If you’re an introvert, though, you may be hard-pressed to explain why you’re wearing perfume at home with your cat.

Psychologist Carl Jung first popularized the terms “introvert” and “extrovert” to describe inner-directed people, as opposed to those of whom Barbra Streisand sang, “People who need people / Are the luckiest people in the world.” And they are. American life—that includes school, business, and even religion—prizes extroverts. Yet introverts too splash on fragrance. I know because I am one. I’ve also spent my entire adult life deep in perfume obsession, first as a collector, then as a blogger, then as an author translated and published around the world.

— Tania Sanchez, in Scents and Sensitivity at Harper's Bazaar. Hat tip to Kevin!

We actually got rather burned out on perfume after we wrote the first guide where we reviewed about 1,800 perfumes more, so we weren't paying very much attention for a few years. And when we looked back at the department stores, it was absolutely amazing what had changed. When we wrote the guide in 2007, celebrity perfume was all the rage, and a lot of things were discontinued, changing, things didn't smell the same. ... We were really depressed about it. And then when we went back to the shops, suddenly it was a whole new world of niche perfume...

— Tania Sanchez talks to NPR's Marketplace. Read the transcript, or listen to the radio spot, at What's that smell? A rise in "perfume culture".