It’s so easy to complain about perfume these days. Beautiful materials are banned or restricted; the market pumps out hundreds of cheaply made, mediocre fragrances yearly; many of our favorite old perfumes have been reformulated beyond recognition; perfume advertising is often laughably banal; and more.
But we’re still here, loving perfume. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’d like to list some of the reasons I’m grateful for fragrance:
First and most important, exploring scent is profoundly rewarding. Before I fell headlong into perfume, I loved the smell of coffee, old leather purses, and lilac bouquets, for example, but I had little appreciation — or awareness, even — of balance and structure in fragrance. I couldn’t luxuriate in how a scent transitions as it ages on skin. I didn’t see how a hint of ugliness throws a perfume’s beauty into relief. Now I know that appreciating perfume has less to do with having a keen sense of smell and being able to pick out individual notes than it does with understanding a perfume’s whole tableau.
Now for something less grand but still gratitude-worthy: travel sizes, sample sets, rollerballs and 30 ml bottles. Hermès, Frédéric Malle, Sephora, Parfums MDCI, and the rest — thank you. May your brethren soon follow suit.
Just to name a few new fragrances that feel as eternal as the vintage fragrances whose disappearance I lament, I’m thankful for Amouage Jubilation 25, Parfum d'Empire Azemour les Orangers, and Cartier Baiser Volé parfum.
I’m also grateful for the smaller perfume companies springing up. Sure, it’s overwhelming to click on Now Smell This and see announcements for yet another couple of perfume companies — I mean, who can keep up? — but it proves that perfume is live and well. When everything shakes out, maybe we’ll find the next Vero Profumo or Aftelier.
Here’s a big one: I’m thankful for the internet. Not only can I read perfume reviews, I can order decants and track down discontinued fragrances. Without the internet, I probably never would have discovered Ormonde Jayne Woman, let alone been able to buy it. Without the scent split site I joined, I’d miss out trying the rare, expensive perfumes I couldn’t possibly purchase by the bottle.
Last — and I’m sure you saw this one coming — I’m deeply grateful for the perfume community I’ve found through this blog and others. I’ve met the most fascinating people, from medieval historians to horse breeders to cable installers. I’ve drunk wine in a Parisian apartment while gazing at a bottle of Fath Iris Gris and sniffed Coty Chypre over a plate of pancakes at a diner. It’s all been pretty danged amazing.
Perfume-wise, for what are you grateful?
Note: top image is 2011-10-02: Golden abstract [cropped] by bgottsab at flickr; some rights reserved.
I’m thankful for other perfume nerds, who I’ve found to have nearly boundless generosity when it comes to sharing their passion and their juice.
Agreed: Perfume nerds are good people!
Hear hear!
Everything you mention above, Angela, is true. There is a lot to be thankful for sure. I’m also thankful for such a community of like minded, intelligent sensualists. I’m thankful that so many perfume nuts love to share – swaps, splits, good info and reviews, etc. How else could most of us know such lovely and often extravagent fragrances? My fragrance world is unlimited, and I am most thankful for that.
I can’t pick just one fragrance to be thankful for today, so rather, I’m going to thank all the talented creators and companies who believe in liquid art. And my nose, my brain, my wrists, my neck, my forearms (for all the time & space), and my wonderful fragrance eating skin that lets me wear 2 – 4 fragrances per day.
Nicely said!
I’m thankful for
decant companies,
splits
the generosity of other perfume lovers
this blog
the ability to smell (and of all the senses)
the appreciation of that which is beautiful
the creativity of “noses”
Great list! I especially like “the appreciation of that which is beautiful.”
I love your list Sacre Bleu!
Nice article!
I’m thankful for having enough money to buy a bunch of fragrances I don’t have enough time to wear and end up going bad.
I’m thankful for weird fragrances, artificial, gasoline and leather smells. 30ml bottles. Niche fragrances.
Cool people in the fragrance world, the perfumers that work on creating these art pieces and not just for the money. This blog, basenotes and Dior Homme.
Oh yes, those delicious, freaky fragrances–definitely something to be grateful for.
