Least favorite perfumes

I recently phoned my perfumer friend at L'Oréal who told me about her new mission, a recreation the smell of a rich lavender honey for a new facial hydrating cream. She told me that before actually the cream will get into shops, it has to pass many consumer testing sessions all over the continent to make sure potential customers likes the scent and are willing to buy it.

When we hang up, I remembered when we used to both live in Paris and would go for some "olfactory gourmandism" into Sephora at the Champs-Elysées which has the widest selection of perfumes. We smelled everything tangible basically and criticized everything new on the market - criticizing institutional perfume is really a trend worthy to any educated nose! There was one particular perfume that my friend hated. Amarige from Givenchy. I wanted to know what she has against the composition which I didn't find either extraordinary or horrible. From her answer ( "It is a silly creation with cheap raw materials" ) I could see that her attitude towards the creation is more emotional than scientific. If Eva Herzigova had stepped out from the advertisement, my friend would just punch her on the face without any further explanation.

I started to think of the perfumes I hate.

Although I don't really dislike any fragrance, for a long time I was angry to the Chanel house for their creation called Chance. I thought that it is the purest manifestation of brands sacrificing their image for quick profit.

It is a typical example of a perfume that though smells rich, has no character on purpose. It is liked by everybody and hence not really liked by anybody. Institutional brands are not taking anymore risks with really strong olfactory directions so that the profit will be ensured to the maximum as well. They never launch a new product without many consumer testing beforehand. Apparently, Chance tested really well basically in every country where testing were organised - all over the world.

Therefore I think of Chance as a neutral, very average perfume that would be more or less liked everywhere, would please everyone to a certain extent. As so, I refuse it in the name of individualism!

Until... One night in New York, I went out for dinner with some friends, and a Japanese girl joined us, who I thought smelled really really nice. I guessed her perfume, and while I recognized the signature of Chanel, I thought of those names that I actually like. When she told me she is wearing Chance, I was really shocked that I would find it so pleasant. I justified myself with the fact that I liked Chance on her skin only, but I had to admit that the most average perfume became extraordinary on that Japanese girl.