Wednesday, December 15, 2010

How to double your chances to find your perfect scent?

Today I am wearing Lolita Lempicka for men, and at least 5 person complimented me on my scent so far, and it 's only 6pm...

Men perfumes are not only for men. Same with ones tagged "for her". If you think certain fragrances are masculin or feminin, be sure that it is not because of your taste, but because your nose was educated to feel this way, mostly based on your culture or very simply due to gendre specific marketing and advertising.
Since a perfume gets only full with the actual accord of your skin, think of the scented products targeted to the opposite sex as unfinished creations awaiting to be completedwith your body's smell! Why would you restrain yourself to only half of what is on the market?!

It all started for me when my brother got Brut by Fabergé when he turned 14 years old. I was only 12, but I knew I will have to handle the stress of secretly stealing a few splash from every day. He, of course, caught me red handed (or red wristed rather....) and finally I got my own bottle of Brut for next Christmas. Brut smelled absolutely fabulous on my skin, like honey just harvested mixed with melted ylang ylang and lavendar juice. My brother stopped wearing it long before I got bored of it.
My boyfriend at the time wore Boss Bottles by Hugo Boss. I actually got in love with his scent more than with himself... I broke up with him just about the time I got my own bottle of the perfume. This is my signature scent. It's not only how it smells - cooked apple with fine musks and cardamom on me - but how it makes me feel. I am strong and full of energy when I have it on. Though I have a weird relationship with my signature scent. I treat this fragrance as Harry Potter does it with Felix Felicis magic potion; with caution and moderation, so that the magical effect won't looses its force :)

First time I went to Sephora in Champs Elysées to spray Gucci II pour homme on, an enthusiastic shop assistant came to inform me that I was mistaken, the products for women were just across the shop. Since I worked for nearly 3 years in the same building, I had enough time to convince her to give up her sexist ideas of perfumes. After a few months, she fell in love with Kenzo for men and still wears it to day. ( For me it was just a japanese soap, but on her it's becoming the most intoxicating scent ever!!! )

Not only there are adventurous women out there: My boyfriend smells amazing wearing Serge Luten's Fleur d'Oranger - which could be considered as an orange blossom headspace, quite unusual scent for a men, but it works perfectly on his skin.
I have heard recently from a fellow perfume blogger that it is "a la mode" in Paris for a young men to wear the female version of Amor Amor by Cacharel.

There are no men or women perfumes. Soon, more and more companies will realize that too. Mostly not for the sake of the beautiful philosophy behind my theory, but rather for doubling the number of possible buyers in a second... Hermes for years now is not addressing its products to nor women or men. They let the customers decide.
Or just have a look at Dolce and Gabbana's Tarot Fragrances; while they are suggesting with visuals who the target audience, they position them as unisex fragrances.

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