I agree with everything you said, Angela. I’m grateful for my sense of smell. I think often people cruise along taking the fifth sense for granted; it’s almost always what people choose as the sense they’d miss the least if it was gone. But as you said, before perfume we noticed coffee and lilacs and woodsmoke and garlic and after perfume, we notice and appreciate those things even more! Perfume has taught me to really notice what I smell, to think about it consciously and allow that enjoyment to permeate the fabric of my day, my life. What a gift. This blog was my gateway into the scented world as I know it now, and I’m very thankful for that and for all the lovely & generous people I’ve met on blogs and forums; sensualists all, and aren’t we all the better for it!
I sure think we’re the better for it! Great comment.
Just the other day at work we were all rhapsodizing about the aroma of fresh baked bread. Every one of us had some amazing “bread” memory. Smells are everywhere, and they certainly fill out the world.
Food smells are the best. Love them.
Thank you for posting this, Angela. It is so easy to get bogged down in the negative (with anything!), and it is great to celebrate the positive. I am definitely thankful for the generosity of the perfumista community. When I was a newbie and still nervous about commenting, everyone here (and on all the other bogs) were super welcoming and went out their way to give information and samples. I couldn’t believe someone would just send someone they didn’t know stuff in the mail, without anything expected in return. And of course, I’m with you on the small sizes – just got a rollerball from Sephora a few weeks ago.
I’ve been surprised, too, at how friendly and generous people are here. Honestly, in five and a half years of writing NST posts, I only remember one or two trolls, and they quickly vanished.
One day I read a very derisive commenter here. It was hurtful to all of us and especially, I felt, to Robin. So now is my chance to express my gratitude to all of the writers and commenters who are so intelligent, humorous and kind, even if they are stating a negative opinion. Robin has afforded us this most wonderful of all blogs (IMO). It takes tons of time in writing and research and I am grateful for what this site adds to my life on a daily basis. A big thank you to Robin and I send her my utmost respect. Angela and Kevin are the most splendid authors and are greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much! Yes, most commenters are delightful even when they completely disagree with us (which I welcome). It’s really wonderful.
Beautifully written.
I agree.
Wonderful and heart-warming article! I’m with you for smaller sizes, for tiny artisanal perfume houses, for Azemour les Orangers (and entire Parfum d’Empire which I love wholeheartedly).
And I’m thankful for letting me into this magic world of perfume. I met so many friends talking online about fragrances, swapping samples with perfumistas all over the world.
I’m also thankful for Quality Missala perfumery in Poland that they make Poland more perfumistas friendly (they just introduced Grossmith with Black Label Series to their boutiques)
Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate, in Poland we don’t, but I’m feeling your happiness!
Is there a special day in Poland set aside for giving thanks or celebrating harvest? It’s my favorite holiday.
And I’m grateful for you, a terrific reader!
In Poland we have a harvests ending celebration called “Dożynki” in Polish (no eng equiv name) and it takes place in September. That day people go to church and pray for a good weather for their crops for next year and in the evening there are dancing and singing parties.
Thank you Angela!
That sounds like fun!
Ah, interesting, and likely no coincidence that both your holiday and ours are harvest celebrations, Lucas.
Lucas,
Even though you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving per se in your country, I’ll wish you a happy weekend anyway! And I’m grateful for your friendship and your contribution to the NST community. 🙂
Donna
Thanks so much for writing this! Love your articles and reviews.
I’m still recovering from a cold that’s lasted two weeks, so far, and am grateful that each day a little of my sense of smell is returning. I received a package of small decants on day two of this and have been eyeing them with longing…
I hope you recover from that cold soon! Two weeks is a long time to be stuffed up and feeling low.
I am very thankful for this new virtual family of people that I may never actually meet but who shares this love for fragrances.
I am thankful for the fact that I am able to enjoy this sensual world of graceful bottles, of fleeting notes, of magical voyages, and instant memories.
I am thankful for the joy I feel every time I open a new box, after very carefully peeling the cellophane wrapping off, to reveal a shiny new bottle.
I am thankful for a collection that takes me back to my first year of university, through my travels around Europe, North and South America and through my entire professional life.
I am thankful for the internet that allows me to research unknown fragrances, to buy back the newly emptied bottles, the recently discontinued ones, or to buy those that I could not afford at some given time of my life.
I am thankful for a good chypre.
I am thankful for the understanding that even if a fragrance was originally created for women, I can still choose to wear it if I like.
