Today's poll was suggested by Shannon, who wants to know if you take your partner's opinion into account when selecting and/or buying perfume, and if so, how do you go about finding a fragrance you both like?
If you don't have a partner (or if, like me, your answer is a simple no), feel free to expand the question and tell us if you take anybody's opinions into account: do you stop wearing something if everyone around you hates it? Do you wear it more often if it gets compliments?
My husband has good taste, so I take his opinion into account. Otherwise no, I don’t worry about what others think of my perfume as long as I like it.
My husband doesn’t really have good taste in perfume…or at least, he doesn’t have *my* taste, which amounts to the same thing, LOL…
Luv that post title!
My SO always says that he loves everything that I try. If he really didn’t like it, I’d still buy it— but I wouldn’t wear it to bed or other times that he has to smell it up close.
That’s nice enough, I think!
Well, I am lucky…. The new boy likes pretty much everything I’ve worn, even some of the ones I didn’t feel were sexy.
But he especially likes Chergui
Ah, then he does have good taste!
Single, so I can stink up the apartment as much as I want!
I try not to overdo the “challenging” scents during the workday so that I don’t offend bus- or work-mates. I’ve never gotten a complaint but rarely get an unsolicited compliment either (though it’s happened a few times).
My best friend more or less enjoys me letting her sniff things now then (she loves L’Air du Desert because of me), but sometimes I think she thinks I overdo it. She also laughs that I sniff my own wrists all the time. And once she pretended to choke because I put on FM Une Rose before getting in the car.
I am caught sniffing myself all the time — frequently in the car. Better than getting caught picking your nose, I guess!
I sniff my wrists like a mad woman, but I think it’s charming. And when I see others doing it I wich I could close enough to see what they’ve chosen to wear.
me last week: sitting in a hospital gown waiting for a chest x-ray sniffing the Agent Provocateur Strip on my wrist in a crowded waiting room. *perfume dork* lol
bet you were the best smelling person there though!
We have this joke — she says seeing me sniff myself always reminds her of a New Yorker cartoon: A dog is laying on a psychiatrist’s couch and says, “I can smell my own fear.”
I love it!
I meant *wish* and *get close enough*, crummy computer fingers.
LOL uh-oh …now I’m going to think about that every time I catch me sniffing myself!
I also sniff myself a lot. Constantly… My friends know about my obsession because I also sometimes ask for their opinion. Not that I cared! I don’t mind what my friends think, but I find it interesting to hear their associations.
I do respect though if my partner doesn’t like something. And I ask the same of him, pleeeease no Armani City Glam this weekend! Please no Jasper Conran chemical fake Vetiver! But his taste improved since he has to listen to all my waffle on fragrance.
I do absolutely respect WORK athmosphere though. No heavy, oriental, too flowery or animalic scents in the office. I have to cope with some heavy vanilla from a colleague, I think it’s Dior Addict, every day (thank god I work only part time…). I often go to work without wearing any scent. Or I put on only a little, and then I have this habit of working with my nose rested on the back of my left hand — sniffing — whenever I only need my right hand for the mouse. Probably looks a bit ridiculous.
I can relate to office perfume issues! At my last office I was stuck between Calvin Klein Euphoria and Paloma Picasso….when my boss (who I swear bathed in Michael Kors) would stop by it created this evil cloud of fragrance miasma! I’m not dissn’ the scents, don’t get me wrong, I just think there are some that should just be off limits in an office environment…and others that should be applied sparingly!
That would be a great poll by the way, not sure if it’s been done…”what not to wear to the office!”
maybe you should have worn one of those plague doctor bird masks and possibly they would’ve gotten wise to their roving miasmas lol
I work at a big strange architecturally infamous office building/hotel in Dallas where most everyone works for a hedge fund of some kind, and the elevators are always SATURATED with the reek of Euphoria, even when empty.
I have my perfume on the back of my hand too…looks funny when I’m driving & sniffing
I’m not really a wrist-sniffer, though. More of a crook-of-my-arm-sniffer, which is less pretty, but there is where the scent is strongest. My husband has vetoed so many of my ‘fumes… some of which I loved. He can’t abide by anything even vaguely “masculine,” and hates rose.
OK, fellow wrist and hand sniffers: How many of you will confess to pulling your shirts or dresses forward and pointing your nose downward to sniff your chests? I do it every once in a while, even in the car. I’m pretty discreet, but who knows? I may occasionally make some truck driver’s day!
When I’m down there I’m usually fishing out whatever food item I’ve dropped down my shirt LOL
ME!! Sometimes it has worn down on my wrists and the protected area under my shirt still has fragrance. Tends to happen later in the day.
Oh yeah… I’ve pretty much regularly get my nose down the front of my t-shirt. Also try to avoid being caught doing that. Sometimes I’ll just pull the neck of the shirt in and out (like I’m too hot or something) so that I get a little waft drifting up…
Weirdos, the lot of us…
Oh yes! For daytime wear out among the rest of the world I only use one spritz a bit below the neckline and sometimes during the day I have an urge to check whether the smell is still there or not :)!
My husband tends to get a headache from strong scents, so I can’t apply too heavily at home when he’s around. But he likes to explore smells and is always interested in my experiments. As I like traditionally masculine scents I make us both try something just to experience the differences. So far we have come to share a bottle of Burberry Brit for men and I suspect we will find more stuff of common interest over time.
LOL I’m busted! I pull the same trick that Joe does! The ‘boy, is it hot in here or what ! ‘ shirt waft….what can I say, the ‘girls’ are a nice warm body area!
it’s okay, Haunani, truck drivers gotta have something to look forward to!
Daisy and Joe, I’m going to adopt your “I’m hot” tactic. Yay, now I’m one step closer to being socially acceptable! Ha ha
It could be a lot worse. Today I decided to see what the John Galliano tasted like because of a conversation we were having about scent and taste… and so I was caught licking my wrist by a few colleagues. Awesome.
Isn’t it hilarious that we all do this! I’m constantly sniffing my wrists at work. I NEED to wear perfume to work because it is a stressful place and I sniff to relax. The other nurses know this about me and laugh. I tell them it’s my inhalation therapy!
Its funny about sniffing yourself! I do it all the time too! Computer use has actually influenced how I apply frag to my wrists – for a long time now, I’ve been putting frag on the back of my wrists rather than on the front/pulse point area. I figure my wrist rest will be getting all the fun and the frag will wear off. So I put it on the back of my wrists, and am always bringing them up to sniff during the day!
