The week before last, I quit my office day job. I’m transitioning into a new life that’s part-time writer and part-time shop girl supplemented by whatever freelance assignments I can scare up. Even in this short time, my habits have changed: I’m going to bed later and getting up later; I’m outside more and feeling good moving my body instead of trapped catatonic in my office; I’m getting a lot more writing done. And, I’m wearing perfume differently.
First, I’m loving being able to wear whatever fragrance I want. I realized that I've been unconsciously limiting my perfume choices so I wouldn’t draw attention to myself. Now I’m like a starving kid with full access to the candy store, and I’m pulling out the big guns. Arquiste Anima Dulcis and lots of it? No problem. If I want to smell like a bakery with a bordello in the back, the boss approves. Two versions of Yves Saint Laurent Opium with a side of Dana Tabu and Estée Lauder Youth Dew for comparison? Bring it on.
I’m also wearing a lot more perfume than I did. I’ve always stinted at my Cartier Baiser Volé Extrait, for example. Not today. I smell like a freaking funeral cortege. (A really romantic funeral, that is. Maybe Percy Bysshe Shelley’s.) Over the weekend I found a bottle of Guerlain Shalimar Extrait at an estate sale for $1.50. It only had three milliliters or so of fragrance left in it. Guess what I did. Yes! I wore it all at once! That evening, a friend's Pomeranian actually rolled in me.
Finally, I switch perfumes at least three times daily. In fact, I get a little grumpy if I’m wearing a persistent perfume, like Xerjoff Richwood, since it doesn’t fade quickly enough for me to shift gears. (That said, Molinard Habanita can obliterate just about anything. I made good use of it last night over the end of Amouage Beloved.) My daily routine now goes something like this: Feed cats. Perfume. Coffee, writing, breakfast, writing. Perfume #2. Lunch, errands, social obligations, dinner. Perfume #3. Bath. Optional bedtime perfume.
I haven’t even had my new life two weeks yet. I’m sure that before long I’ll have scratched this perfume itch and be ready to wear subtle, understated fragrance like a normal person. Plus, the shop girl job kicks in soon, so I’ll need to keep my scent more low key a few days a week. But until then, watch out.
For those of you who don’t spend your days in offices, does it affect how you wear perfume? If you made the switch from office to home, how do you think it would change your perfume habits?
Since I work from home, I wear pretty much whatever I want, but if I am going to the gym I either apply very sparingly or choose something that doesn’t bloom. I really get to splurge in the evenings after dinner (MFK Absolue Pour Le Soir, Oud Ispahan, Coromandel, HOT Always, etc), as my only audience tends to be my partner (what the HELL did you just put on?) and my cats, one of which seems interested, the other squints her eyes like it is painful to be smelling such things. 🙂
Congratulations on the new transition, sounds like you’re having a wonderful time getting reacquainted with some dear friends.
I wish I could spend some after-dinner time with you! (Also, thanks for the reminder to dig out my decant of Coromandel.)
I just got samples of the EDT and EDP. They are both very nice, but I like the EDT better, it seems more in your face than the well-mannered EDP.
I have to talk myself out of purchasing a FB before the EDT disappears…wish me luck! 😉
Oh, I feel your pain! Good luck doing what’s right–whatever that may be!
I still wear most of my perfumes but keep the dosage low during the work week. There is one person where I work who wants to control the environment of the entire office. I guess there is always one. Weekends are slightly better but my hubby doesn’t like strong scents either. I wish you great happiness. It sounds wonderful. Great article!
Thank you! Yes, there often is that one person. If it’s not fragrance, it’s the office thermostat or strength of the office coffee.
Congratulations Angela. Good on you! I gave up full time work in order to write (novels) 25 years ago as I didn’t want to miss out…never regretted the change ( except, maybe, the financial situation). So…i work from home and wear perfume all day, spraying whenever I get stuck on a word, or bored, or hungry, or restless, or curious about comparing scents. I wear my perfumes mostly in my left forearm so I can sniff them easily and by the end of the day I will have 6-7 scents. The trick is to start with the lightest, most fleeting scents and work up to the Coco, Poison, Mitsuoko …. But having said that, i just wear what I like, when I like, and keep on spraying until I get the desired result. Also…burning scented candles makes work seem less work-like. Also…sitting on the couch reading magazines, or watching movies is actually RESEARCH….as is eating chocolate.
