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5 Perfumes for: Nerds

Posted by Erin on 24 March 2011 115 Comments

classic nerd glasses

In a recent post at Perfume Posse, Musette described her adolescent self as "Geek before Geek was cool". During a week when I watched The Social Network and contemplated buying a Gregory Brothers / Auto-Tune the News t-shirt, her description was just another sign that we have lived to see the day my mother was always promising me would come: nerds have inherited the earth. We've come a long way since the 1980s and nerdom has evolved: gone are the high pants and the pocket protectors (as well as most of the pens), nerds of every gender and race are acknowledged, and globalization and the internet have opened up new, niche fields of nerd inquiry. No longer restricted to math, science, computing and Star Trek conventions, nerds are becoming foodies and bespectacled mixologists, pop musicians, graphic novelists and film bloggers, beekeepers, adventure travelers, market watchers, reality television competitors and whistle-blowing website activists. Nerds have money. They own the best home theatre equipment and make the coolest Halloween costumes. They know the only coffee place in town with a Clover. And, increasingly, some of them are smelling really good.

Perfume is a great hobby for geeks and systems wonks. It can involve hours and days and weeks of research into a secretive, trend-driven and detail-oriented industry. You end up collecting bottles and vials, ordering or swapping rarities through the mail and building storage units or furniture to organize your collection. You exhibit a lot of mavenish behavior, like checking currency conversion websites multiple times a day. Almost every perfumista of long-standing I know keeps a spreadsheet or electronic notepad full of data on sample testing count, fragrance notes, prices, perfumer names or vintage scent markers. Samuel Butler once wrote that knowing what gives us pleasure is "not easy, and how to extend our knowledge of it is the highest and most neglected of all arts and branches of education". Dedicated fragrance nerds take this to heart.

Two of the most common ways for those in the online fragrance community to study what pleases them is to follow: 1) a perfumer's known body of work; and 2) different representations of a given note. It is particularly enlightening to study both at the same time. After years of working confidentially behind the scenes, unknown to the public, noses are understandably skittish when asked about their style and process. It is rare that you get an answer like Sophia Grojsman's: "Perfumers have signatures. You can pick up a fragrance and know who the perfumer is by the way certain ingredients are put together. I’m known for floral accords, bottoms and cleavage."1 And yet, examining those signatures or the way a perfumer handles a specific genre or note can be one of the most fruitful ways of determining what you like and/or don't like about it. Recently I've noticed that some of my favorite noses seem to have a unique way of approaching notes I find problematic in other fragrances. Please find below the five perfumes that started my musings on this topic and comment with observations on some of your own favorites.

Parfums de Nicolaï Eau d'Été: I am a fan of the way Patricia de Nicolaï handles many notes, but I am always especially impressed by her use of lime. In cuisine, lime juice or zest gives such sharp, clean radiance to a dish that it seems to focus other flavors; in perfumery, all too often it comes across as flat and indistinct. Several of Nicolaï's summer scents have started with a kick of fresh-squeezed lime — in addition to my beloved Eau d'Été, there are Eau Exotique, Eau Turquoise and Balle de Match. Even Vanille Tonka opens with a bright burst of lime that complements the otherwise powdery and PEZ-sweet top notes. Wearing Nicolaï fragrances has made me realize that I like lime best when it is executed like marching band music: brisk, bracing and clear as brass. It gets me walking faster.

Ormonde Jayne Champaca: Like Nicolaï, Linda Pilkington of Ormonde Jayne has overseen beautifully fresh openings with lime (Frangipani and Tiare). Another of her many tricks seems to be to the use of pink pepper to give pop to lush florals. A ubiquitous note lately, pink pepper is commonly set on top of a dry woody or clean patchouli fragrance, almost like a bubblegum-colored wig: "I'm spicy! Racy! Modern!" The result is a very bare, generic fragrance. Meanwhile, Ormonde Jayne fragrances like Champaca and Ta'if use it to balance very full heart notes. Despite its pink pepper, creamy musks and green tea base, when I smell Champaca, I am not reminded of a dozen other recent fragrances: it somehow manages to smell uniquely and wonderfully like itself, which is perhaps the greatest compliment a perfumista can bestow. (See Robin's rant of yesterday or the close of her excellent Champaca review.)

Christian Dior Cologne Blanche: (R.I.P, my good friend. This one is apparently discontinued.) I am wary of orange blossom. I love the wild, airy, innocent jasmine-like presentations of this scent — maybe see Guerlain's L'Heure Bleue for reference — but as Angela has pointed out, a lot of cheap soap and drugstore cologne smells like orange blossom. It's hard to shake your association of the note with shrill and thin functional products.  A few months ago, though, I noticed that almost all of the few sunny, baby-powdered orange blossom fragrances I liked were done by one man: perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, also the creator of some of my favorite heavy-hitters, like MDCI Enlèvement au Sérail and Dior Eau Noire. Like Kurkdjian's Fleur du Male for Jean Paul Gaultier, Dior Cologne Blanche highlights the bright, white-tiled cleanliness of orange blossom by off-setting it with a sprig of aromatic notes normally seen in fougères: there is a lovely accent of rosemary in Cologne Blanche. Of course, when I first noticed the orange blossom-Kurkdjian connection, I thought I had made a discovery to be reported to everyone... until I recalled that Maison Francis Kurkdjian features something like four variations on orange blossom cologne. Ah, somebody noticed before me.