My husband has told me that it is funny to watch when I am testing a few at once, b/c normally there will be 2 or 3 frags from the back of my hand up to my forearm. He jokes that sometimes when I’m smelling my forearm it looks like I’m going to wipe my nose!
I’ve concluded that the “obvious sniff” is better than the “sly sniff” as my daughter informed me : the sniffing might be a little odd looking, but the sly sniffing looks suspiciously like a nose wipe!
As Robin said: being caught sniffing has got to be better than the less sanitary alternatives!
haha I’ve had coworkers catch me sniffing myself, but they’ve always been sweetly curious and not too weirded out. Unless they secretly go back to their desks and say, “Man, that Katie really is odd…”
Aww, my fellow wrist-sniffers! I am constantly doing that, too, as much on the sly as possible, but coworkers and family have to have noticed it by now. But let’s face it, I wear perfume for me, not the people around me, so of course I’m smelling my wrists! And I second that spraying the back of the wrist! I refuse to have it all rubbing off on the computer!
That is a good idea….I’m always trying to keep my wrists off the edge of the computer table but it’s not working and I have to admit the computer table is beginning to have it’s own perfumed aura. The good news is that my oak computer table smells great in Chanel 31 Rue Cambon!!!
The bad news is that my table now thinks its too CLASSY to have an empty diet pepsi bottle sitting on one corner and half a box of crackers on the other.
If a customer hates a fragrance that I love, I just accept the fact that I have better taste than them and offer them a spritz of AdG. (j/k.. almost!)
LOL…they all end up buying the AdG too, don’t they?
Most of them. That or the latest Hugo Boss
Figured it was so.
haha yes! that is always the case
We’ve sort of turned it into a family hobby, in a way, though I’m the only one really into it. I ask my husband and daughters what they think anytime I try a new one. If I love it and they don’t, I’ll probably get some at some point anyway, but I do tend to prioritize for purchase the ones that get the best overall reaction. Like the pp though, if I loved one he hated, I’d still get some and just wear it when he’s not around.
That’s nice! Nobody in my house is interested.
Well, mine mostly smile and nod in the way that says “that’s nice, you’re boring me, and I think you’ve gone a little mad”…but they still smell everything and tell me what they think.
The 4 yr old has the most enthusiasm…and I must say, the best taste.
I know that nod!!! I get it all the time!
I think we all get that nod. You know there’s an eye-roll and/or exasperated huff after we turn away, too.
oh, I completely ignore that part…..especially since I roll my eyes and huff when the CEO waxes poetic about classic cars and other equally unimportant stuff.
Unless my husband says it smells like embalming fluid or a funeral home(FM Musc Ravageur) or like a grandma(Shalimar) ,I’ll just about wear anything. I want him to like my scent though. Just like I had better like his and can’t live with ones I don’t like.(Marc Jacobs for Him, I’m lookin at you!)
Don’t really know the smell of embalming fluid or funeral homes (I live in Italy), but now I have a reason to be embalmed someday!
funny you should say that because i was just reading an article in national geographic about these sicilian mummies and how toward the end (the 20s) the embalmers were selling their embalming fluid formulas to mortuaries in the united states.
Funeral home! My new love, Musc Rav! Better that I remain single, maybe…
It’s true…I made my husband switch (Nautica to Guerlain Vetiver) but I pay no attention to what he thinks of what I’m wearing…”grandma” doesn’t bother me in the least!
Oh, I always thought one of the classic concepts behind fragrance is that it works on the axes of enticement, seduction becoming intoxicated with another or yielding the power of seduction… In French and German idioms commonly used to communicate the dislike for someone literally translate to “I can’t smell that person” — whether this suggests that the metaphorical smell of this person is unpleasant or whether it implies a Grenouillesque absence of personal odour is unclear… I think it can be both, and mean slightly different things either way.
So to me this is an interesting question that reveals quite a lot about what one wants from a scent.
I personally don’t have very many perfumes (!YET!) and have only worn three different fragrances regularly for the past few years that I’ve been with my boyfriend. He is more or less indifferent about two of these perfumes, but the third is the one I wore when I met him and he is crazy about it, even a little obsessed.
Sadly, his sense of smell is below average; he smokes, drinks a lot of alcohol and coffee and is a painter so has his nose is polluted by chemicals on most days… But he always recognises this one perfume strait away, even when I haven’t even stepped in to the room yet.
Although I have myself grown a bit tired of this fragrance (and it’s discontinued, grrr) I still sometimes wear it around him because the love is overwhelming and I do appreciate being able to have such an effect on another person.
I wouldn’t have a problem wearing something others don’t seem to like; however, I would be careful about the dosage, though this is true of every fragrance I wear. I don’t flaunt scents as I find this can be a bit taxing and invasive.
I haven’t gotten very many compliments on any of my perfumes or things I’ve experimented with (I sometimes feel that a lot of people are shy about announcing that they love or hate how one smells), but I believe that if a lot of people (who’s style I admire) were to tell me I had struck gold I would definitely sport the winner a lot.
Hmm, for someone who claims to hate monster sillage I certainly do leave monster posts! Sorry!
…and yet, you failed to name the source of his obsession? you must know you can’t do that here!
yup…tell us….enquiring perfumistas want to know!
It’s not much of a femme fatale scent at all, in fact I find it soft and rather quiet, an introvert among the divas: Jil by Jil Sander, in a humble milky round glass flacon, the name just three letters in red capitals… The last bottle I have has mutated a lot from how I remember the fragrance when it was still fresh — it was marketed as a woody oriental but I can smell some pear and rasberry in there now, too… Though I’m not particularly gifted at identifying notes, too much of an amateur.
N, that is so interesting about “I cannot smell that person” — did not know that!
We have similar expression in Russian – “I can’t stand his/her smell” – which means a very strong aversion to somebody or something.
My sweetie has gone from mostly anosmic and disinterested to occasionally interested, to being able to identify major notes and, most recently, has graduated to asking for little “scent sessions” where I pick out some things for him to where. I can count on one hand the number of times he’s been actively offended by something I wear, though the times that he is actively pleased are equally slim.
All of which is to say — nope, don’t think about it at all. But I often make him sniff something I’m particularly happy about, and when he likes it that makes me even happier.
