Wednesday, September 14, 2005

The Case for A Signature Fragrance

Okay, so I really haven't posted these last few days because I've been so busy to the point of "feeling so ADD" (which stops being funny when you actually do have it - no, seriously, I do; that's for another week to discuss) so I think it's just right for me to get hopping along.

This past week I've had fragrance on my mind lately, what with DeLush having their own roundtable discussion about signature frangrances in the last few days and Auntie Badger talking about her favorites in her daily entries. My main reason for discussing this, however, has more to do on the personal front, since my parents are currently traveling right now and they've been asking me if I wanted them to buy anything for me. (They do live overseas, but I will see them over Christmas break.) I told them about my not-so-secret affinity for duty free shops, where I often make my best beauty discoveries thanks to the wide array of exotic cosmetics available.

(And it's not always the expensive stuff, too - I once discovered lipstick sealant at Narita Airport back when I was a teenager. Shush.)

My dad, of course, is the kind of guy who loves to buy pretty things for the ladies in his life, but being a guy he thought that what I meant was that I wanted perfume. This led to a very interesting discussion about buying fragrance for other people, for which Dad... well, he doesn't exactly have a great track record on this one; let's just say it involved my sister-in-law and a certain fragrance by a much-hated celebrity, given to her as a well-intentioned Christmas gift. (In fairness, however, my gracious sis-in-law says that she has been wearing it more often and it does not smell toxic after a few wearings.) Mom, being the voice of female reason in the family, eventually explained to Dad and the rest of us that it really is difficult to buy any kind of fragrance or cosmetic without taking the body chemistry/ skin tone/ condition of the person involved into consideration, so unless Dad knows for sure that we have a particular preference for a particular brand (*ahem*StilaLushChanel*ahem) he should just stick to the usual pasalubong of T-shirts, candy, and toys for the children.

While this dialogue between our family continued on email, I was inspired to think back on that concept of the "signature" fragrance, especially in terms of what I have. I still have the bottle of Obsession that I bought in college, but the last few times I've worn it were during those times when I needed to be more assertive at work, and I haven't picked this up since. Chanel Chance is still there, too, and I've always liked this one, but I also keep forgetting to wear that; something about the summers here in Hawaii tend to magnify fragrances like this, which start off soft yet end up cloaking you in a huge floral cloud. (Despite smelling Chance on other office ladies in HNL, however, I still enjoy the scent, and my friends seem to like me wearing this.) And the stuff that I do end up wearing are drugstore body sprays and aromatherapy oils that I've picked up here and there. It's a far cry from my late teens and early 20s, where I would switch from cK Be (which I liked better than cK One) to Chanel No. 5 depending on my mood.

That leaves the closest thing I have to a signature fragrance so far: Mukki. I know that they've reformulated the fragrance in the last few years since I bought this, but I don't care: I love that it's sweet and pretty but not assertive or corny. I love the cute spray bottle. And I love the fact that people who smell this on me say that it's certainly "me." I've smelled the new formula at Sephora and I think it's a lot fruitier than the original, cocoa-scented one that I have at home, so maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to repurchase. That, or wait until I've used up the rest of the stuff at home - which would be fun, really.

I'll have more scent-related essays later during the week.

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