I love your description of your workday! That’s my dream. I bet it inspires some terrific fiction, too. Are you comfortable revealing your pen name so we can read your novels–or maybe you’d rather be an anonymous perfumista?
One of the many boons of retirement is that I can wear what I want, as much as I want, whenever I want. The cat hates it, but hey, I’m the human.
What shop, if you don’t mind sharing? Fumarie maybe?
No, not Fumerie (although I’m sure I’ll be spending lots of my free time there!). I feel weird about going public with the store’s name, even though I’m unlikely to attract stalkers. I will say, though, that it’s a wonderful place full of beautiful, inspiring things, and they decided to hire me because I’m “a bit older and eccentric.” (ha ha ha)
Congratulations on the exciting change, Angela!! Your new store is very lucky to be getting you! 🙂
I think my scent routine is pretty standard, with maybe one idiosyncrasy: I don’t spray my SOTD on my wrists. I keep the wrists free so that I can test other fragrances throughout the day. Anyone else out there??
Oh, that makes a lot of sense! Especially since you probably test things often in your perfume boutique.
This reminds me that I’ve fallen out of the habit of testing on the back of my hands. I get really good projection there, but whatever I’ve put on is guaranteed to disappear after a few handwashings.
I like to use the fleshy part at the base of my thumb, too.
Yes, I love using the backs of hands for testing- I’m assuming you meant “disappear after a few handwashings” as a good thing – I do, anyway! I get a good sniff from that area and I’m not as afraid to try something as I know that if it’s awful, it’ll be gone fairly soon and if it’s not, I can spray elsewhere, too.
I guess you’d have to make sure you didn’t use scented lotion, but that’s the only downside I see.
Yes, just like you I always keep the wrists free. Or the backs of my forearms, because when I test I can smell the worst of something on that area of skin – it never lies, and lasts a long time.
It sounds like we need to do a post on where people apply fragrance!
A post on where people apply fragrance?
Yes, please!
It would be fun! It’s hard to believe we haven’t done one over the years, but it’s been a while.
I’m not sure it would change much for me. I work in a small office, and usually it’s just me and my boss. He rarely ever notices my perfume, so I basically just wear whatever I feel like. It’s a pretty good situation that way. And at home it’s just me and my two cats, and they don’t much care what I wear. Occasionally if they like something they’ll try to lick it off my arm and then make ick faces because perfume doesn’t taste very good.
You do have a good situation!
My pets have always been pretty good about tolerating my scent, too. It was hilarious to have a dog roll on my arm, though.
I work from home (which is really my way of saying I’m out of the workforce temporarily, save a couple of tax clients) and like you, enjoy the freedom of wearing what I want when I want, and am also impatient with scents that overstay their welcome.
I’ll wear up to 4 perfumes a day, and at the very least 2, and often start the day by testing something or other before choosing a SOTD.
Incidentally, I applied for 2 PT jobs last week and rather than leaving dates out (from the years I earned degrees) to make my age ambiguous, I intentionally put them in. My thinking is that being “a bit older” may work in my favor.
Congratulations on your newly liberated life! I’m sure once the novelty wears off you’ll continue to enjoy your fragrant freedom.
In retail, at least, so often the average age is early 20s–probably because of the low pay. But in the place I’ll be working, it looks like a small and eclectic group, which is great.
Seething with envy with your abandoned daytime perfume-wearing: I am in the sedate Jasmine White Moss, sedately sitting in my office. While it does look like I can wear anything to work, it seems to be limited to just one spritz. Spritz, spritz away for us all, Ms A…
You chose a good one, though!
O girl you sound so happy! It’s a joy to read 🙂
Like you I combine free lance assignments with (a not too regular) parttime job. There I take care of elderly people whose senses have more or less ablated by the passage of time. They LOVE it when I dress nice, look nice, smell nice. So pull up the volume yes yes!
