I had had limoncello many times but never different versions side by side. It was easy to notice differences between them. Obviously. What surprised me was an hedonic reaction: I thought two of them (with more complex flavors) were wonderful and one (store-bought) was awful. Both reactions (wonderful and awful) were stronger than usual. In a small way, I’d become a connoisseur. After that, I was happy to buy expensive limoncello (e.g., $26). I no longer bought cheap limoncello ($18).
— Blogger Seth Roberts explains how he became a limoncello connoisseur; read more in The Willat Effect: Side-by-Side Comparisons Create Connoisseurs.
Oh how nice, limoncello. Reminds me of my holidays on the island of Ischia in the gulf of Naples.
I’m a relative newbie to perfume (I have been reading here for quite a time, but this is my first comment) and I fear the more I sniff and compare fragrances, the more difficult it gets. Maybe this is a stage in becoming a connoisseur?
Actually there are only three perfumes I really like: Shalimar, Aromatics Elixir and Cristalle EdT (obviously, I’m a classic girl…). Tomorrow I’ll go and give Shaal Nur and Chamade another try…
(Excuse my English, I’m German, reading a lot in English, but writing downs one’s thoughts is a different thing..)
Welcome!
The more difficult it gets to know what you like, you mean? Or does it get more difficult to pick out notes or something?
(and your English is excellent!)
Hi Robin,
(and by the way I love the work of you and your fellow-writers here) – I guess once you know what the good stuff is like you realize how much crap there is outside.
Two years ago I was probably content with something that simply smelt “nice”. I am not now (although I am still a long way from daring to wear something really unusual), because I have learned that there is so much more than “nice” to be had.
About knowing what I like, weell, I fear smelling more has up to now lead me to know more precisely what I don’t like – almost everything fruity-floral, which rules out 80 percent or more of the recent stuff, jasmine and magnolia (and I thought I liked white flowers…).
My love for Shalimar though is still going strong – a scent that I would never have chosen after having read a description. I only went to the counter to sniff it because – well, you just have to, if you want to become a perfumista, I guess.
It has probably also to do with the way you see yourself. I started out looking for a kind of signature fragrance, which brings you to the question: who am I? And how much of me do I want to show the world?
I guess I am normally rather a dressing down type, nothing to showy, “don’t stick out of the crowd” – but yet I am a person in my own right (we all are) and want to be seen as an individual.
I think I very slowly get bolder – the educational effect of fragrance-searching, obviously!
Welcome, Andromeda! I think we might be scent twins and I love that you loved Shalimar on first sniff. IMO, it says that you have classic style but like to incorporate a modern twist, you appreciate things that are glamorous yet understated, and that you are comfortable and confident in yourself. Perfume is my favourite accessory and I love wearing something casual like jeans and a white shirt with a classic fragrance like Shalimar or L’Heure Bleue.
White flowers, esp. jasmine, tend to be either cloyingly sweet or completely indolic on me. I like lily of the valley but sometimes it can smell so “clean” that it is more like household products than perfume. Fracas and Diorissimo are probably my favourite white florals and I think they fall into the same classic/timeless category of Shalimar.
Enjoy your perfume education. Mine started when I stumbled across this site about three years ago and my passion for fragrance has only increased.
When Seth figures out how to make his own limoncello, then the $26 bottle won’t seem so great. But homemade is usually better as far as food and drink are concerned. Not so with perfume, I’m sure.
Yes…with perfume, I think you can usually do better with store bought.
There was a fairly recent xkcd comic on this subject, the choice quote from which was “If you locked people in a box for a year with 500 still frames of Joe Biden eating a sandwich, by the end they’d be adamant that some were great and some terrible.”
For better or worse, I was fussy about fragrance long before I got into sampling, and the first fragrance I really kenned to ended up being about $160 for a small bottle *sigh*. The prices are unkind, but I should probably be grateful that I’ve never had to deal with a cheap former love being ruined for me.
Ugh. Please don’t lock me in that box!