Armani Privé Ambre Soie: Christine Nagel is another of my favorite perfumers. Her amber fragrances — the first feminine Mauboussin, Fendi Theorema, several of her Thierry Mugler scents and this one — are gorgeously lush without being too dense. While sweet and warm, they avoid the vanilla bottom-heaviness of traditional orientals. I think her secret involves cedar and musks... but it certainly involves what my brother would call "mad skills".

Parfums DelRae Emotionelle: Edmond Roudnitska was a master of melon notes (among others) — his oeuvre includes Diorella and Frédéric Malle Le Parfum de Thérèse, after all. It somehow seemed inevitable that his son, perfumer Michel Roudnitska, would tackle a melon perfume with his characteristic take-no-prisoners approach. Emotionelle is reportedly based on the Paris breakfasts of line founder DelRae Roth. It smells like the Cavaillon melon that ate Provence: it is a huge, loud, balls-to-the-wall monster that lasts for days. It is liberally laced with jasmine, but not so as you'd notice. As with many of M. Roudnitska's creations, I initially hated it, yet eventually found myself coming back for more. There is something so compellingly juicy and real about it. I would have sworn there was melon in another of my DelRae favorites, Amoureuse, but I don't see it listed in the notes.

1. Quoted in In the World of Fragrance, Reputations Rest on the Nose at the New York Times.

Filed Under: perfume talk
Tagged With: 5 perfumes, armani, armani prive, dior, ormonde jayne, parfums de nicolai, parfums delrae

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115 Comments

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  1. Rappleyea says:
    24 March 2011 at 3:07 pm

    This is why I love NST so much – we get great, witty, informative writing that covers such diverse topics as nerds, bacon chocolate bars, perfume books, perfume reviews, industry rants and polls. Where else are you going to get all of this at this price?!?

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    • Erin says:
      24 March 2011 at 4:23 pm

      Thanks so much for your kind words, and I agree: it’s like an Amex commercial. Bacon chocolate bar: $8.50…. Oolong tea sampler: $85…. Sample Sets: Amount undisclosed, in case my husband is reading. Perfume nerd community: Priceless!

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      • dee says:
        24 March 2011 at 4:49 pm

        Cheers!

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      • Rappleyea says:
        24 March 2011 at 9:30 pm

        :-D

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      • belletrist9 says:
        25 March 2011 at 3:32 am

        :D

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    • Dixie says:
      26 March 2011 at 10:05 am

      Ditto! Fantastic article Erin!

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      • Erin says:
        27 March 2011 at 9:21 pm

        Thanks – love your gravatar!

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  2. sacre bleu says:
    24 March 2011 at 3:20 pm

    hear, hear!

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    • boojum says:
      24 March 2011 at 3:24 pm

      Ha! You beat me… I had to log in first. :)

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    • Erin says:
      24 March 2011 at 4:25 pm

      Nerds are fast readers :)

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  3. Ari says:
    24 March 2011 at 3:42 pm

    This post has a special place in my Star Trek lovin’, Pokemon Stadium playin’ heart. But counterintuitively, I prefer to keep my nerdiness out of my perfume. I tend to go for comfort scents (aka intellectual no-brainers). Hey, I can’t help being a geek, but at least I don’t have to smell like one.

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    • Marjorie Rose says:
      24 March 2011 at 3:55 pm

      Ha! Whereas I wouldn’t mind being a perfume nerd, but I feel that it’s gonna take years to develop the cred! (Now, if you want to discuss abiotic factors that have influenced species diversification in the spiny desert forest of southern Madagascar, I would reclaim my nerdiness in a heartbeat!)

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      • Erin says:
        24 March 2011 at 4:33 pm

        Yes, nerd cred can be difficult. If you feel like an Old School nerd, perhaps try the 500 Point Nerdity test: http://www.armory.com/tests/nerd500.html.

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        • Gblue says:
          25 March 2011 at 1:54 pm

          You know, it wasn’t until I checked the box for “Were you ever on a chess team?” that I thought “Oh, I really have always been a nerd.”
          I was on the chess team throughout senior school. I used to have a “gold” medal somewhere for it.

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          • Erin says:
            25 March 2011 at 2:45 pm

            Yes, I’m afraid chess is a nerd activity. I think there should be questions like: “Do you ever dream about playing chess?” and “…Tetris?”

    • Erin says:
      24 March 2011 at 4:29 pm

      Okay, this is leading inevitably to speculation on what Nerd EdT will smell like. Anybody tried that Shirtless Kirk? ;)

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      • Ari says:
        24 March 2011 at 5:39 pm

        No, but I TOTALLY PLAN TO as soon as I try Sulu Pour Homme!

