The scene is set: In only the flickering light of my monitor, I pass through electronic portals to meet others like me. I bring a vial to my nose, and immediately I’m transported to a dazzling olfactory world.
I am a secret perfumista.
— From Embracing Chaos at the LA Times.
An article direct from my heart!
Great. I have been lurking for years on your homepage,
Hope it will encourage people to delurk!
LOL I love it—clandestine sniffing under the cover of darkness….I totally get that…..
I have no such shame…I sniff in the early morning light
Hah! That’s great. Totally me… seldom poster, but perfume freak, just the same.
I bet there are hundreds of you out there!
This was a great article and beautifully written. Makes me now want to check out her novels. I left her a comment on the Times website as well.
Oh Chaos- What a fragrance to lead you down the rabbit hole! That bottle is so beautiful, I wish they would reissue it- that or I could happen upon one in a thrift store/eBay/anywhere. My secret perfumista life is something that I relish. When my 2 small daughters are asleep and my husband is dozing on the sofa, I log on and reconnect with myself – not as a mother, wife, or daughter but as my essential self, someone who is all too often lost in the shuffle of daily life but comes alive when discussing perfume and what it evokes for me. I really value all the like- minded souls I have discovered here- long live NST and many thanks to all!
I feel the same way exactly.
Let me know if you read her novels!
Totally my story, too.
And her novels look great!
Yes, a lovely article! Plus, I’m almost certain I’ve swapped with this woman (same name and city), and she was incredibly nice and generous with what she sent me and with her detailed advice for collecting vintage fragrances. It’s fascinating to me to find out more about my perfume pen pals.
That was really great. Such a well-written explanation of this passion!
How fun – it is true for a lot of us with our hordes of samples, decants and bottles. I don’t really hide mine exactly, but I try and camoflage the volume of it all. I test a lot of the samples on the days my husband is at work so he won’t get overwhelmed with too many smells. Anytime someone asks me about it, I just tell them its like collecting baseball cards, wine, art, books, comic books, Hummel figurines, or anything else that people go nuts over.
If I could buy a Picasso and cut it into a million little pieces (say about 10 mls worth each) and share all those little pieces with all my “Picasso” friends, I would. Or if I could trade 10 mls of my Mission Style bench for 10 mls of someone else’s Persian carpet I would. Fragrance is a bit unique in it’s ability to be a share-able art form that’s easy to distribute, which makes it more fun too.
I really like that last paragraph. There aren’t many other hobbies in which you can actively share bits of the object of passion itself.
However, there are also limiations, obviously: You can post pictures on the internet of your fabulous vintage Stickley chair so others might appreciate, but it takes a bit more effort to let them — and a more limited number of “them” — share your glorious few drops of vintage Weil Antilope.
I prefer sharing with fewer “thems” – its more fun that way! It maintains a bit of subversive connoisseurship and treasure hunting that appeals to me. I think I’d rather have a few precious drops of the Antilope than the chair right now anyway, lol. My fragrance collection is all tucked away and fairly toddler proof as opposed to most of everything else I own. I could take a picture of my fab fragrance collection all stuffed into my drawer, but it doesn’t look like much that way. I am no Donatella!
I truly enjoyed reading this! thanks so much for sharing your innermost perfumista thoughts with us….
Awww I am not alone!
I like your little picture!
Totally agree with you Miss KItty- crazed look in the eyes, not initiating perfume conversation…Love lurking here with the rest of you perfume freaks!
That was me- as described !
If you’d like to see more articles by the same author, please take the time to write a comment on the article itself. She’s hoping to get a regular gig. Thanks!