Ugh. Wear.
I swear to god that typing on screen all the time has destroyed my ability to proofread as I go. I never used to have this problem.
I’ve “actively offended” my husband much more frequently than you, LOL…and can’t tell you how many times he’s said “isn’t that for MEN”, even when no, it isn’t
single
My Mom doesn’t like Coco Mlle she says “too strong” and I have it decanted and only dab on the tiniest bit lol other people seem to like it though.
I gave myself a spray of Shalimar when I was at Sephora and then went into another store and the salesgirl immediately said “wow, you smell so good!” lol I’m not so sure about the Shalimar myself… I guess I’ll try it again sometime.
I’ve worn Coco Mlle too and this is one of the only ones I got a few compliments on — I think it appeals to a fair amount of people, which is what focus groups are for, I guess.
I myself have never gotten in to Shalimar either, which is surprising as I love orientals and powder… I would like to try the new summery editions though…
My mom loves it when I wear Coco Mlle, but I think it’s mostly psychological since she loves all Chanel fragrances so much. It just makes her happy to know I like the same house she does.
I think my Mom has gotten so used to wearing no perfume that everything is too strong. I remember her wearing White Shoulders when I was young and I guess she eventually got sick of it. I’ll just take the comment and file it with the “I don’t like your hair blond” and “you wear too much eye makeup” lol
Haha exactly. Trust me, I know the feeling…I went home for the weekend a few weeks ago and the first thing out of her mouth is “hmm your hair is darker what did you do to it?”
She generally does say I smell good though, and I’ve had fun introducing her to different scents, especially since she’s worn No. 5 and nothing else her whole life.
My mum has a big perfume colletion and as a child I loved how she would switch up fragrances to go with her outfits and the occasion, but nowadays I’m really pleased that she tends to stick with Coco (not Mlle), at least when she goes out in the evening, because I can recognise her by it. I know that most Fumeheads out there would not allow themselves to get tied down to one scent, but it can be so comforting when one can truly associate a person with a specific fragrance, I feel.
Ok: I’m happy when he likes a scent (other than the standard uh-huh thing, I mean some kind of real spontaneous reaction)… if only because my perfumista brain immediately makes up some further reason to buy the beloved fume, some higher ridiculous authorization: “hey, I’m not the only one who loves this here, it’s not some selfish epicurean purchase I’m doing”. What is it? Perfumista’s Sentimental Exploitation of the Couple?
On the other hand, if the poor man doesn’t like it and happens to ask “what IS this smell?” whenever I wear a scent (let’s say Bandit, he hates it), I don’t care too much. The best I will do is try to wear it when he’s not around, but that’s not always the case.
Oh God, now I’m not only a squanderer, but also a BAD wife, a couple exploiter for the sake of perfume budget!
and yet, we LIKE all those things about you.
LOL…yes, always good to have extra justification. You sound like your mental processes are very similar to mine!
My husband helps me test my decants and samples, and we often have ‘sniffathons’ where we blind-test my collection. First one to take a migraine is the loser!
Seriously, if there’s something I loved and he wasn’t that keen, it would burst my bubble a little, so I wouldn’t buy. Works both ways though, as I get to veto all his aftershaves and colognes.
I wonder how many relationships never got off the ground because of an overzealous spritz on a first date?
I used to wear a LOT of Samsara when I first started dating my husband, before I was a real perfumista (as chronicled below). He stuck with me though, but has told me since that he would practically choke when I’d get in the car with him!
I’m glad he stuck it out!
Aw, that’s sweet!
Kizzers, interesting question! I wonder too.
I have received compliments on my perfume before and it does make me wear that particular scent more often. My husband has disliked a few of my scents and I just don’t wear them around him. I try not to wear anything too challenging or with big sillage to work – nothing dampens your enthusiasm for a fragrance quite like having a 6 year old wrinkle her nose and say “eww, what’s that smell”? lol
HA…although I hear that from my 10 year old all the time.
Well, I still wear the “stinky” stuff – just not to work. Because, if it was up to my students, I’d wear nothing but Pink Sugar because “it smells like cookies!”
Yep! Antica Farmacista’s Vaniglia works too.
Like yours, it’s a simple no. Not partner’s, not anybody’s. Selfish me.
Hey M! Yep, we’re selfish
Unfortunately, my husband is almost completely anosmic. He can’t even smell skunk. If we’re driving past a spot where a skunk has been hit, and I mention it, he comments that it made his nose itch a little! The other evening I held a newly-opened box of Roger & Gallet Carnation soap under his nose and asked if he could smell it. “Not really.” Oh, well. It means I can’t share my obsession with him, but maybe in some ways it’s good because he can’t comment negatively on anything I wear (unless it makes his nose itch!)
Interesting! Does he think he has a sense of smell?
No, he realizes he doesn’t have one. However, never having had one (or not having had one for a long time), he doesn’t seem to miss it. He’s had allergies all his life, more severely when he was younger, so that may be the cause. However, it does not seem to affect his sense of taste.
Good that he doesn’t miss it & that it doesn’t affect taste…that would be the worst.
I wear scent for myself. Having said that, I don’t wear scents I know my husband dislikes if we’re going to be in close quarters. Apparently SL’s MKK is a deal-breaker at bedtime – who knew! On the other (second, third?) hand, I’ll also purposely wear things I know he *does* like every so often. He loves some of the Victoria’s Secret body lotions, so if I take a late-day shower, I’ll slather some on just because he likes it. Gotta throw him a bone from time to time, no?
I wear perfume for myself also. Besides the two fragrances I mentioned earlier, I always get compliments when I am wearing FM ‘s Carnal Flower and Guerlain’s Insolence. Some of the ones I really love–like Bois des Iles and Ormonde Woman, no one seems to notice.
MKK is not for everybody — & my husband would probably hate it.
My SO is an awfully good sport and generally finds the positive in whatever I’m wearing. I asked him once if he minded that I switch fragrances so much and he responded “no, because the base note of you stays the same and that’s what I love.” It was pretty darn cute.
awww, that’s the sweetest!
oh yeah, he’s a keeper!
Sweet!
AND he knows what a base note IS! Pour that man a brandy…
That is so sweet and very witty!