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        • Erin says:
          25 March 2011 at 8:45 am

          Who wouldn’t want to be a jaunty, fearless swashbuckler of a man? ;)

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  4. Dionne says:
    24 March 2011 at 4:07 pm

    Oh yeah, let’s hear it for us geeks. :)

    When I was first on the hunt for a signature fragrance – before I hit the interwebs and everything changed – I’d take those silly little polls that were designed to tell me what style of perfume fit my personality best; was I sporty, classic, romantic, nature-lovin’, blah blah blah….. and I remember thinking, “Isn’t there a category that says I’m brainy, thoughtful and research a topic to death when I get curious?”

    It turned out that for me there is a category of perfume that says that for me, and it’s iris in all its cool, metallic glory. IdI was the first iris-centric perfume I smelled and bought, and I dubbed it my “I’m presenting my thesis now” perfume. Since then I’ve sampled just about every iris ‘fume, and being the geek I am I’m constantly doing the wear-two-at-a-time to compare them. Samples really get used up when you’re making notes about BdI vs. 28LP, BdI vs. Hiris, 28LP vs. ISM and so on and so forth. Two-at-a-time is one of my favorite pastimes of this spreadsheet’ed hobby of ours.

    And speaking of us geeks and our passions, I wanted to share this great video by the author John Greene in praise of nerds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMweXVWB918&feature=relmfu. “Becuase nerds are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff.” It’s great to be a nerd.

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    • boojum says:
      24 March 2011 at 4:15 pm

      Oh, I love that quote! I want to get back to that… so so cynical these days. I think it’s a side effect of working against Wall Street.

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    • Erin says:
      24 March 2011 at 4:42 pm

      Geek Pride! (Did you know they have a Geek Pride Day in Spain? It’s May 25th.) Your quiz story reminds me of my childhood, when my grandmother would purchase seductive orientals and bright lipsticks for my busty, flirty cousins and I would get “Sporty Fresh Wave” shower gel or some such, despite the fact I have never been, and will never be, sportif.

      Love the link, as well as the Vlog brothers generally. So true: it’s an insult that means you like stuff?

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    • dee says:
      24 March 2011 at 4:58 pm

      “Becuase nerds are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff.”

      I love it!

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    • AnnS says:
      24 March 2011 at 5:29 pm

      That’s a wonderful quote! Anyone who has an acute passion for learning is a great person.

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  5. boojum says:
    24 March 2011 at 4:16 pm

    Great article, Erin! Alas, I haven’t quite gotten that far down the road. I have the mongo spreadsheet, and yes, there are columns for perfumer and notes, but I haven’t gotten around to analyzing things just yet.

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    • Erin says:
      24 March 2011 at 4:45 pm

      Data collection is the more important step. Please get back to us when you have some theories :)

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      • AnnS says:
        24 March 2011 at 5:31 pm

        I’m just trying to update my spreadsheet more thoroughly to include all the bazillions of decants samples I have. It is a lot of work, but I know when I am finished I’ll be very happy indeed.

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        • LaMaroc says:
          25 March 2011 at 4:16 pm

          Ha! I totally scared off the clingy SA at a new, kinda shady fragrance store at our mall when he asked me how many fragrances I own and I said “Oh, I’m not sure. I haven’t updated my spreadsheet in awhile. Last count was 108 and I was only halfway through my cabinet.” :D

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          • Erin says:
            27 March 2011 at 9:26 pm

            You think they’d be delighted to find somebody who could be a big potential customer… instead they mostly seem incredulous or nervous to meet you (there are exceptions, of course). Does this happen in other industries? Do music store SAs panic when they meet a CD or vinyl collector? SAs in book stores? Wine stores? Antique places? I don’t know.

  6. Tama says:
    24 March 2011 at 4:19 pm

    I am so a perfume nerd. Someone was laughing at me today cause I get so excited talking about it. He thinks it’s cool, though.

    I have backed off on the spreadsheets and whatnot – I have gone down a more visceral route and tend to not look at which perfumers are doing what or whose work I like or want to follow. I just smell things and if I like them, great, if not, oh well.

    Sometimes I struggle with things – although some of Kurkdijan’s fragrances for other houses have amazed me, his own line has been a fail for me. Mostly I’m scared of it, cause one smelled like dog pee and another was just vile (the Absolue everyone loves so much). Someday I will revisit. So, I do try to see and understand what everyone is talking about.

    This was a great post – I love nerds. A guy I love dearly is outwardly a super-cool working musician who has the best undercurrent of nerdy dorkiness I have ever known – it is hard to explain, but it endears him to me so much.

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    • Erin says:
      24 March 2011 at 4:51 pm

      My brother has this story where he was talking to my uncle and my uncle said: “How did Erin get so completely obsessed with perfume? She seems like the sort of person who would be more interested in… I don’t know, tube socks.” My bro nearly died laughing and my uncle begged him not to tell me. Which, of course, he immediately did. So I know what you mean about your excitement and your dorky friend. And I think the Absolue is *supposed* to be vile – so you’re not missing that one. ;) (I really like that one, really.)