I am thankful for… the next bottle, the next discovery.
Marvelous! That’s practically a poem. Thanks!
I’m thankful for a good chypre too, and for a good iris!
Two of my favorites, too.
I am thankful for the existence of Frederic Malle, especially L’Eau d’Hiver and Iris Poudre, and also for Guerlain for still making Shalimar in pretty good form (at least in EdP and parfum).
I was just thinking about Shalimar yesterday and how lucky we are that it still smells like Shalimar. And yes, I’m with you on Malle!
Everything Angela said, everything the other commenters have said, and every day (well, every workday) I’m thankful for working in an office that doesn’t have a no-fragrance policy. And for the two days a week when I work from home and can drench myself in Manoumalia or L’Heure Bleue or Fracas or simultaneously test a couple of new samples. And for the weekends, for the same reason.
I’m thankful for living in a city where I can waltz into a department store and sniff lots of hard-to-find perfumes.
I’m very thankful for a husband who not only tolerates but attempts to participate in my fragrance obsession (by braving perfume counters — so not his natural habitat — to find stuff on my birthday and xmas wish lists; by gamely sniffing whatever I’ve just applied to my arm and declaring it “nice”; “perfumey”; or “meh”; by not suggesting I seek professional help because my dresser is covered in bottles).
Finally, insert something deep here about people who understand that beauty (however one defines it) is neither dispensable nor frivolous.
You thought of some good ones! I’m also grateful for the lack of perfume policy at my work.
I’m joining to say a big thank you to all. I wholeheartedly agree with everything said here and my life has been enriched a thousand times for being here. Not that it needed any enriching, mind you. I, by large, have always lived happily-ever-after… most of the time, but this community has been a significant addition to my life, so THANK YOU <3
You’re welcome! I’m grateful you’re here.
Sniffing and wearing perfumes has revealed to me some things that I didn’t know about myself. I’m very grateful to NST and its readers for being witty, wonderful guides to this new world. Best wishes to all for a Happy Thanksgiving, whenever and however you celebrate it!
Isn’t it strange how perfume can help you learn about yourself? And yet it does.
I am very grateful to Angela for creating NST…it always renews my faith in humanity to know that there are other perfumistas out there (because if I hear ‘I’m allergic to perfume one more time…ahem). I have found the ladies and gentlemen on this site to be exactly that – ladies and gentlemen in the best sense of the world. This is the site I go to when I want to feel a little more civilized, a little more beautiful and a lot more special. Thanks to you all!
You’re giving me too much credit! Robin is the genius behind NST. I swear, I don’t know how she does it. But I’m glad you enjoy it here as much as I do.
Angela, appreciated the correction. Ack! I did not mean to forget Robin! And let me just include Robin (who created this wonderfulness) and all the contributors to this site – Thank-you!
It’s a compliment to me to be confused with Robin!
Ditto to everything said thus far and I’m thankful for Robin & NST, as I never would have discovered the wonderful community of perfumista without this resource. And I’m thankful for you Angela. I may not be able to comment here as often as I once did, but I still read NST faithfully, and your reviews in particular just simply make me happy. 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoy them! I miss your comments, but I love seeing you pop up in my twitter feed from time to time.
Oh goody!
Like everyone else, I am most thankful for the perfumista community. I feel very strongly that I would not have survived college without the support of the most wonderful, generous people on the internet. Others may think that perfume is a frivolous subject, but I know that there is nothing frivolous about the connections I have formed through it.
You said it perfectly! Without the perfume community, we wouldn’t have your sense of humor, for one thing, and I’d sure miss that.
This is probably a repetition of many who have posted before me, but I am Thankful for the contributers to this Blog for the generosity exhibited on a daily basis. It is rare to see such a knowledgable congregation of people who give so willingly of their vast experience and understanding.
Perfume, Physics, Medicine, Sculpture, Comedy- ANY form of art or science can rarely exist in a vacuum. So THANK YOU to all the lovely men and women who post the educational, entertaining, zany, and straight up fun articles on this Blog. And THANK YOU to all the people who comment, because I have learned a TON from you witty, wise people.