I definitely wear scent for myself. I work from home, so I can pretty much wear anything I want and not worry about offending anyone. My husband rarely comments unless I ask directly for his opinion. Sometimes he’ll say I smell good, which makes me wonder – is he just saying that to compliment me and make me happy or does he really like it??? Hard to tell sometimes. I had an eye appt today, and chose a non-offensive scent and limited the number of sprays. I mean, I don’t want to overpower my eye doctor. I also don’t want to make him drool! Ha ha.
Hmmm…OK, my husband just came home, and I had JUST sprayed perfume on me to amp up after the eye doc appt, so I apologized to hub, thinking it was too strong. He said, “Don’t apologize. It smells good!” What was it? One of my favs, Juicy Couture.
Won’t change why/when I wear it, but it certainly will make me happier that he likes it!
And works out very nicely if he likes one of your favorites
Zee boyfriend really couldn’t care less what perfume I wear, so I don’t worry about what he thinks. Although, he has a great dislike to Avingnon, so if he’s being a prat, I wear it.
That is hilarious!
Perfume as a weapon — olfactory warfare!
LOL — convenient!
I wear whatever I love. When I’m testing, I always ask husband for feedback, and he humours me. If he really doesn’t like something, like SL Louve, I’ll wear it when I’m not around him…that’s all
Funny he dislikes Louve — such a comfort scent!
A bit of a wolf in sheep’s clothing though, smells like a pink marzipan piglet to me.
LOL!
I agree, which is why I love it, but he says it smells ‘typical’….excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse meeeeeeeeeeeeeee! (cheeky grin)
I don’t have a partner currently, but when I’ve been in relationships I’ve usually found that either the guy didn’t notice what I was wearing, or it had to be blatantly vanilla for him to notice (i.e. CSP Vanilla Extreme). My relationship with scent is really about me, so I wear what I like, for me. But I do remember when SL’s Chypre Rouge came out, I had a sample and wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. My mom and sister thought it was absolutely awful, and I admit that influenced me, but only because I was on the fence about it. If I’d loved it, it wouldn’t have mattered what they thought.
Yeah, vanilla is usually popular.
I met my boyfriend at the exact same time that I started to get into perfume in the first place, about two years ago.
I had a mini-bottle of SJP Lovely then, that I kept applying secretly which made him sniff bewilderedly in the air.
Since then I have made him smell all sorts, though I tend to avoid rose because it reminds him too much of a rose water drenched auntie. His favourites have been Beach 1966, Kyoto, Infusion D’iris, Philosykos, Lys mediterranae and some Demeters. Last summer I even took a special note book with me for our holiday and made him rate every evening’s perfume, that’s how I know his favourites so well. He thinks I’m completely mad of course but humours me and sometimes comments very spot on and at least I enjoy these silly rating sessions very much.
But unfortunately he can hardly recognize the Lovely anymore, that he once thought of as my signature scent.
Hey, he has good taste if he likes all of those! And sweet to humor you, of course.
My husband is very sweet about pretending to be interested in my perfume, even though he knows if he asks about what I’m wearing he may end up getting a long story about why I find this perfume so interesting, the history, etc. I have a hard time just saying something is pretty. He’s even started wearing Bulgari Black after he hadn’t worn cologne in a decade! (I bought it for him, of course).
That being said, he really dislikes Shalimar (the old-lady thing again), but I won’t budge on that one. If I feel like bathing in it, I will. As far as other people are concerned, I wear even the strongest perfumes (fracas!) close to the skin so I rarely get comments or complaints. Unless I’m agressively shoving my wrist under a grilfriends nose ordering her to “smell this!” – which I am known to do!
Ironically, I used to get the most compliments on my perfume before I was a perfume freak. Probably because I would wear so much at once – I was a walking cloud! Like five squirts of Gaultier at all times! I couldn’t be ignored.
Also true though that many people complain that when they switch to “better” perfumes, they get fewer compliments. In all truth I think the best way to get compliments is to wear D&G Light Blue.
Wow, I had never heard that before. Now that I know, I won’t get so frustrated. The girl I work with says every one of my perfumes smells like “baby powder”!
Hello everyone! I’ve been out most of the day doing prep work for my next jewelry show, and darn if I didn’t miss a poll !!! Takes a while to read what everyone has to say.
My CEO mostly humors my addiction and rarely comments unless my wrist magically appears directly beneath his nose….which it frequently does…and I’m well acquainted with “the nod” that Boojum mentioned. If he does toss out one of those spontaneous and covetted “mmm, you smell really good” type comments I make sure to wear that around him more often. If I get a scowl-with-head-shake then I try not to wear it. I do tend to wear things that have been complimented more often (sucker for warm fuzzies) but I do have a few things that I wear just because I like them.
I could live w/ a scowl & head shake — I usually get “God, that smells awful” or “Wow, that’s nasty”.
Me, excitedly sticking my wrist under my husband’s nose: “here, smell this!” My husband: “smells like perfume.” Then remembering the Prime Directive in our Marriage, “uh, lovely.”
So, no, I don’t take his opinion into account, though if he said he hated something, I wouldn’t wear it again. Ditto at work; if a co-worker said they didn’t like my perfume (and they’d definitely say so if they didn’t) I wouldn’t wear it to the office again. Fortunately, I usually hear “that smells good!”
Oh, god! The “smells like perfume” comment, in the bored tone of voice. Heard it dozens of times from my DH.
“Smells like perfume” — that cracked me up.
Hmmm…I have unexpectedly found myself in a bit of a budding romance- and while normally I would say “No” like Robbin and Columbina- I must sheepishly admit that if this person were to express a distaste, I would probably not wear it around him (but still wear it if I love it). That said- thus far, he has only told me I smell great…
congrats on a budding romance!
How nice — hope it works out!
I used to wear Coco Mademoiselle years ago and always got complimented on it from both men and women. Now I notice that when I wear SL Fleurs d’Oranger, men always compliment me on it.
Interesting…wonder what it means? I certainly know plenty of women who love FdO.