Thank you! You’re so kind. And you’re doing good work making your clients happy!
I also work from home and usually wear 2-4 different scents per day. I like to challenge myself to find things that play well; the drydown of one that mixes well with the first blast of another. (Coromandel and Mohur do this nicely!). Enjoy and best wishes in the new setup!
Yes, I’ve been thinking about this, too–how scents transition. I’m wearing Arquiste Aleksandr right now and thinking of moving on to Cuir de Russie next and maybe finishing the day with Lanvin Scandal–or going violet again. We’ll see.
I am so freakin’ envious I can hardly STAND it! A healthy spritzing of Alahine is helping me cope, though. 🙂
We’ll see how envious you are when I’m living under a bridge! (But hey, it will be one nice smelling bridge.)
I’m pretty sure you have about two years’ worth of couch-surfing opportunities just among the Portland perfumista community, so that bridge is gonna have to wait. Not that couch surfing is the best thing ever, but hey … perfumistas take care of their own, right?!
And there’s nothing like a nicely scented couch!
Congratulations, on the new chapter, Angela. I wish you much success, and it was great reading this article. Smelling like a funeral cortege, seems incredibly apropos for Halloween.
I started my own small graphic design business, after loosing my job in April. It has been tough, but well worth it. Though, I wish I could be more strict and disciplined about my sleep schedule.
Congratulations on your design business! I know it can be hard to draw a line between down time and work time. Good luck to you.
Congrats! I feel you. I quit my office job a few years ago to be a stay-at-home mom. I also did a 180 as far as the types of scents I wear – no longer florals, now they are deep and dark. I’m getting into animalics and woods. It’s partly that there is no one to offend (my kids don’t care, and my favorite perfumes have passed the husband test) and partly that motherhood has made me feel like I’ve earned my perfume stripes and can wear whatever I want, let the world deal with it. I feel at liberty to experiment, because sometimes my husband has surprisingly positive reactions to something new and strange. I wear 2 perfumes max per day, because longevity is important to me. Usually by the end of the day, if there is scent lingering on me, I layer with something complimentary to add interest.
I’m happy for you and your new groove!
Thank you! I love the idea of “earning your stripes” for bigger perfumes, although from your post I get the sense of a personality with plenty of stripes already. (If that makes sense!)
Congrats on the change! I’m careful about what and how much I wear to work since I work in healthcare. I have an arsenal of fairly-inoffensive-but-interesting-enough-for-me perfumes. My cats and my husband don’t appreciate perfume the way I do, so I do take that into consideration at home. The bigger guns are for being out and about running errands.
Healthcare would be tough for fragrance. I understand taking it easy at work. But I bet your car smells good!
Loved this post. I also work as freelance and love going around the city in my bike. That means freedom and lots of perfume!
I ride my bike a lot, too! I figure that means I can wear an extra spritz, since it will blow away in the wind (yeah, right).
I’m so glad that there are no rules about wearing perfume where I work. So I can pretty much do what I like. However, I wear perfume for me, so I don’t overdo it. Not like when I was a student and would happily wear 10 sprays of Paris.
Congrats on the life change by the way. You are a brave woman, and I hope you will enjoy your freedom!
10 sprays of Paris! Whew! I know a Pomeranian who’d like to get to know you….or at least, from your student days.
And thank you!
I quit working full time a few years ago and now I take care of my elderly parents. I wear whatever perfume I want, usually quite lavishly, but I also spend a lot of time at doctor appointments and such so I tone it down on those days. When I am stressed my favorite thing to do is come home and just spray on a whole cloud of Shalimar but I did that when I was working a “real” job too. I’m delighted by your awesome purchase and swooning dog experience 🙂 Looking forward to hearing how things are going in your new life, wishing you the best.
Thank you for all your good wishes! I love how you have “perfume” and “lavishly” in the same sentence. They should be used together as often as possible!
Wishing you fragrant good luck with this new chapter in your professional and creative life! Your current daily routine pretty much sounds like my idea of heaven, by the way.
