So I wore my last untried scent, Florence, to work on Thursday. It went on pretty nice, lightly sweet, almost the way a marshmallow smells. But as it dried down, it began to smell distinctly granny-ish. I felt self-conscious about how granny-ish I smelled. The throw was like department store perfume. I might try it once more, but I'm thinking it's definitely not for me.

I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that most amber scents are not for me (though I still love Aglaea). I don't like the fuzzy way amber hits my nose when it's on my skin. Florence is described as containing "velvety spices," but I think it's the amber note that gives it the really fuzzy/velvety texture, and I don't like it. Ironically, I do like fuzzy/velvety textiles. Just not odors.

Friday I wore Kumiho again. This was the ginger/white tea scent that I said smelled like something you'd find in a mall shop. Not a crappy mall shop, I want to add; maybe Bath & Body Works or GAP or something. Anyway, I've concluded that I don't really like Kumiho, and that maybe I'm just not into scents that are heavy on the ginger. Small amounts, like in Bengal and The Apothecary, are fine. But scents that rely on it as a major note are just so sharp, so spiky in my nose, that they're not fun for me to wear. Again, this is ironic because ginger is one of my very favorite things to eat.

So that probably sounds like I'm complaining, but actually I'm thrilled (thrilled!) to have learned to identify these two notes, amber and ginger, and what they do on my skin. It's like learning the landmarks in a new town. The more you know....

And then Friday night I went to a party, and wore Green Tree Viper again. And this time I really liked it. It didn't smell like Mom's perfume at all. It's still not a smell I'm 100% comfortable with; it's sensual in ways that I'm not. But it's a good smell, and it's happy on my skin, and I look forward to wearing it again.

I think maybe another factor in how I perceive scents (especially new scents) is how I'm feeling when I wear them; if I'm relaxed and enjoying myself, I'm usually enjoying my perfume too. If I'm tense and worried, my scent can get all tangled up with my discomfort so that I confuse the two a little. And maybe my chemistry actually alters the perfume to some degree based on how I'm feeling? Anyway, that's how I explain the difference between my experience with the Viper at the work-related banquet, and at the party the other night. I realize that my favorite non-BPAL scent, a Tenzing Momo oil labeled "Pomegranate" that C. gave me a few years ago, is one I save for occasions when I know I'm going to have a good time. I always felt like it was too special to wear when I wasn't pretty sure I'd enjoy myself. And now I think that was a really good instinct, because I always associate it with feeling happy and sexy and having fun.

I finally gave E. her BPAL birthday present yesterday: R'lyeh for creatures of the deep, Calico Jack for pirateyness, and Miskatonic University for mad scientists (all three things she loves). I included the descriptions on little slips of paper, so she'd know what they were meant to be. She sniffed them and said appreciative things about all of them. When she opened the box and said "Oooh," her wife asked what it was, and E. said gleefully, "It's perfumes for evil people!" She had already heard of BPAL, and said she'd been wanting to try their stuff. So of course I was happy to have provided her with the opportunity!