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  7. Tom Smith says:
    24 March 2011 at 4:23 pm

    Nerds have not become cool. We’ve just started using the word “nerd” to describe things we thing are cool.

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    • Bonbori says:
      24 March 2011 at 4:30 pm

      Totally agree Tom.

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      • Tom Smith says:
        24 March 2011 at 11:55 pm

        Yeah, I’ve often seen this sort of narrative in the past 5 years, and as a lifetime “nerdy” person, I’ve seen little/no increase in interest in nerdy subject matter, it’s just that the internet lets you see more nerds, and there’s now a “nerd” aesthetic in fashion which has nothing to do with attitude/lifestyle/interests/knowledge. It just has to do with ugly shoes and those awful Buddy Holly glasses in this thread – something nerds have not worn for over 50 years.

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        • Erin says:
          25 March 2011 at 12:55 am

          As my brother would say: “I earned these scars. You can’t join my Walking Wounded club…” ??

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    • Erin says:
      24 March 2011 at 4:54 pm

      So you mean all those SAs who say my scent knowledge and awkwardness around retail staff make me cool were LYING? Crap.

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    • Dionne says:
      24 March 2011 at 5:11 pm

      I’d say both yes and no to “have nerds become cool.” For my teenage boys, being nerds meant junior high school was really hard – unfortunately, it’s still not cool to like your classes and get great marks – but high school is already a lot better.

      One of the things that has changed, though, is how the internet has changed things for those who have geeky interests. If you’re like me, a lover of Discworld books, StrongBad e-mails and anything done by Joss Whedon, you will find like-minded people online. Comic-Con has become big business, and these days it’s hard to find a teenage boy who DOESN’T game.

      Partly though, it also depends on what you define as a geek, a nerd, or a dork. Are they the same or different? (For example, I consider myself more a geek than a nerd, and I’m not a dork. But then that’s my geeky former-English-major self coming out.)

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      • AnnS says:
        24 March 2011 at 5:32 pm

        I always think of dork as an endearment regardless of nerdiness. ;-)

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      • Tama says:
        24 March 2011 at 5:35 pm

        I think of a geek as being more drawn to tech stuff, a nerd as a super-enthusiast about stuff, and a dork as someone slightly socially awkward but endearing. Some or all can be present in one individual.

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        • mals86 says:
          24 March 2011 at 10:08 pm

          My teenage daughter is proud to be a “band geek” (as in school band, not rock) and a “science nerd” – her terms.

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          • Erin says:
            25 March 2011 at 1:17 am

            Good for her!

        • Erin says:
          25 March 2011 at 1:05 am

          Tama, I think of it the other way around, with nerds more often being techies, while geeks are enthusiasts (hence the “Gleeks” for the t.v. show).

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          • Dionne says:
            25 March 2011 at 10:55 am

            That’s how I define it as well. The nerd test you posted skewed that way as well – most of the questions were math, computer programming and chemistry, and all the lit references were sci-fi. I found myself thinking, “Sci-Fi but not fantasy? How come there are no questions about playing three different instruments in band, or wearing braces, or Weird Al Yankovic?”

            See? Geek.

          • Erin says:
            25 March 2011 at 2:47 pm

            Or how about listening to Randy Newman or Tom Lehrer? Geek, fer sure.

        • boojum says:
          25 March 2011 at 11:50 am

          Nerds are smart and get good grades, esp in math and science; geeks like computers and iPhones and all that jazz; dorks are just goofballs (maybe they’re the enthusiastic ones?). Obviously, there is a ton of overlap. That’s how it works in my head.

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      • Thanna says:
        24 March 2011 at 9:03 pm

        And I thought I was the only mom who appreciates StrongBad emails!

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        • Erin says:
          25 March 2011 at 1:06 am

          Nope! We have lightswitch raves at my house ALL THE TIME.

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      • Erin says:
        25 March 2011 at 1:02 am

        I didn’t think we were going to get this serious about the semiotics of this, but, yes, I agree, Dionne: “geek” is often used as the most inclusive term, with connotations merely of obsessive intelligence of any type. “Nerd” usually means the intelligence + social dysfunction, while “dork”, I think, implies the social dysfunction, without necessarily including the intelligence. But I like that Ann uses dork as an endearment. :)

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        • Marsha says:
          25 March 2011 at 3:03 am

          And this is one of the things that marks us as who we are. We can happily debate the fine nuances that distinguish the nerd from the geek from the dork. :) Let’s face it, we’re all the same species, only the color of the fur or feathers are different.

          Sort of the Trekkie/Trekker/Trekkist debate.

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          • belletrist9 says:
            25 March 2011 at 3:39 am

            This thread made me smile. It reminds me of one of my favorite OI (oratorical interpretation) pieces from high school, which a good friend of mine gave, called “Dork” by Paul Anthony Hutchinson. I wish I could find the essay online as it’s quite hilarious and discussed the 9 denominations of dorkdom. =)

        • boojum says:
          25 March 2011 at 11:48 am

          Oh, dork is totally an endearment in my family too. Typically, someone will do something goofy, and another will shake his/her head and say “you’re such a dork!”, which basically translates to “you’re goofy, but it makes me laugh, and I love you”.

