Invisible beauty
A light breeze, sprayed on the décolleté or behind the ears, in the afternoon, more greedy, like the modern woman I am, I find it liberating to wear perfume. A breeze that refreshes the senses. And I like that they are slightly visible and modest compared to the clean concept among vegans and vegetarians, who prefer a perfume that smells like a natural deodorant. My personal fragrances are actually a secret, but secrecy can sometimes be a cliché. One of my favourites is E.Q, Sur Tes Lèvres by D'orsay. It has been described as a sensual, mysterious and elegant fragrance. Timeless. But not for everyone. Woody notes. Jasmine. Iris. Lightly powdered, with a base of patchouli and cashmeran. The perfect scent for the afternoon and the bare back, maybe even the little black dress. But in some cultures it would probably be considered forbidden. That's because it's a little too attractive, so you have to be a straight forward woman to wear it, able to show signs of rejection in the face of desire and lust, and control it like an on/off switch. Sensuality is nothing to be ashamed of, you can be monogamous and sensual, and a perfume that smells like this proves it's true. Smell attracts, but we control ourselves as long as we are in our right mind.
My interest in perfume has always been with me and for a very long time, when I was a child, I used to visit perfumeries, observe bottles, shapes and scents, sometimes I was allowed to try them and sometimes I was given a bottle. I remember Lancôme's Trésor from the 90s very well. A worldwide bestseller. A feminine and romantic scent that brings back both bad and good childhood memories. And there is something beautiful, sad and melancholic about scents that register in the brain and evoke memories in anyone with a nose for them.
The science of smell
In 1977, for example, psychologists at Brown University in Rhode Island found that the first association between an odour and a picture is remembered better than the second. They also found that the memory triggered by an odour is often distant. The link between odours and first memories appears to involve an area of the brain called the hippocampus, named after the Greek mythological creature that was half man, half fish, and is a two-sided structure deep in the brain.
Neuroscientist Rachel Herz has pointed out that when we smell, we perceive the chemicals in the air we breathe: "Basically, there are chemicals floating through the air all the time. Many of them have a property that makes us perceive them as odours - although not all of them do - and those chemicals that are potential odours bind to olfactory sensory neurons, which are actually located in the open neural epithelium just above our nostrils".
The odourless virgin, on the other hand, is a person who has no relationship with perfume and is easily overwhelmed by scents, perhaps even feeling a little dizzy. But if you have ignored scents for a long time, it is difficult to relate to them, and we humans can always adapt to encountering smells with disgust or curiosity. My hypersensitive nose reacts very easily to unpleasant smells, such as smoke or unhygienic human odours, but over time I have learned to cope by blocking them out and not letting them bother me.
Humans who have experienced COVID-19 symptoms had struggled with their sense of smell afterwards. This was a problem for many. Studies have also shown that patients with an impaired sense of smell are more prone to depression. And in the diagnosis of schizophrenia, it has been suggested that impaired olfactory processing may be a predictor of psychosis. It says something about how important our sense of smell is and what function it serves.
Clean hysteria in the modern age
Obsessive cleanliness can become a toxic farce. Fear of certain bakteries can be counterproductive because they protect our immune systems. If you are very allergic to smells, you should probably stay away, but the rest of us should be exposed to smells in moderate amounts, so that our noses don't go 'deaf' when we explore new cultures.Too much of cleanliness is for those without passion or devotion, for those who want to be clinically 'dressed' to dress as someone else, even by eating tasteless, pure food, because they are too obsessed with being clean to smell clean, like The perfume with the same word as the title, founded in 2003 by the American Randi Shinder.
Putting yourself in art in your own everyday life and routine means taking yourself seriously and also dedicating yourself to life. That's why I believe that smell is an important part of our lives, whether it's the smell of your tobacco or a niche perfume of the highest quality. It's part of your character, your intelligence, your way of life. We tolerate cultures with different ingredients and flavours, and that means we tolerate other people's olfactory preferences.
A "perfumed" vision is a tolerance of scent that celebrates diversity. Tolerance of difference, not a bunch of "strangers" who all smell clinically clean as they were prepared for a pandemic.