I almost NEVER ask my husband if he likes something I have or want. There have been a number of times that I’ve learned not to ask him – it seems like the new-ness of fragrance isn’t always interesting to him, esp. when he may particularly like my “old” fragrance a lot, probably because he’s accustomed to it. He does however like rose fragrances very much, which I think is unusual, and always appreciates when I’m wearing a rose scent. There have been a number of times when he’ll say he doesn’t like something very much one time, and then weeks later he’ll say he likes the way I smell when it’s the same fragrance. I think it’s a matter of him smelling it at the opening or at drydown when the frag has calmed a bit and sinked into the skin. Fragrances he’s liked a lot are: Coco, Donna Karan Signature, Lancome’s Magie (La Collection) and Magie Noir, SSS Velvet Rose, Calypso Christian Celle Chevrefeuille (only the drydown), Ralph Lauren Safari, and, one of the highlights – when I’d just put on some Chamade and he said “You smell great!” The only frag I have that he’s outright said he didn’t like was Montale’s Powder Flowers, but that doesn’t stop me from wearing it, – I just don’t apply it when he is around. Otherwise, he pretty much tolerates my fragrance habit. I do like it though when he tells me I smell good, but I wear fragrance for my own pleasure and mood enhancing benefits. No one in my family or friends is a fragrance hound, so they wouldn’t care anyway, as long as I don’t put too much on. My toddler and cat feign indifference.
I am pretty isolated at work in my office, so I wear whatever I want to work, luckily, even though I do try to be conscientious of sillage, etc or when I have meetings. A few times staff have said they like Coco, or SSS Velvet Rose, or once a great response to Bal a Versailles. If they haven’t liked somethign I’m wearing they are too polite to say anything…helps that I’m the boss!
Sorry, forgot: the one scent Husband really hated was Mitsouko. Which was okay, because she’s not my friend either.
It is unusual, I think, for men to like rose. It’s about the only floral scent my husband recognizes though, so he likes being able to point it out.
My husband tells me if he doesn’t like something, and then I won’t usually wear it around him. But since I’ve recently been trying all sorts of new things and asking his opinion more, he finally confessed that to him they all mostly smell like… perfume. Doesn’t really differentiate. So I’m mostly wearing them for me!
That’s funny!
Hello, my name is Liz and I am a compulsive wrist sniffer!
I am a long time lurker on your site but have yet to chime in. This poll was just too good to pass up!
To introduce myself, I am a fragrance junkie…little bottles and vials spilling out of my purses, bathroom, bedroom, car not to mention my modest collection of full bottles. Problem is I haven’t found that one scent that drives my hubby crazy. I’m forever holding my arm under his nose waiting for that “Oh my god I must have you now” reaction. I usually get, “It’s nice” or “eh” and it goes downhill from there. I told him once that next time a woman walks by him and he likes how she smells to ask what she’s wearing (we all love that, right?!). He did…and she was wearing Allure…hmmmm, just not bottle worthy for me. So to answer the poll…I wouldn’t wear something my husband detests (around him anyway), but I am forever wearing scents he could care less about!
Hi Liz,
ah, how we all long for the one fragrance that will drive our men wild….it is however , BACON ….I had long suspected it, but my notion was confirmed in The Guide…..as I read what Ms. Sanchez wrote I could only nod and agree. yup, that’s right; bacon. It’d help if you also had some frosted cake stashed on your person somewhere….
I find you need to watch for the subtle nuances that accompany the “it’s nice” or the “meh” –coughing, choking, sneezing and faces are all bad signs—however an “it’s nice” with raised eyebrows is a high compliment.
LOL Daisy! For my house, if I could rub myself in eau de Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting, that would probably do the trick.
The Demeter group on Facebook has been asking for new scent ideas – maybe you could suggest that! I know it’s my personal favorite cake combo.
Hi Liz, and welcome! Too bad it turned out to be Allure
I am single, but I do take my coworkers into consideration when wearing a fragrance. I of course love patchouli probably more than any other substance, and wouldn’t you know my coworker hates it as does one of my best friends. So, if I know I’ll be in their presence, I won’t wear it, or those perfumes strongly based on it. Even though I wear perfume for me, I still try to think of others. So many of us wear perfume for ourselves, but we are in Aphrodite’s world here, and at least part us wears it to be esteemed and found attractive and beautiful. It did make me feel awfully good to be told after a date that my “cologne” (it was Mitsouko) had rubbed off on him and he could smell me all night long and was loving it!
I wish MY coworker had your consideration. He’s also a patchouli-lover and I just cannot tolerate the stuff. Unfortunately, he’s also the sort to completely bathe in it, so as soon as he walks through the door, BAM! there’s a huge wall of patchouli. If it weren’t for that, I could overlook the patch, but the massive sillage is simply unforgivable in a small office.
Too bad the smokers of the department don’t worry about THEIR sillage! I’d take overdone patchouli any day over cigarette smoke and cotton candy.
How could he not? What a great date scent.
Wow! I think wearing Mitsouko on a date is a pretty brave thing for a guy to do! Bravo.
Well, best to put it out there right from the start! Dating me = smelling this.
Wise policy from the start…you wouldn’t want to have to choose between romance and Mitsouko!
Yep, I think that’s smart. When I was single, I never wasted my time with fellows who didn’t like cats.
I’ve began to experiment with perfumes recently and I value my partner’s taste very much. He’s the one who has to live with my smell and I what him to feel good around me and not repulsed. I must admit that more often than not we share the same taste. So far, Patchouli Leaves, Five O’Clock, Black Orchid and Fifi Chachnil are my favorites and he likes them all.
How nice that he likes your favorites!
I generally wear whatever I want and apply lightly and my hubby doesn’t say anything. He’s not nuts about Narciso Rodriguez, but that’s the way it goes! Kind of like the time he told me he didn’t care for capri pants on women, I think I said “Tough!” You know, my legs aren’t 21 anymore…
LOL…yeah, capri length is a necessity.
Single here, so I can spritz with abandon! And luckily my 3 1/2-year-old is happy to sniff anything (and he loooves all those little sample vials), although I wonder if he’s getting a schizophrenic view of Mom thanks to my wearing a different scent practically every day.
When I was younger and even more foolish, I had those same schizophrenia worries about my various significant others — I can remember being 17 and running out of Penhaligon’s Violetta and panicking that my boyfriend wouldn’t like me anymore. Lordy, teenaged insecurity was the pits…
I do try to peg my scent to the context, however, particularly when I’m meeting new people or in a professional situation. Although I have been known to put on an f-you fragrance on occasion as well (for the record, it’s usually Bandit)!