I pretty much wear whatever I want to work, though some perfumes like Cepes and Tuberose and vintage Joy extrait just feel too incongruous to me for a day in the office. Freedom from that incongruity would be delicious. And as a toast to that sentiment and to your courage and to all stifled perfumistas everywhere, I think I may need to wear silk velvet and Fracas to work tomorrow!
I love it! Silk velvet and Fracas are a natural combination. Go get ’em!
I wish you the best – it sounds very exciting. At the moment, I’m the breadwinner for both me and Mr. Springpansy, although he’d very much like to be working. He has incredible experience, but we’re several years away from retirement, and he is feeling some ‘ageism’ as he searches for work.
I do wear perfume at work, almost anything I want, but as I work in a fairly enclosed office with the CEO, I use a very light touch. I’m happy with my job, but would often like a more flexible schedule.
Enjoy and please keep us posted on the ups and downs. We’re cheering you on!
You’re so sweet, thanks! It sounds like Mr. Springpansy is the one who should be wafting the perfume these days. I hope he finds work he loves soon, and in the meantime makes you lots of tasty dinners and keeps the house spic and span (ha ha ha).
“And as a toast to that sentiment and to your courage and to all stifled perfumistas everywhere, I think I may need to wear silk velvet and Fracas to work tomorrow!”
This passage is EMPOWERING!!!
It looks like your comment slipped down a comment (should be under Isabella’s post above), but the sentiment is right on the mark, and I agree!
At first I didn’t get who it was that u were referring to when u wrote “the boss approves.” But now I do: YOU are the boss, and u can wear whatever the heck u want!! Love that attitude!!!
This boss takes quite a few more daytime naps than the old one, too! It’s a good life.
Um, u were referring to yourself as the boss, weren’t u? Or were u referring to your cat??
Ha ha ha! According to my cats, they’re both boss (and they nap A LOT).
Congratulations on your life changes and perfume freedom! I work in an office and also have a train commute to deal with so my fragrance choices are somewhat limited (i.e. no overdoing the boozy perfumes because one never know with whom one will be in the same elevator); thank goodness my taste in perfumes is congruent with office-friendly, for the most part. Occasionally, when I work from home, I tend to even wear less or only wear gourmand perfumes that truly smell like “food”
(usually a sweet baked good) and the reason is that my mom lives with me and there”s always drama when she smells perfume. Age actually made her sense of smell more acute and hers can rival that of a bloodhound’s nose.
Hey, speaking of bloodhounds, is that a beagle? What an adorable puppy!
It sounds like quiet perfumes suit you, although gourmands can pack some punch….
Actually, he is a full grown 8-year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. He’s my brother’s and is the naughtiest of 3 of the same breed who rule the household. They live in your neck of the woods :-). My sister took the picture in August when we were all over at their place the day after my niece’s wedding reception.
Oh! They’re such sweet dogs. I’ve only known two Cavalier King Charles spaniels, but they were both sweet little lap dogs.
Congratulations, Angela! I’m so happy for you!
I finally retired, i.e. left my looooong career in the t’bred business in May to do what I want. I love it! Don’t take my perfume card away, but I actually wear perfume less often. I think this is probably a phase that won’t last.
I’m jealous though of you all who can change fragrances several times a day; I have serious scent-glue skin! It held on to Ambre Precieux for two days – even through showers!
Congratulations to you, too! Although working with horses sounds wonderful. Your perfume card is safe. I’m sure those Guerlains and SSS scents will be out soon….
Oh yes, the horses were great! It was the owners and their agents…
I’m waiting for the weather here to cooperate so that I can wear my Guerlains and SSS scents – record highs today and tomorrow! Again!!
It’s rainy here. A Guerlain would be a good fit. I hope it cools down there soon!
Congratulations on what sound like some very happy making life changes Angela!
My days are incredibly various. Sometimes office all day, some days I work at home and then go to the office, others are appointments around town, and — the best days — I can work entirely from home. I do tend to wear two to three perfumes a day and what I wear does depend on which kind of day it is, but this is as much in the spirit of self-fortification as anything else. I only worry about bothering people when at conferences where there is no air circulation and I don’t want to gas anyone. At the same time, I like to think a little fragrancing of the room is a public service!
