What's in a name? According to researchers at Oxford University, it can affect how we perceive smells.
But don't be surprised if your rose doesn't smell as much like a rose as it used to. According to this article (link no longer working, sorry), flower breeders have concentrated on color to the detriment of scent.
Acqua di Parma's Iris Nobile fragrance was inspired by an iris garden near Florence. Read about it in the Times Online.
The Times article puzzles me. Is Profumo not a women's perfume? I thought that dated from the 1930s.
Almost every article I read on Iris Nobile called it AdP's first scent for women, so can only join you in puzzlement. Profumo does not seem to be promoted by AdP in general, and I have no idea why that is.
Researcher quoted in the BBC piece: “And people think it is a different perfume just because it is in a different bottle even though it is the same smell.”
No doubt! That's why I sort of like getting fragrance in plain lab vial samples from other enthusiasts. So I can smell it instead of having someone tell me what I'm smelling.
I have complained in the past, though, of misnamed fragrances or fragrances whose bottles misrepresented them, so I'm not entirely opposed to matching the name to the smell.
I do think context has a lot to do with how we interpret our initial smell sensations. Obviously, it's better to have your cheese smell like cheese than to have your clothes smell like cheese. Also, I love the smell of Chanel No. 19, but I certainly don't want it in my chicken sandwich. It's pretty funny that people need Oxford researchers to tell them this.
Completely agree that the context matters, and it is nice to smell from a perfume vial without the visual distraction of the bottle & packaging, but then, I still know what I'm smelling since the vial usually has a label. And the names lead to disappointment if the scent doesn't match…if a perfume is called Something Vert, I want it to be green, etc.
“Memory has a major impact on smell and we are very suggestible.” I tend to agree with this statement from the article, but to me it seems more of a suggestion than anything controlling. For example? Liz Claiborne's Vivid is anything but, so whatever they called it I think I'd still be bored by it. (And admittedly, calling it Nap in a Bottle probably would have hindered their sales.)
Yes, it doesn't always work. But if they put the Vivid in a Chanel bottle, would I like it better…or at least give it more of a chance? Hard to say, and I'd just as soon not find out
Roses sold in nyc from 24 hour Korean markets have vivid colour but almost no scent. They are also very cheap (often less than 10USD per dozen) as compared to the pricier roses one procures from a florist. Those roses have an intense scent and a price to match.
Interesting. I almost never see the old species rose bushes any more, and to my mind they had the best fragrances…lighter than a modern tea rose, but beautiful. Of course, they did not really work as cut flowers so it is no surprise that the florists aren't interested in them.