If I could only have back all that time wasted on teenage insecurities! Not that I don’t have any now, LOL…but gosh, it was so overwhelming then. To worry about running out of your perfume for such a reason!
i test, choose, buy, and wear only for me. i have found that a lot of the men that i have known are almost anosmic for the entire universe!!!! but then, females are much more sensitive to scent than males are. that has been tested and proven.
i have worn a lot of lovely lovely scents (bal a versailles, samsara, chanel no. 5, norell, chant d’aromes–by guerlain, the coty flower scents from long long ago, fracas, casaque, bandit, ambre sultan, bill blass, y–yves st. laurent, ambre et diamant noir. fendi, joy, opium, paris, sung, marc jacobs, and others i am too feeble-minded to remember) in the sixty years i have been wearing perfume.
however, the ONLY scent i ever got complimented on was Aromatics Elixir by Clinique, and that was by men and women, and i got lots and lots of compliments! i mean a bunch!! and i still love it.
go figure.
Very interesting…would not think AE would be such a crowd-pleaser!
My mom hates some of my scents, particularly if they feature cumin… Dinner by Bobo has elicited a tart, “Your hippie deodorant has FAILED” on three separate occasions. I try to reserve scents that people hate for occasions when I am not with them.
My partner has tastes similar to my own, but not as expansive. He will generally find something interesting even if he doesn’t like it. I, on the other hand, am the oppressive partner; one of his perfumes really bugs me when the bottle begins to turn, well before it bothers him.
I love your mom’s line (“Your hippie deodorant has FAILED”) so much that I’m going to steal it!
Me too
LOL — excellent, I like your Mom’s humor.
I finally got a response to “What does this smell like?” from my SO that was not “I don’t know” or “like perfume” or “kind of strong, isn’t it?” I had him smell Olivier Durbano Rock Crystal and he said ” It smells like the hot oil they fry donuts in.”
I praised him mightily for offering up a specific response rather than the vague answers of the past. Progress at last!
I think ODRC smells like cedar planks over a hot fire and I love it.
Crowflower, that’s hilarious! And good on you praising him…
I have found that my friends who say they “hate perfume” and “don’t smell things very well” are wonderful at picking out scent notes from fragrances. My perfume “hating” friend April delighted me the other day by being enraptured by a scent and listing its notes, one by one. She just had to like the scent, which is not the case for orientals, aquatics, fruity scents, anything with orris or violet, and especially not amber or vanilla. (She likes pure florals… not that that was easy to figure out!)
Sooooo… which one was it? I’d love to know.
LOL! That’s pretty funny.
Hi all,
He gets a giggle out of seeing me sniffing my arm/wrist/hand etc in public though.
I wear fragrance to please myself. If my hubby likes it, that’s a nice benefit. Generally, my husband loves the types of scents I wear anyway, which are musks, chypres and orientals. He also doesn’t mind sniffing if I’m testing.
At work, I try not to wear anything with big sillage-we’re not supposed to wear scent anyway, so I’m not pushing the issue.
Nice that he loves all those categories!
My husband has two categories for my scent: “strong” and “subtle”. It is “strong” if it can be smelled without attaching his nose to my wrist.
Because of this, I usually only dab lightly, but when he is away, out comes the Aomasai and away I spray!
LOL — well, that’s easily enough taken care of, right?
Fun question and comments! My husband is a gourmand at his core. He loves pretty-smelling things, including flowers, herbs, spices, wine, etc. So it’s pretty easy to get him to sniff my wrist. He is a good sport and somewhat appreciative of my perfume passion. He especially likes it when I draw analogies between fragrance and wine appreciation. Now — how do I respond when my wonderful husband doesn’t like one of my pet fragrances? Count me in with the other selfish, bad wives, LOL. I wear it anyway!
Looks like the selfish spouses are winning here today!
Ever since my bf discovered my perfume collection he is too busy amassing a perfume collection of his own so he doesn’t bother to sniff me much anymore *sigh*. He did buy me stuff like Daisy and J’Adore but I have to give him the credit that he enormously and mischievously enjoyed AMcQ’s Kindom and got Kouros for mutual enjoyment.
Cool, you turned him into a perfumista! Do you guys share any fragrances?
This topic brought a sore subject to mind. Around 20 years ago, I fell in love with and got myself a bottle of Jean Louis Scherrer perfume. My boyfriend at the time [now my husband] absolutely hated it. Granted, it was quite strong, but I thought it smelled divine. Well, I got rid of the bottle and I always sort of fretted about that.
Wonder what he’d think of it now?
You know, that’s a good thought. I believe his fragrance sensibilities have matured and improved over the years. ha He has never disliked another perfume of mine. [but even if he did, I would never get rid of something I like again – that was a lesson learned.]
This particular topic is a challenge for me, as the Mister doesn’t care for anything. No matter what scent it is, if asked, he proclaims it as “chemical-y”. So, I don’t ask anymore, and buy what I like. But I do wish there were at least one scent he found divine on me…
I wonder if a light white musk scent might smell good to him…maybe something like SL Clair du Musc or Il Profumo Musc Bleu ? or SSS Egyptian Musk (which to me has almost a clean just washed with nice soap smell) might be another one to try around him.
Thanks, Daisy. I’ll give those a try. I’ve worn Body Shop White Musk and White Musk Intrigue off & on over the years (I started wearing white musk when I was in college in the early 90’s – eek!) I’ve also worn Auric Blends Egyptian Goddess. Maybe a different brand will get a good response.
Single and worried about nothing at the moment., perfume-sniffing-wise. Sometimes I wish I had someone equally interested in my life, but I’ll make do with occasionally sticking my wrist under my housemate’s nose. Today I am trying the Colonia Dulce by Maoli and he had me put some on his chest and walked away with his shirt collar perched on his nose (ha! another chest-sniffer). I did have a perfume-loving boss for a while, which was fun.
Hey, how’s that Maoli?
Hey, how is that Colonia Dulce?
I was going to comment on the next open thread, but maybe I’ll just repeat myself then (or not) – if you have ever been to Hawaii there is a way that your luggage smells when you open it after coming home that can cause an almost overwhelming nostalgia for the place you just left. Your clothes are moist from being in the tropics and are redolent of whatever tropical flower perfume or lotion you bought (and wore) there, your suntan lotion, the wilting lei you smuggled back, the inevitable box of chocolate-covered macadamias and all the finger-wipes on your clothes from the kettle korn. These kids nailed it. I don’t know how they got this scent from the notes they used, but they did. I love it. It is sweet, to be sure, but the floral part also has a nice sharpness to it, like the wilting lei, that keeps it from being pure candy. Perfect for beach days, for sure.
