read a guide to perfumes, and even recommends it. Yep, that's the real Tyler Cowen. Body snatchers haven't got to him yet.
Posted by: constant at May 13, 2008 12:27:49 AM
If you hate perfume you still might like this guy:
Christopher Brosius, an independent perfumer whose brand is called "I Hate Perfume."
He has a scent called "a memory of kindness" that smells, I swear to god, EXACTLY like tomatoes on the vine when the sun warms them up a little. And a little like dirt.
And all his perfumes are oil-based, which means they don't smack you in the face like an alcohol-based one does. They sit right next to the skin, so you have to get close to smell them.
Check it out: http://cbihateperfume.com/
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Posted by: Brian Boor. at May 23, 2008 5:31:54 AM
I agree
Posted by: Perfumes at May 27, 2008 5:51:48 PM
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Posted by: Brian Boor at May 30, 2008 3:24:09 AM
I love perfume,because of its pleasant fragrance...i can't blame you if you hate perfume but for me perfume and cologne are the best!!!
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