I wish everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving and if you are not from the United States, you can create your own “Day of Thanks” and make a new family tradition on any day of the year and CELEBRATE the goodness of life with friends and family =)
What a great idea to suggest everyone have a Thanksgiving! Also, I love it that you recognize comedy as art.
i am with Ari on this…NST has been a part of my life since I first delurked many years ago, and it feels like it has been and will continue to be a beautiful journey. Although I do not comment as much…I read faithfully and have respect and gratitude to Robin, you and Kevin for all you put into it. I feel like I have great virtual friends who love and share the sense of smell and beauty..
And mostly I am deeply grateful to our creator, for giving me life and the gift of being able to be and enjoy…and websites like NST
I’m so glad you enjoy NST, and I’m extra grateful you’re part of the community.
In the wake of the hurricane which pretty much flattened my county, it was not perfume that saved me, but perfumistas. My ‘fume pals reached out and kept me from going under. Fragrance fades. Friendship– never.
Is your home all right. Yikes! You said it well, though–friends are truly worth profound gratitude.
WE LOVE AND MISS YOU!!!!!!
Miss you too, sooooo much!
I am grateful for the opportunity to inhale deeply; to reflect on the totality of a beautiful fragrance while appreciating the individual notes that create the chord, then the chorale; to associate with others who share, or at least tolerate, my passion; to revel in chypre steam as I bathe, and; to take the time to tend memories stirred by an old fragrance. I am thankful for this community, for its individual and collective wit, generosity of spirit, and literacy.
Beautiful! (Now I’ll never be able to bathe without longing for some chypre steam)
This site has been such a treat for me this year. It is wonderful when folks check in with their thoughts and discoveries. I have learned so much from NST and have a greater appreciation for all aspects of fragrance.
To give a scent a second chance, the ability to break down notes you love, or not. Articulating your passions, and knowing you are in safe company. The thrill of the hunt and the score — you all participate in each other’s victories!
Thank you, Angela, for another thoughtful article, and to Robin, Kevin, Jessica et al.
I’m so glad you enjoy NST and learn from it, too. I learn MASSES from everyone who comments!
I basically agree with what everyone else has been saying. There’s a lot to be thankful for and I’m happy to say that I’m thankful for everyone on here, writers and commenters. I’m glad I have people who share my love of perfume feel like I always have a happy little place to come to in NST. I may never meet any of you in person but I feel like your part of an extended family of sorts and for that I am grateful.
Having a like-minded, supportive community is something I’m so grateful for, too.
Speaking of indie houses, Angela, what do you think of Josh Lobb of Slumberhouse? He’s in Portland, isn’t he?
He is, and I’m very curious about his fragrances but haven’t smelled them yet. I’ll have to remedy that right away! Josh Meyer of Imaginary Authors is in Portland, too, and I’ve smelled his line and can’t wait to smell more.
I am thankful to my father, who taught me how to appreciate perfume from a young age. He is just wonderful, and has exquisite taste in women’s fragrances. All my perfumes were gifts from him. I love him, so much 🙂
I am also thankful for Now Smell This, and the great community here. All the articles and reviews are so eloquently written.
I love it that your father is a perfume guy! You indeed do have something to be grateful for.
I am thankful for what happens deep down in the amygdala, nano seconds after breathing in. I am thankful for the memory triggers and for the safety warnings (food that has gone off smells distinctly off!). I am thankful for the mood-in-a-bottle, color-scheme-in-a-bottle and bottled music delights of the rows on rows of objects in a dark but sparkly corner of my cupboard. I am thankful for a partner who encourages these delights, and I thank you ALL for making me look forward to the next installment of NST every day!
I didn’t even think about the safety aspects of a good sniffer! Yes, I’m thankful for that, too.
Thankful for pretty much all of the above! I could also mention perfume books, especially The Guide and The Perfume Lover (with apologies to all those I’m not listing only because it’s very late), and looking forward to diving into Alyssa Harad’s book soon, as well.
Oh, I know–there’s been some good perfume writing lately!