I sniff wrists constantly as well, and am frequently asking my two older kids (the 8-yo runs) what they think of whatever I’m wearing. My teenage daughter does a lot of eye-rolling, but my middle kid (who really likes Petite Cherie) usually has a serious comment, even if it’s brief: “I don’t like that one,” “That’s really nice,” or “It’s okaaaaay.”
I never ask my husband what he thinks… too much like begging. He doesn’t like the classics, and doesn’t like anything that isn’t definitively girly. If he spontaneously comments that he likes something, it is always (Always!!) a light floral. He likes floofy roses, but is rather indifferent to the deep, rich rose scents I particularly love (Parfum Sacre, Ta’if, Lyric). He’s also indifferent to the orientals that make me swoon (Vanille Tonka, Emeraude). I’ve only been interested in perfume for about six months, and the two fragrances he finds really attractive are, get this: Velvet Rose and Daisy.
So I don’t ask! I test new things during the day, when he’s elsewhere. I do try to avoid sillage monsters, even the Sesame Street monsters, at work, to the point that people don’t generally notice I’m wearing perfume – which is fine, because I’m wearing it for me anyway. The one comment I’ve gotten on my perfume at work was a compliment to 31 Rue Cambon last week. (Good taste.)
Husband did comment once that he really disliked a particular scent. It was Mitsouko – and that was okay, because I’m not crazy about her either.
That’s funny -my husband likes Velvet Rose too – and just about any other rose frag I may wear, except sometimes he says about Ce Soir ou Jamais – “there’s something funny in there” – and he’s right since he picks up on that wee bit of skank in there.
How nice that you got a compliment on 31 Rue Cambon!
Well, I have no significant other, so I wear what pleases me – and if that happens to attract someone else, so much the better! Still working on that part…
I do have to edit for work of course – someone in my office can’t stand lilac so some of my favorites are off limits. I try not to wear really big scents at work, but elsewhere, watch out cuz here I come with the Bal a Versailles!
OH – I regularly wear a modestly applied amount of BaV to work in the winter – just perfect! I’ve got a few compliments on that one, but I do primarily wear it for myself. Such a gorgeous classic!
perfume should represent your personality or your mood at that point in time, i don’t care if people dont like it as long as i like it. but is also nice when people compliment my taste
A, I think I agree in general that you should wear perfume to suit yourself. But I also think there’s something magic about wearing a scent that you know pleases a significant other – it’s like giving that person a little gift. It’s entirely voluntary.
And I’d also comment that I really appreciate people being careful with their sillage when they’re in situations where space is limited and leaving the area is infeasible. For example: the subway, the theater, and work. It would be inconsiderate of me to show up at the office drenched in Fracas, even if I adore it. I still have nightmares about that woman who had bathed in Opium before sitting down next to me in a crowded theater which was showing Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back!
Fun read
My fragrant hobby only started really budding in the dying stages of my last relationship, and although he always enjoyed what I wore I really couldn’t have been bothered to change my ways for him. Now I find myself with a new partner, but we’re still in the quite-polite-infatuation-stage, so it’s hard to predict how it will play out. He’s complimented me on a few of my favourites (Datura Noir, JM Dark Amber & Ginger Lily, Hiris, Eau des Merveilles – good taste, no?), but has also dropped a hint that he reeeeally likes my natural scent (awww).
In general, I hate overbearing sillage on others (in general, but in particular in enclosed spaces) so I make sure not to be an offender of that myself. With modest application almost anything goes, I find – there’s not been anyone yet who reacted very badly to any scent of mine.
The only one I wish would have an opinion – negative or positive, ANY would do – is my dad. He’s had a bad sense of smell for years and is fully anosmic now (parkinson’s… ugh), but he always appreciated the sensual stuff in life, including perfume. It’s a shame I can’t share this with him now.
Oh, sorry about your Dad.
If you can, watch an episode of a TV show called “Eleventh Hour” starring Rufus Sewell. It’s an American remake of a British show. He plays a scientist/investigator working for the FBI, investigating unusual crime cases. One episode is called “Olfactus”, set during NYC fashion week. Security guards inexplicably leap onto runways and attack models, bell-hops murder gorgeous women in their hotel rooms, and cabbies make violent lunges at their female passengers. Turns out a certain perfumier is behind the carnage………..
I don’t have a significant other, but when I wore Bandit to a party the other night, I noticed one guy edging a little closer to me – I could tell he enjoyed the scent I was exuding! He must have VERY good taste to like a woman wearing Bandit. What does THAT say about a guy?!?! VERY good things, in my humble opinion.
Needless to say, I wear what i want. I do care what others think of it though, as a perfume isn’t JUST for me. If a guy I am with really likes a particular perfume I wear, it enhances my enjoyment of it to know that I am bringing someone else pleasure too. I think it works both ways.
Sounds like fun — would like to see that show!
Also – just wanted to flag this up……..The Perfumed Court are doing a holiday sale on Caron urn perfumes. I just bought 8ml of Tabac Blond for a very reasonable price. GO ON EVERYONE! SQUEEZE ‘EM DRY!
hahahaha yeah, cuz they’ve been squeezing us dry for the longest time (and they don’t even have to try…we sign up for it!) –TPC might as well have direct deposit capability…
For me Profuma / Acqua di Parma has gotten the worst reviews. The bottle I have is from 2005, I believe, and I gather it’s been re-issued fairly recently, so my jury’s out on how the current release smells — but the older version is not much of a darling, at least in my circle (old fashioned as opposed to vintage, elderly ladyish as opposed to grande dame, they say), and as a result I hardly ever wear it. The flacon is so pretty, what a pity!
Interesting…I thought that was pretty.
Although I do have some scents that my husband isn’t crazy about (he called my Cashmere Mist “toxic”-smelling the other day), and I wear them anyway, I DO love it when he loves my perfume. There’s nothing like having the person you love most bury his head in your neck and say, “You smell good!” We’ve both gotten interested in fragrances over the last year and I love bringing him samples to see what he thinks. If Turin and Sanchez are any judge, he actually has better taste than I do.
Jen, you’re absolutely right – even though you might not have planned to please someone else when you spritzed, what a thrill it is when your sweetie tells you that you smell fab!