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      • wendy05 says:
        25 March 2011 at 3:16 am

        YES! A fellow Discworld/Pratchett fan! I knew i could not possibly be the only one to love perfume AND Pratchett books!! sorry, could not help myself…

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        • Dionne says:
          25 March 2011 at 10:58 am

          So I’ve now had shoutouts for both Terry Pratchett and StrongBad. Any takers for BtVS/Angel/Firefly/Dollhouse/Mr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

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          • Erin says:
            25 March 2011 at 2:49 pm

            I know there are a lot of Joss Whedon nerds who post on Perfume Posse…

  8. 50_Roses says:
    24 March 2011 at 4:40 pm

    Hooray for nerds! I don’t actually fit many of the stereotypes–I’m not a Trekkie, my computer skills are only moderate, and even in my mid-40’s, I still do not require any sort of corrective lenses. Nevertheless, as an analytical chemist whose favorite subject in school was math, who memorized the periodic table and the first 60 decimal places of the number pi, and who has more random information crammed into my head than anyone else I know, I hereby proudly declare that I am a nerd and I’m proud of it!

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    • Erin says:
      24 March 2011 at 5:00 pm

      I have 20/20 and will paraphrase Truman Capote for my tech skills: That’s not computing, that’s typing. I wish I was better at math and chemistry, but I’m more the lit nerd, as might be apparent.

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  9. Bonbori says:
    24 March 2011 at 4:45 pm

    Great post.

    To me, it still feels like there’s still something ironic or camp implied in the term “nerd.” For me, “anorak” works better. IMAO.

    Pokemon Stadium Shoutout! ◕‿‿◕

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    • Erin says:
      24 March 2011 at 5:02 pm

      Never heard anorak, the slang term, before: very interesting and love the apparent origin of the term!

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      • Bonbori says:
        24 March 2011 at 6:54 pm

        I kind of take anorak for granted because I’m a King Crimson fangirl and it seems like anorak is always the way that fandom gets described.

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        • Erin says:
          25 March 2011 at 1:11 am

          I think there was a King Crimson doc at the documentary festival here two years ago, but I missed it. Have to admit I don’t know much about them… Love the anorak, so thanks!

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    • 50_Roses says:
      24 March 2011 at 5:22 pm

      I don’t mind being called a nerd, and I wouldn’t object to being called a geek if I thought it fit (I tend to think of a geek as being someone with very deep computer/techno skills, such as a programmer), but DO NOT call me a dork!!!

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      • 50_Roses says:
        24 March 2011 at 5:24 pm

        Or a dweeb!!!!

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      • Erin says:
        25 March 2011 at 1:15 am

        I remember finding out as a teenager that dork began as a very crude slang term for “penis”. I was shocked, because when I was growing up, we used it all the time in polite company, and, as Ann indicated, often used it affectionately.

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        • Dionne says:
          25 March 2011 at 11:00 am

          Similar shock at finding out what “shmuck” meant. I used it all the time.

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  10. devilbunnies says:
    24 March 2011 at 4:46 pm

    Haha, thanks for this list! I have never been anything other than a huge nerd. At least people don’t throw things at me quite as much anymore. ;) Now, back to my video games.

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    • Erin says:
      24 March 2011 at 5:03 pm

      I’m just relieved adults have much smaller gym lockers. I used to fit in mine just perfectly.

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  11. susanstar says:
    24 March 2011 at 4:55 pm

    this post is great, so funny and so interesting! new scents for me to lust after smelling..thank you for educating my nose via my computer on a daily basis!
    I posted about Mary Greenwell Plum on my A Certain Vintage blog but I just can’t get my head around all the technicalities of perfume writing you handle so well!
    Champaca sounds amazing…I have yet to smell anything Ormonde…can’t wait for my next trip to London to go sniffing!

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    • Erin says:
      25 March 2011 at 1:26 am

      Thanks for pointing me towards your review of Plum: I’m desperate for descriptions of it, as I haven’t tried it yet! If you get to London, do try the Ormonde Jayne fragrances: the whole line is very cohesive and compelling. Fragiapani, Tiare, Ormonde Woman and Champaca stand out the most for me.

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  12. Isa says:
    24 March 2011 at 4:55 pm

    Hello, my name is Isa and I am a nerd. And a geek. And a cinema, books, comics and perfumes freak. ^_^

    Thank you for this article!

    I think I’ll have to try Ormonde Jayne Champaca. It sounds right up my alley.

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    • Erin says:
      25 March 2011 at 1:29 am

      Thank you for joining us, and please report back on the Champaca!

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  13. Warum says:
    24 March 2011 at 5:06 pm

    This article evolved in very interesting ways. I expected nothing like what I ended up reading! Very enjoyable. and, of course, makes me want to try all mentioned perfumes.