I,,, Simply, Am Thankful For, You! My Angel Angela! You have spun me into such Tizzies of Delight at times i felt almost Giddy! Especially when we shared a similar Love of something that was not the favorite among the Brethren (Elie Saab… Bottega Veneta!) I Find your Candour Refreshing but also your Tasteful and Restrained Grace in your reviews (and believe You Me, some others could take VOLUMES From your book in that matter Here (I Name No Names, But they Know Whom They Are! ) when it come to Taste and Restraint!) But also your sensitivity and Poetic Soul and writing Style! Perhaps I shall Create a Perfume Blog of my own one day (WHERE ALL CAN WRITE REVIEWS, Just Saying) and ask you, Mon Angel, To be Like the Editor-At-Large! 😉 Sort of a Perfume Andre Leon Talley!
I am thankful That I Just Recently Scored a Bottle of The ORIGINAL Dolce and Gabbana Scent before they Trashed it in it’s new incarnation!
And I am Thankful that i also refuse to Dismiss fragrances with Impunity and give them actually a fighting chance to Understand their own Personal Sense of Beautiful and not simply call it Bland, or Mainstream or Commercial or whatever… not even the best Sluggers out there hit one outta the park every time at bat, and if some things we smell aren’t WILDLY original nor even particularly Earthshaking… that does not mean Condemnation… my wish in the future of Perfumnista-Dom is to back away from the kinda of elitist approach that has seem to dominate those that like to think they separate and cull themselves from the herd of the masses who just, assumed perhaps… Glom onto anything and have neither the Taste or Cache to know Something “DRUGSTORE” From Something “ARTISTIC!” Yes… Justin Beiber’s Scents are Dreadful, So are Christina Aguilera’s or Kim Kardashian… But Then again… So Is Red Door or Some of the overly Conceptual Dreck that Comme Des Garcons or Serge Lutens Puts out… but even if those are considered Bombs… they are redeemed amongst the Perfume Cognoscenti because at least they “TRIED” to make something “INTERESTING” Well Hell,,, Crap is Crap! whether you get it from Sears or CVS or from Harrods!
In The End… Have a Splendid Thanksgiving, Mon Angel and Hope you get something FABULOUS For Xmas (Maybe a Chocolate Sable Throw with a Little Pocket in it and in that Pocket a Small Little Bottle of Oh… I Don’t Know.. Balenciaga Le Dix From Wayyyy Back When! )
Love and Joy To All!
I love it that you are so discerning, yet not a perfume snob. I am certainly guilty of turning my nose up at department store perfume just because. So condescending of me! And then I’m wowed by White Diamonds or something like that. You’d think I’d have learned my lesson by now. I need you around to keep me honest.
And to be the Andre Leon Talley of anything would be tremendous!
I could say ditto to everyone else. I am especially thankful for NST and all the perfumistas I’ve met on the internet. It is great to have people who don’t think you’re a freak (in the negative sense) when they learn how many fragrances you have.
And I am espcially thankful for my SO who constantly tells me I have enough fragrances, but then surprises me my newest scent desires for birthday, Christmas, other holidays, or just because “I knew you really wanted it”. And recently gifted me with a vintage oak curio cabinet (five feet high with leaded glass doors) to display my collection.
What a darling your SO is! I know a bunch of us are green with envy out here.
I could echo so much that has been said above, and I want to add that I appreciate the *journey* of exploring perfume. I appreciate that it is an art form with enough depth, creativity, versatility, and mystery to keep me coming back for more. It’s hard to imagine becoming bored or too jaded, since there continues to be variety and exploration. I can become sort of serial nerd–jumping from one intellectual obsession to another–but I have great hopes that fragrance will continue to be an enjoyable pursuit for many years to come. And that makes me happy!
I can be a serial nerd, too (love that term), but perfume has kept me hooked for a long time!
Serial nerd, yes! That is what I am. I will latch on to a new craft, hobby, or thing to explore and get obsessed for months. Bollywood, learning crochet, making bread, learning to kayak … But perfume keeps coming back for me — even when I’m obsessed wtih something else, I still love putting on my perfume every day. Perfume takes only seconds to make your whole day more beautiful, whereas a Bollywood movie or a kayak trip is a serious time commitment!
Can you recommend a good Bollywood movie or two? I’d love to watch some, but I’m not sure where to get started.
If I might interject, you could start with jodhaa akbar. Great story, costumes…and remind me of mohur (and taif). A weepy classic is kal ho naa ho, almost on par with kuch kuch hota hai. A tad ott, but thats bollywood. For campy fun, and gorgeous costumes, om shanti om. 🙂
Now I know what I’ll be doing over the long weekend. Thank you!