My partner usually comments on the fragrance I am wearing, and I on the one he is wearing, but as we both enjoy fragrances and respect each other tastes, we try to keep the comments polite.
In short: I would not dare “veto” a perfume he likes as I would hate him doing the same to me and preventing me from wearing a favourite!
He applies perfume in the morning mostly, after his morning shower and in contrast I am the one applying more at night, after showering too, but before a night out for dinner at some friends house or a restaurant.
I have introduced him to niche and his petite collection is wonderful, but seldomly am I tempted to “steal” something. I guess we have different tastes.
Sounds like you’ve got “healthy spaces” in the relationship, as well as appreciation for each other. Good for you.
P, you are wise to keep your mouth shut! It’s something I rarely manage to do.
My man and I have very similar tastes in fragrance, we borrow one another’s perfumes a lot, so I’m definitely interested in his opinion. I wouldn’t refrain from wearing something I love if he doesn’t, though, and I don’t think he would refrain from wearing something I didn’t like much, either. We are both very interested in the subject, so I would probably be more careful around other people than him, actually.
I can’t say that getting compliments on a fragrance makes me wear it more, though.
How nice that you can share!
It’s very nice, but frustrating when something I love smells better on him, and when he monopolises something I like, too. Smelling of the same fragrance feels like a no-no to me.
I think the world would thank me for not wearing perfumes I get compliments on more often, come to think of it, considering that the perfume I’ve received by far the most compliments on is Angel.
My husband likes just about everything, so I’m lucky, I suppose.
Very lucky!
My boyfriend is so strange when it comes to perfume. We were in Nordstroms a couple of weeks ago and he picked up Daisy. I’ve smelt it before and don’t particularly care for it. It’s ok but not something I want to wear all the time. But he loved it! Later that week he came home with the bottle as a present. I wear it because I don’t want him to feel bad. But when we’re shopping together I hold up the bottle for him to smell and give me an opinion on. He didn’t like David Yurman (I love it!), but he liked J.Simpson’s Fancy (YUCK!)! He just has a very bland taste. I would never wear something he down right hated though. Perfume is one of very few things we don’t see eye to eye on. Which hockey team we support is always a fight as well….
GO BRUINS!
Ah well, Daisy won’t kill you, right? And the bottle is darned cute!
I have come to the conclusion that ALL men love Daisy! [Results aren’t scientific, mind you.] I’m just sayin’…
My husband thinks Daisy is sexy. I think he’s slightly nuts, but then I admit to wearing it just for him from time to time. I just don’t want to live in it.
My perfume hobby is actually my girlfriend’s fault. I always had some latent interest, but it didn’t “blossom” until she suggested that we go on a sniffing trip to Harrods and split a purchase of The Guide. We then googled the ones we liked when we got home, found NST and other blogs, and I was off, off and away! My mania has slightly overtaken hers now, I fear. But it’s definitely a shared pastime.
Anyway: she always says that she doesn’t mind what I wear, since after she starts to associate it with me she will like it no matter what. (Awwwww…) But if there was anything she hated, I’d not wear it around her.
Oh my, promising not only to tolerate but learn to love a scent because you like it — that is going the extra mile!
It’s funny because this is what I laugh to myself about, when it comes to fragrance obsession and loyalty to perfumes; So, do you change the fragrance or change the mate? How you answer that question will say a lot about you ;D…
Change the mate!
i am guilty of wearing or trying to wear whatever my boyfriends used to like. but in my experience men really like very fruity mainstream perfumes so I always end up reaching for Be Delicious or Petite Cherie when I go out….
Hey, I like Petite Cherie too
I often try my new samples in my (small) office, my office buddy is luckily very tolerant, and he has even found SL’s tubereuse criminelle “very interesting” but had massive objections to Vero Kern’s Onda, the cleaning lady did too, so that’s one I’m never going to wear again.
That’s nice that he tries to be tolerant though!
My husband likes me most without any perfume. He allways tells me that I smell like a baby. But he likes if I enjoy a good fragrance. So I wear it for myself. My almost four little boy ist highly interested and wants to take a sniff all the time. He has a very good taste!
As I wore Clinique “Aromatics Elixir” at the office, which I like very much, everybody asked where the grandma was, who took a balm against her rheumatism. So I never wore it again there. My husband loves it.
Hey, how nice that your little boy is interested! Mine is most emphatically not.
I received the same reaction to Youth Dew (and, oddly enough, Obsession), but I still wear both of them. Youth Dew actually does remind me of my grandma, but that makes me love it that much more since it makes me feel almost as if she is still around. Plus, I think it smells good – the sillage is potent though, so I’m careful to only wear a little bit.
I usually compromise a bit, that way both me and my gf will be happy… However, if there’s something I really like, but she dislikes, I usually try to expose the scent to her a few times, during different occasions. That way I know I’ll get different reactions XD Besides, you usually discover something new in a fragrance each time you wear it!
It’s so true…sometimes you have a completely different reaction the 2nd or 3rd time you try something.
I wish my boyfriend were into the perfumes I wear, but every time I ask for his opinion he sniffs and grimaces, without fail. For a newbie perfume addict such as myself, it’s beyond irritating. Recently he and I were in a Barnes & Noble and we were walking past these two women when he stopped me in my tracks and whispered to me that whatever they’re wearing is how I should smell. Since I didn’t notice the first time, I went back and walked past them again. And what whiff did I get, dear reader? Vanilla. How typical!
Try to find a sophisticated vanilla that pleases you both & wear it once in a blue moon, and the rest of the time, wear what you like!
Thanks for the advice. I actually just ordered a couple vanilla samples from Luckyscent: Vanille Noire du Mexique and Vanille Sauvage de Madagascar from La Maison de la Vanille. Have you tried these before? Any sophisticated and interesting vanilla scents in particular that I should try?
You might try PdN Vanille Tonka or L’Artisan Vanilia, and here’s some more:
https://nstperfume.com/tag/vanilla/
Oh, and I totally wear what I like, anyway: Serge Lutens Daim Blond, FM L’Eau d’Hiver, Anick Goutal Songes, Parfumerie Generale Cuir D’Iris, L’Artisan’s Dzing and Pasage D’Enfer. He’s indifferent to all and absolutely abhors FM En Passant. The boy has no taste when it comes to fragrances; I’m learning to abide it. I just thought that perhaps I should try pleasing him…..once in awhile.
Merci!