There is raw onion inside a black plastic binliner, inside our neighbour's bin. I can smell it in the hallway, wafting out through their letterbox. An unmarked van drove past me today with a load of sanitary bins. I knew this from across the street.
The new J-Lo perfume smells remarkably like Hawaiian Tropic suntan lotion and Diesel Feminine like Pina Colada. A top note of Bergamot is guaranteed to seduce me. Tuberose is guaranteed to make me heave just a little.
New books and magazines must first be smelt; then examined otherwise.
When a childhood friend and I were playing one day, in the first floor bedroom of her house, I suddely stood up in alarm and announced: "Something is burning."
She said: "I can't smell anything. Don't be stupid."
We were under 10 years old and had been left alone to play for a while. We shouldn't have been; it wasn't right, but that's what the situation was. Her mother had popped to the shops.
Her mother had popped to the shops and left a small pot of sauce on the gas stove. It had caught fire, set alight to its surroundings and was now reaching for the kitchen ceiling like a long, fiery tongue.
If I hadn't had such a sensitive nose - to have smelled burning long before the fire got bad - we would have been trapped in that first floor bedroom, all alone.
As it was, we made it to the bottom of the stairs and ran out, screaming for help from our neighbours.
A few years later, it was my nose that alerted a fire brigade to a burning kiosk outside the Helsinki railway station. Nobody else had noticed anything out of the ordinary, but I smelled burning plastic before there was visible smoke, much less fire.
I once approached a perfect stranger and asked her if she knew she was pregnant. She didn't, but she was. I was so convinced that I bought her a test out of my own money and she did it in a public toilet.
It may not come as a surprise, that one of my favourite subjects at school was chemistry and that when my college course turned to cosmetic chemistry I realised that I'd have found an entire semester full of nothing but, absolutely fascinating.
A couple of years after college, I became the training manager for a cosmetics and fragrance distributor. When perfumers from some of our big-brand "houses" came to visit and brought a miniature perfume organ with them, I was enthralled.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
Fascinating. Odd isn't it, that despite the majority of the products being for women, only men's noses were thought "good enough". I'm sure it is nothing to do with the salaries and an old boys' network!
2 - Nukapai
Natalie, indeed, a curious coincidence! In order to understand the "traditions" involved, one has to cast the eye to who the first perfumes were made for and who the first perfumes were made by. It was the royalty (or, in as far back as Egypt, the equivalent of) who wore the scents and it was their servants who made them.
3 - Gypsy
Nukapai,
Hi! Are you able to reveal what company you found your fine single note oils at?
4 - Mark Bellinghaus
Great article Nukapai! I totally got rid of the annoying same ol same ol parfumes--and when you go to clubs--for a while every gal was surrounding herself in "Angel" and guys would smell like the latest Calvin Klein which just simply turned into a cheap sort of scent.
I personally mix my oils, you shoudl try a bit of Patchouly oil, mixed on your wrists with a drop of Egytian Musk--that is really awesome and I will never ever get tired of that scent. You can also try a bit of opium oil with it and or Sandalwood in it. A bit Hippie and a bit Yoga class neighbor with good energy.
My suggestion to Gypsy: I am buying my oils at Whole Foods market and the name is "Auric Blends".
By the way--finally and after many many years of not agreeing to having his book turned into a movie, the German novelist Patrick Suskind gave the okay for it to be filmed and it is being shut right now. An amazing story and a guaranteed blockbuster hit named: "The Perfume".
5 - Nukapai
Gypsy - I source from a variety of companies, but the three I have used most are: Neal's Yard, Amphora Aromatics and Tisserand.
Mark: I am delighted to hear that "Perfume" is being made into a film! Also, thank you for the blending tips. ;)
6 - Christopher Rose
Don't know how I missed this great article last year, Nuka, but delighted to find it.
Ylang Ylang, Vetiver, Bergamot, Bulgari. The very words themselves make my head spin. Throw in Cinnamon and Patchouli and I'm in scent heaven!
This would make a great little niche net business for you one day, Nuka...
7 - Nukapai
Dear Christopher - thank you for your very flattering feedback! (And, well, I think most of my articles sort of sink without a trace, but I seem to have hit on a hot potato with the Homeopathy one!).
As for business ideas, yes, that's the eventual plan. Making the perfumes and related products into a little business, which may then lead to a bigger business. After writing the above article, I managed to land a job that is the perfect training ground for that and hopefully, one day my dreams might even come true!
8 - Christopher Rose
Nuka, starting businesses on the net is so low cost these days and comparatively much easier than in the real world now it's kind of weird when I meet people who don't get it!
As you may have seen during your kind visit to my poor neglected blog, I'm learning how to do that and each time it becomes easier and easier. Don't hold yourself back, you will find it is not so hard to make dreams come true these days!
9 - eileenmarie
Hi...Would love to sample your products...for my own personal use. Are you into that stage yet. I live in the states....but we get mail! Love your blog.
10 - denish parker
Beautiful is standing at my grandmother's dressing table, surveying the many perfumes resting on mirrored trays and knowing exactly which one I was going to pick - the one that smelled just like Gramma Danicki.
11 - Nancy
Alas, I am nose-blind. Additionally, I find most if not all perfumes today have a harsh, chemical tone to them that sets me sneezing & wheezing, which the 'old' batches of classics like Chanel #5 did not. Even today's #5 smells like this. They must be using some sort of artificial substitute for a natural ingredient? Everything smells like Janitor in A Drum. Especially Giorgio.
12 - Tanya
Hi Nuka,
I was reading your story and became "intrigued" myself! I LOVE perfume, real perfume that is and for years I was always interested in how it was actually made and always curious about those "noses". I finally found a a company that actually offers true 100% real perfume at factory direct prices AND was able to start my very own business selling for them.
I am happy to say, Anais Anais, Samsara, Vera Wang and even Michael Kors perfumes are my most favorite! I also like to mix scents from time to time just to see what kind of "experience" I will get....hey, it's fun for me! LOL
Take Care,
Tanya
A.K.A. "Perfume Lady"
13 - Nukapai
Thank you for all the comments (pleased to see this article is still somewhat active!) - I've made lots of progress on the perfume front; my new job very much relates to fragrances and perfumery and I have been learning a great deal. Currently making several prototypes, some of which have already been sampled to a very select few; not ready for mass test audiences yet.
I have also recently received an amazing gift in form of personal tutoring from two skilled and currently working perfumers.
So far so good. Watch this space. :)
14 - Christopher Rose
Good to know you're still around, Nuka, and that things are going well for you!
15 - Nukapai
*dusts off the perfume shelf* - only a few months late: thank you, Christopher!
I've made a huge amount of progress with all this and it's starting to look quite exciting. No business start-up yet, but it's looking like that's a case of WHEN rather than IF. I'm in no rush with that yet, however. Lots more to learn and do still.
I'm considering whether to post an update on BC about it all. Not sure yet.
16 - Christopher Rose
Nuka, you could even write a whole series of articles about the whole process of developing your own range of perfumes and launching a new brand and business. Then, when and if you do launch, you'll have a small army of interested people who've followed your trials, tribulations and successes!
17 - Nukapai
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... that sounds like a really amazing idea. I'll have to let it brew for a bit, but gut reaction: wow! Just needs a bit of thought on the how, because part of my learning process currently involves being involved with business-sensitive information and resources (not mine; the company I work for).
As I've often found myself saying - I'll say it again: I like how you think!