Azemour les Orangers! I am thankful for that too. It is unlike anything I’ve ever smelled in perfume. Such a happy smell.
I could have mentioned a lot of perfumes, but that one jumped to mind. I love all that orangey moss.
What a lovely and timely topic Angela. I am grateful for perfume because it ties me so strongly to lovely childhood memories of my mother who was never without fragrance. Although she didn’t have a huge collection (most women didn’t back then) she always wore what I have now (through the blogs) come to know were highly regarded classics . . . No. 5, My Sin, Youth Dew (esp. the bath oil), Tigress and others I was probably not aware of as a youngster. One whiff of Youth Dew and she is there. She passed away in August and I’m having such a hard time right now because this was the time I was picking her Christmas fragrance. Of her more recent favorites were SL Louvre, 24 Faubourg, B de Boucheron (absolutely lovely on her but not on me), Knowing and Coco. I find myself constantly checking myself from searching for the next one for her. It was a love we shared and I will carry it forward. I am grateful for that but also too, like you said Angela, I too often lament the passing of or butchering of old classics rather than rejoicing in new offerings. In saying that I am sitting on pins and needles awaiting 15 mls of Onda extrait from Germany. It is flawless and I had to think very hard to spend the money and ordered many samples to be sure, but it is me and must be mine. Mom would have loved it. So thank you to the new perfumers who refuse to budge from their high standards, thank you to new perfumers who are innovating and thank you to sites like this without which I wouldn’t know what was available or how to adequately evaluate it. I am indeed grateful (and waiting for samples of Ormonde Woman). Oh yes, and one more thing, thank you to the internet without which I would never be able to access this beautiful bounty! Happy Thanksgiving my American neighbors!
From the sound of her perfume, your mother must have been quite a femme fatale! I’m so sorry she’s gone now. And I’m so happy she’s left such wonderful memories.
Yes Angela, she was very glamorous and had lovely things but wasn’t prissy about anything. She let me play in her jewellery box, try on her kid gloves and once, I spilled some No. 5 pure perfume on her mahogany dresser (I think I was about 7 at the time and was horrified) and it took the finish off in a little spot and she didn’t get mad at all. How lucky was I? Thank you for the kind thoughts and for all your wonderful articles. I always get a litte leap of excitement when I see your name under one because I know it will be great!
I bet she was really proud of you. Thanks for the stories about her!
I’m late to the Thanksgiving party, but I was just in Vegas going absolutely bananas smelling all the scents and putting to use all the information, insight, joys, caveats, passions and curiosities of this remarkable, wise, tolerant, sensual, funny, generous, diverse, kind, thoughtful, worldly and totally blessed community. I have NEVER used as many effusive nouns and adjectives in my life, in one tangle of a sentence, and, for that, I am grateful to feel the need to overindulge.
May all of you smell mah-valous, just mah-velous all day, every day and may new creators be blessed with inspiration, support and reward. Perfume is beauty smellable, and thanks for THAT! No matter how bad a day i am having, i smell my wrist, or scarf, and the world is a better place. Cheers!
Mough – I wore Voleur de Roses two days ago and sent thoughts of gratitude your way! Thank you again!
So true! Beautiful perfume is one thing you can count on for a shot of accessible beauty.
Expressing thankfulness for OJ Woman brought me around. I’ve continued to sample but haven’t found its equal.
It really is one of a kind. I love it.
What a wonderful and timely post. I agree wholeheartedly with what you wrote, Angela, and with what everyone else has said. I’ll only add: I’m grateful for eBay (no one mentioned that!) without which my perfume collection would be minus some wonderful vintage perfumes.
On the subject of modern scents that can stand up to the glories of the old, I would nominate Champagne de Bois, Cosmic and Mecca Balsam.
And finally, I wouldn’t trade Robin and the other NST writers or the kind, generous and intelligent NST community for a vat of pristine, vintage Mitsouko parfum! I love you guys! <3
I forgot about ebay, too–although I probably should nominate Goodwill, first, for me! They’re both equally frustrating and rewarding.
I am likewise grateful for everyone here!
And I’m grateful for you!