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    • Erin says:
      25 March 2011 at 1:31 am

      All lovely compliments, considering how digressive the post was. Thank you very much and I hope you get to try them all!

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  14. RuthW says:
    24 March 2011 at 5:19 pm

    Great post!
    I firmly believe the internet has been the equalizer of nerdome as far as finding others that share your obsessive (or unpopular) interests. When a community can be vocal without being marginalized it empowers the people in it, which is why I am completely unashamed when my husband looks at my perfume collection and says “I think you have a problem.”

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    • Erin says:
      25 March 2011 at 1:35 am

      My brother-in-law builds mini-bikes (yes, like Shriners ride) and there are all these intense online forums with people from everywhere spending hours trading info and parts. And some people believe that the internet has failed to deliver on its promise of connecting people from all over the globe…

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  15. 50_Roses says:
    24 March 2011 at 5:19 pm

    Oh, in case anyone didn’t know, the word “nerd” is believed to have been invented by Dr. Seuss, in his book “If I Ran the Zoo.”

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    • Tama says:
      24 March 2011 at 5:33 pm

      I think that was the only Dr. Seuss book I ever had as a kid. My folks didn’t like him for some reason.

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      • 50_Roses says:
        24 March 2011 at 9:05 pm

        Maybe they knew that he didn’t like children (it’s true–he didn’t even like to be in the same room with them.) I didn’t know that, though, and I learned to read from Dr. Seuss long before I started school. I loved his stuff, and it was such a letdown when I got to first grade and we had to read those boring “Dick and Jane” books.

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        • Erin says:
          25 March 2011 at 9:23 am

          When I was a kid and he was still alive, I visisted San Diego and a convertible went by with the license plate “GRINCH”. A local tour guide we were with claimed it was him and that he was indeed grinchy, but I’ve read the opposite, too.

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      • Olfacta says:
        25 March 2011 at 8:09 am

        Oh, I loved Dr. Suess when I was a kid! So subversive.

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    • Erin says:
      25 March 2011 at 1:38 am

      I think we should just start inventing our own terms. Have you seen “The Social Network”? I love how they call Eduardo Saverin “Wardo”. From now on, all my friends who are interested in meterology and/or futures trading (surprisingly, I can think of at least three immediately) are going to be called wardos.

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  16. AnnS says:
    24 March 2011 at 5:39 pm

    Erin – great post! I always think of myself as an information hound – I love to learn about a subject and memorize as much as I can (It’s a habit I picked up and enjoy from when I was an art history/archaeology major in college). Aside from being a perfume nut most of my life, I find the vast, limitless quantitiy of information in the field of fragrance to be a very happy place to spend my brain energy. There is a never ending stream of houses, notes, noses, bottles, vintage, new and god only knows what to explore and sniff and notate until I can stuff my brains full. The more I smell and know, the more I want to smell and know somemore. I love the idea of being infinitely challenged to learn, and fragrance satifies my curiosity on many levels. The only place this is a problem is on my wallet, lol, but I’m dealing with that too!

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    • Suzy Q says:
      24 March 2011 at 10:40 pm

      Ann S, your a woman after my own art. I love what you wrote. I was a painting major/ art history minor in college, btw.

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      • AnnS says:
        25 March 2011 at 11:56 am

        I really appreciate the art part of fragrance too. It’s an easy way to carry a smell-visual in my mind all day long. I often find that fragrances have a shape or form or motion to them which is very satisfying to me. I used to try and paint but not so much since I had my daughter – no room for all my favorite toxic cadmium colors with little hands around!

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    • Erin says:
      25 March 2011 at 9:24 am

      Information hound – very good! My wallet wishes I would stop researching, too :)

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      • AnnS says:
        25 March 2011 at 11:57 am

        Thank goodness for swaps! ;-)

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  17. Kitty says:
    24 March 2011 at 5:42 pm

    I’m a total nerd (or obsessive-compulsive – take your pick!). Loved Star Trek(s), sets of things and keep my FB purchases and wants on my smartphone as you never know when fabulous perfume for sale & memory failure may simultaneously occur…. Also love Gilbert & Sullivan operettas – the Star Trek of the opera world!

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    • Erin says:
      25 March 2011 at 9:28 am

      It’s so true about the memory failure. I’ve had that happen a few times, when I’m out without my references, and you end up purchasing the wrong perfume or a reformulated version. I’ve not yet bought one I already own by mistake, but the day is surely coming!

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  18. dee says:
    24 March 2011 at 5:43 pm

    I scored as a “closet nerd.”

    What I loved about nerds in school was that they were the people that were accepting, enthusiastic, and genuine. I was a new kid 13 times before ninth grade, and at every new school, I bee-lined it for the nerds. Safe-haven!

    I think that, in the perfume community, there are the nerds, and there are cool kids. I know where I fall (and scrape my stupid knee).

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    • mals86 says:
      24 March 2011 at 10:10 pm

      I’m sittin’ with YOU.