You have the best of all worlds! (And you can sit by me at a conference any day.)
Congratulations, Angela! It’s interesting that big life changes can affect one’s perfume habits.
I teach at an art college in big airy studios so I don’t worry about over doing the perfume. Plus, everyone expects artists to be eccentric, right 😉 That’s my excuse anyway when I go to meetings. On teaching days I pick something I know I love and carry a decant of it in my bag so I can refresh. Nothing can spoil my day quite as much as selecting the wrong perfume to wear to work. Other days I often test different perfumes and give them my full attention. It’s fun.
Fabulous! My evening perfume has (unexpectedly) shifted to CdG Daphne, which always reminds me of an art studio. Something in its incense and tuberose shakes up turpentine for me.
Way to go, Angela! WOOT! Portland needs to do a meetup at Blue Star or Nuvrei!
When I worked on film sets I wore scent through body products and body sprays, because with many people milling about a strong perfume would invariably activate someone’s allergies. And when I modeling and acting auditions I would wear no scent at all. Now, I work for a corp in Wilsonville, and I have more leeway in my scents; I still find myself going for smaller amounts, just enough to smell if you went in for hugs.
Thank you, and, yes, a meet up would be fun!
I love the description of wearing “enough to smell if you went in for hugs.”
I work at an office, an open space with no cubicles. But I’m fortunate to have two coworkers who also love perfume. One of them is more of a wearer and not a collector/nerd/hoarder (still a nice person 🙂 but the other one has a serious habit and, like me, wears potent stuff like Le labo Santal 33 and various Byredos. We regularly smell each other and discuss scents. It’s pretty great.
That is great! For the rest of us, at least we have the internet for discussing perfume!
Wow! How exciting! I wish you every luck with this new phase of life 🙂 I work from home periodically and tend to spray large amounts of perfume in the morning and then not switch unless I’m going out and changing clothes. When I’m at work I wear less and never bring any perfume with me. Instead I pop by a perfume shop during breaktime and sample something new when what I’m wearing fades!
That’s a great way to try new perfume–plus it would make the work day more interesting!
“That evening, a friend’s Pomeranian actually rolled in me.”
That’s a wonderful, wonderful sentence:)
I’m very fortunate in being able to wear what I like to work — I do tone it down for meetings and have a couple of things I only wear at home (Cuir Mauresque, Onda), but that’s purely voluntary.
(I also get to take Madame G to work — theoretically because we have individual offices, but in fact she spends at least as much time with colleagues as with me. I hardly dare show up without her.)
Is Madame G your dog? That’s so great!
Yes, that’s her in the pic. It wasn’t planned this way, but when my home circumstances suddenly changed a few years ago, it was the very welcome solution.
It’s amazing how life can turn up unexpected–but useful–situations sometimes.
Congrats on your new chapter. I just went from being stay-at-home/freelance for 12 years to teaching music in a preschool 4 days a week. I find myself choosing very subtle, soft scents for work days (some days it’s like an aerobics class) and then going crazy on Tuesdays (and weekends) with anything I want.
Oh yes, with kids it seems like it would be best to be subtle. What great exercise, though!
Congratulations Angela on your new freedom of spritzing! I work in an office 45 hours a week and have to be very selective and stingy with wearing perfume to work. (I have been called down on it several times.) However, on weekends I lavish in my animalic and/or loud and stronger perfumes with abandon. Enjoy your fragrant life!
Oh, I’m sorry they’ve gotten on your case about your perfume. I’m glad you have the weekends to splash out!
Many congratulations on the recent changes to your life, Angela – fingers crossed it all goes well. Your ‘bakery/bordello’ comment made me chuckle – & took me back to my friend I’ve mentioned here before who wore Tabu & coined the phrase ‘instant brothel’ to describe it, which I’ve also alluded to here – so thank you for mentioning Tabu again, always brings back fond memories of when we were all young, free & single (& wore fabulous fragrances for our tender years!).
Hey, they didn’t name it Tabu for nothing!