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      • Tamara says:
        24 March 2011 at 11:17 pm

        Scootch over guys! ;) :P <3

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      • dee says:
        25 March 2011 at 12:57 am

        We’re in good company, if I may say so! ;)

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      • Dionne says:
        25 March 2011 at 11:04 am

        Nerd party!

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    • Erin says:
      25 March 2011 at 9:42 am

      Whoa, 13 times? That’s hard. I don’t have as much experience that way as you, but my family moved long distances (from West to East Coast) when I was a kid four times, and I really feel it made me better prepared for my adult life. I got used to making new friends, adapting to new ways of doing things, manuevering my way through cliques, etc. – which came in handy in university and my various places of employment over the years. So just think of yourself as well-adjusted!

      My experience was that nerds can have their cliques too, though. I think it depends on the type of nerd. But I know what you mean about the perfume “cool kids” – I’m sitting with you, too! OTOH one thing I’ve noticed is that all the online perfumistas I’ve met in person, cool or no, are really great, friendly and enthusiastic.

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  19. sheree.s says:
    24 March 2011 at 6:32 pm

    First off, I don’t know if I’d consider myself a “nerd” so much as an overachiever. I’m at university, I take notes excessively, I’m a member of the honour society and manage to have maintained an almost-perfect GPA. That makes me a “nerd” in some ways, I guess, but I just think of myself as working really hard.
    Secondly, I’m not really sure I like the whole “Oh, nerds are cool now!” thing. It has become a trend of late, and to me it seems kind of patronising. It’s almost like Avril Lavigne calling herself “punk”, you know?
    I think in the perfume world, the lines between “nerd”, “perfumista/o”, “cool/uncool”, etc. begin to cross. A lot of the comments here I would consider not “nerdy”, more “passionate”. To me, a fragrance nerd would be breaking down the chemical structure in a lab – a spreadsheet just ain’t gonna do it. The Red Door offenders in my midst I would consider “uncool” more than “nerds”, the true “nerds” in the sense of I-carry-a-calculator-everywhere-I-go-in-case-I-need-to-do-some-trig in my mind would wear something they think the ladies would like, like the Silver Scent by Jaques Bogart (or, in the lady-nerd’s case, something mainstream but soft – Naughty Alice?). Or, alternatively, the true nerd wouldn’t wear anything because he or she would be too concerned with saving the world :)

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    • Erin says:
      25 March 2011 at 9:56 am

      Well, I certainly didn’t mean to patronize anybody, and you’re right that definitions of “nerd” and nerdy subject matter can vary… which I take as a sign that nerdom is now big enough for their to be disagreeing factions. Must also say that I believe that feeling compelled to mention your high GPA is almost inevitably a sign of high nerdity scores! ;) (J/k – it’s a dig at my hubby, who was the guy at law school most likely to ask your GPA.)

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      • boojum says:
        25 March 2011 at 11:57 am

        Ugh, I had a classmate who styled herself an “intellectual snob” and said “the world needs more of us” (I disliked the implication I was one of “us”, as I’m anything but a snob). Every time we got a test or paper handed back, she’d ask everyone what they got (knowing she did better). Blech. So I would have really, really loved to have a picture of her face the day we got back our GRE scores. It was truly priceless.

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        • sheree.s says:
          25 March 2011 at 7:03 pm

          Ugh, “holier than thou” nerds are the worst. The kind that look down on you for watching How I Met Your Mother while they watch Discovery Channel? (Or, more likely, post to forums online about the implications of the discovery of such and such a type of fish or something) Hope your “friend” got a good kick in the bum one way or another… hahaha. :)

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      • sheree.s says:
        25 March 2011 at 7:01 pm

        Hahaha – my partner does like to call me a “nerd”, so I’m used to it :P I wanted to point it out more to illustrate the possibility that it could be interpreted as a symptom of nerdiness, but it could equally be interpreted as a symptom of hard-work/perfectionism. :)

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  20. nozknoz says:
    24 March 2011 at 10:48 pm

    Oh, what a fabulous post, Erin!

    a) I’m a total nerd for sci-fi, graphic novels, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica (most recent), birdwatching, perfume and more – I’ve moved a lot and tend to focus on a new hobby/obsession for each location.

    b) Erin, I love your insights and perfume choices above, the ones I know, anyway, and will soon try to sample any that I don’t now that I realize you might be a scent twin or at least wise older (in perfume years) sister :-)

    c) The other perfumer I adore is Calice Becker. To me, her perfumes are ravishingly beautiful, perfectly balanced, elegant but relaxed, and never heavy, even when dealing with the most extravagant notes (tuberose, rose, lavender, fruit or oud) as in her Kilians. Denyse best describes this presence of breathing space in the review of Liaisons Dangereuses on Grain de Musc and compares it metaphorically to bubbles or air in a rose confiture. It’s a quality I find in all the CBs that I’ve tried so far.

    d) It’s funny, though. LT has made the opposite point, that while one can usually identify music by Bach or paintings by Picasso, it is much harder to identify the nose behind a scent. E.g, would you ever figure out that the same person composed both Timbuktu and Traversee du Bosphore? Once you know, you may find commonalities, but not necessarily.

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    • Dionne says:
      25 March 2011 at 11:18 am

      Love graphic novels. I think it would be a riot if we had an open thread picking fragrances for Hellboy or Prometheus or Grandma Rose from Bone or the like.

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    • AnnS says:
      25 March 2011 at 12:00 pm

      My husband has his comics and graphic novels… and I have my fragrances!

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    • Erin says:
      28 March 2011 at 2:24 pm

      Noz, sorry it took me so long to respond! Continuing our trend of being scent twins, I love Calice Becker’s work, too, including Liasons, which I own. (Great image of Denyse’s…) Wearing Rose Oud today – yum!

      I’d never read that LT argument before, so thanks for bringing it to my attention. I see where he is coming from with it and speculate that, if it is true, it is because composers and novelists and painters (maybe particularly in days of yore) were more free to create art in their own style – i.e. no editor, brand or focus group setting the terms from the beginning. In support of this line of thought, it’s most often you can guess something is by a certain nose when it’s from their own self-directed line – Giacobetti’s Iunx brand, for example, is unmistakably hers.

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  21. sweetlife (ahtx) says:
    24 March 2011 at 10:55 pm

    *happy sigh*

    Love this, and all the comments. I was describing my perfume passion to someone, and how it evolved from my foodie tendencies, and she said, “Oh, so you’re a sensualist!” And I paused for a moment, and then said, “Well, I guess so. But a nerdy, intellectual kind of sensualist…”

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    • 50_Roses says:
      25 March 2011 at 12:30 am

      I prefer the term aesthete myself.

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      • Carrie Meredith says:
        25 March 2011 at 12:42 am

        I really love the word aesthete. It’s like athlete, but much, much more interesting.

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        • Erin says:
          28 March 2011 at 2:40 pm

          And I have more chance of being an asthete, as well. Athlete… not so much.

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      • Marsha says:
        25 March 2011 at 3:10 am

        I have one friend who said I was a woman who took her pleasures seriously.

        I’ve always been partial to “sensualist” and “hedonist”.

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        • Erin says:
          28 March 2011 at 2:43 pm

          “Taking your pleasure seriously” – such a wonderful phrase. It *is* something to be taken seriously, and not lightly, as many people seem to think.

          Unforunately, “hedonism” always brings to mind those silly, all-adult resorts for me now.

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    • Dionne says:
      25 March 2011 at 11:07 am

      I had someone find out about my perfume obsession, look at me strangely and say, “You’ve kind of got an Asperger’s thing going on there, don’t you?” I think I’ll rather take sensualist.

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      • AnnS says:
        25 March 2011 at 12:01 pm

        Oy – that’s funny – so I guess anyone who collects anything from baseball cards to Hummel figurines has Aspergers? That’s a strange comment for sure.

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        • Erin says:
          28 March 2011 at 2:55 pm

          I do know some baseball-obsessed collectors who may have a spectrum disorder, I admit :) Though I know what you mean. (Hey, have you read Coover’s “The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop”? Great book…)

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    • Erin says:
      28 March 2011 at 2:39 pm

      Yes, I know just what you meant! “Sensualist” always conjures up a Venetian-style Venus (or one of the Rubens woman they inspired) for me. I do a lot of lounging, but generally in flannel pajama pants and reading The Economist. I don’t do a lot of sexy fruit-eating in the nude. Indeed, not a lot of seduction generally, to my hubby’s dismay. :)

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  22. Carrie Meredith says:
    25 March 2011 at 12:41 am

    I have never considered myself to be nerdy in any way, yet I respect nerd culture. And hey, “some of my best friends are nerds”. I find that my obsession with perfume is more of a psychological tic; it can be viewed as a deficit or a benefit, depending on the day. I’ve latched on to a few notes in the past year, the most significant to me is cedar. I like when fragrances are built around the note, and I like it when it’s used as an accent as well. If I were going to geek out on something for real, it would be cedar. This was a really fun article to read, excellent job, Erin! That brings to mind the difference between nerds and geeks. Is there one? (besides the origin of the word geek, as in circus sideshow acts involving unfortunate chickens)

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  23. belletrist9 says:
    25 March 2011 at 3:45 am

    I really enjoyed this article and reading the threads of comments attached to it. I’m a total nerd and always have been though I’m definitely a n00b still when it comes to perfume. I dabbled a little in undergrad and am just starting to get back into it so I’m just starting to get the idea of noses though I haven’t acquired any sampler sets of them yet. OJ Champaca sounds divine though, so I think I’ll start there! =)

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  24. ceelouise says:
    25 March 2011 at 8:49 am

    Excellent post.

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  25. donnie says:
    25 March 2011 at 5:25 pm

    That’s a very fine post. It responds to Robin’s “rant” the other day by offering your allegedly geeky methods for dealing with the flood of fragrance out there. And yeah, it makes quite clear that you’re using Excel, or something, to organize your thoughts. But you’re a librarian, right? Not a geek, though. I know some tres hip librarians.

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