I wish you all the best for your new situation! I hope you get lots of productive writing time.
I am fortunate to work in an office where I can wear what I want without complaint, but I often wonder if that’s just because no one will say anything to my face. Oh well, that’s their problem I guess. But when I was younger I was much more cautious.
There are still things I dont wear to work like Salome and Absolue pour le Soir, so I wear those on the weekends. Husband will say something if he really hates one, but otherwise he’s really tolerant of my madness. My dogs are too, but they’ve never rolled in me!
It’s so nice to hear about offices that are scent-tolerant! There’s so much news out there about fragrance-free zones that it’s easy the imagine that the whole world is giving up perfume.
And Salome and Absolue pour le sour would demand a special workplace….
A bit late here, I’m sending you my congratulations on this new phase in your life and wish you luck! Daytime naps and lots of perfume – life’s little treasures are all yours now. Your description of your friend’s Pomeranian rolling in you is priceless! 🙂
I work in academia and people are pretty liberal about clothes and perfume here. And I’m not an oversprayer so, basically, I can wear almost anything and have had no problems so far. But still there are some perfumes I don’t wear to work, like some Amouages – too “evening-gown” – or Boudoir – too, well, boudoir. I wouldn’t want to bother colleagues with my sillage and neither do I want myself to be constantly distracted by it. I also work at home quite a lot and when I do it’s usually more intensive and consuming than working in office, so I tend to forget about perfume altogether. On such days I do need something comforting in the evening, something either warm and balsamic like Shalimar or cool and soothing like Oolong Infini.
It sounds like you’re taking an approach at work that will make sure you won’t have to worry about being asked not to wear perfume. That’s smart. And thank you for reminding me about Oolong Infini! It’s been too long since I’ve smelled it.
What a timely article for me! I have retirement on the horizon if everything works out, hope to take up writing seriously, and have been wondering how the change would affect my perfume habits. Be sure to update us on whether you get subtle again!
That’s exciting! Best of luck to you on your changes!
Hello Angela, it is delightful to read the caring and supportive comments here. It seems that fabulously fragrant folk are some of the nicest people on the planet.
I am wishing you all the best and feeling grateful that there will be more of your writing for readers like me to enjoy in the future. 🙂
My working hours are spent with young children. I feel lucky that most of my favorite scents are lighter and kid-friendly. I rarely spritz more than a few times before heading to school. I’m always pleased when a student will tell me that I smell “like flowers” or “like a cookie” or, best of all, “you smell nice like my mommy.”
I love sharing HOW we wear perfume. When I saw the title of this post I smiled. This subject is for many people (civilians and perfumistas, too) quite unremarkable or ho-hum. We say, “Yes, I spritz here and there, and I like this not that” as if it’s nothing unusual. But when we share the details of our fragrant rituals and methods, we let down our guard and allow others into our interior world in a wonderful way. Of course we have online anonymity (in varying degrees) which can be quite freeing. In any event, I ramble, and want to say I am tickled that you and so many NSTers enjoy this line of conversation as much as I do.
Perfume people really are thoughtful and, as I’ve discovered over the years, really fascinating people! Fragrance is both public and intimate, and I agree that how and why we use it reveals a lot about our lives. Thanks for commenting!
Great thread!
On my work at home days, it’s carte blanche for me. Today is a Coco day, with generous spritzes. It’s right on my desk in front of me for when I need another fix. Coco is also my favourite night-time and going out scent and the one I reach for when it’s cold outside. You’ve got me thinking, shall I try it at a work meeting? Just for fun, to see if anyone makes a comment.
I also probably end up wearing two or three perfumes a day. This morning, for instance, I layered JM Peony and Blush Suede with JM Orange Blossum before taking the dog for a walk. I kept wondering what the lovely smell was but now, several hours later in the day with Coco piled on top they all three work together. Who’d have thought that?
I think anybody who writes creatively can only be more inspired by surrounding themselves with beautiful scents.
Isn’t it wonderful to be able to work yet take the dog for a walk in the middle of the day? And isn’t even more wonderful to be wearing Coco while doing it!