Sentimental Scents: God, I'm in Love!




Every woman likes to know they have a lingering scent, not the kind that drives people away from them in the store because they give others a headache, but that mysterious waft of memory that hits people with an instant emotion.

Spirits may have residual that plays out through time in a building, but the living have residual too; a trail of intermingled fragrant artifacts that make others feel happy and safe, intrigued and aroused or adoring.

I have spent my life playing with scents from the expensive bottles on my mother's dressing table at our manor house to the toilet waters from the turn-of-the-century left behind in our Victorian summer home. All the while, I've waited to find a perfume that arouses my memories. Many make me think of "male," "female," "old lady," "desperate cougar," but none of them delight me into playful, comfortable, or downright horny moods.

That is, until now...

I discovered a perfume maker whose entire line of perfumes are based upon sentimental scents. Not only that, but they are complex and the longer you wear them, the more different parts of the scent release and you get hit with yet another sentimental reminder. They are very fine quality and extremely affordable. I spent the same amount for 1 single fragrance of a much much smaller quantity from a huge perfume maker than I did on 3 scents from this company giving you a generous amount. Remember, perfume is extremely potent. One drop in your cleavage can linger all day long.

CB I Hate Perfume
is the ideal name. This is truly a company and a perfume maker who gets how we hate those stamped and bottled things found in department stores and plugged on TV by celebrities. Everyone knows "Obsession" and honestly it only smells like a full-on assault of the senses with no imagination and, even worse, no point of reference. How often do you smell a scent and discern its origins? There are usually so many intermingled fragrances that it comes out as a big smack in the face instead of a tickle of your recollection reflex.

Here's just a few samples of the extensive line found here:
"Under the Arbor" (We had a grape arbor as a child and in the summertime, I would hide in there in the deep shade and the sticky dark grapes would smell and the green and the wood of the arbor heated by the sun and little lacy patterns of light would dance on my skin and I would lay back and take a nap--this is that scent). Crushed grape leaves, weathered wood, green moss, cool earth.

"Winter of 72": Fresh fallen snow, hand knit woolen mittens, hint of frozen sleeping earth.

"Mr. Hulot's Holiday": Salty breathe of breeze on the Mediterranean, driftwood, rocks covered with seaweed and old leather suitcases.

"Burning Leaves": The scent of burning maple leaves.

"M#3 November" (this is the one I am currently wearing, appropriate for Autumnforest and some could say custom-designed for her) Pumpkin pie, fallen apples, bonfire, woodsmoke, dried grass, fallen leaves, wet branches, damp moss, chanterelle mushrooms, a hint of pine forest." To me, this one smells first like the forest floor in autumn with some lingering pumpkin, but not sickeningly sweet because it's countered with a bit of woodsmoke. Truly a brilliant earth scent and not that sticky sweet crap in the stores that turns the scent of pumpkin into something nauseating. The person I picture wearing this would exude the personna of an earth-loving pagan eco-weenie.

The other two scents I got were CB93 which is a total woodland smell. It really smells like the magical scents when your feet crush pine needles and it mixes with earth and mushrooms and a hint of astringent fragrance of fir trees. It's not that nasty "pine" scent that smells like someone's newly cleaned toilet bowl or their car deodorizer. Nothing in this perfume line has a store-bought smell. It truly smells as if they wrung out the woods and put it in a bottle. It's a freaking mystery to me. The person who would wear this would exude the personna of an international airport traveler to Tuscany.

The last scent I got hit me like a sentimental freight train. It's called lavender tea. I've been searching my whole life for tea scents, specifically Earl Grey (hint hint perfume gods). This one I expected having lavender in it would be very medicinal smelling like that 4711 fragrance from Germany or something. It actually is a very masculine scent. I've smelled men with something similar on and have literally followed them through a crowd to get another whiff. It's definitely for both sexes, but the lavender is potent enough to leave a peppery aftertaste (if scents can have an aftertaste). When it's worn, the tea smells rise up and you begin to smell like "home." I have never felt so in need of my mythical "mommy" as when I smell this scent. It makes me feel welcome, safe, content and blissful. It smells just like my mother's 4 o'clock tea time when I was a kid and that sweet lingering smell in the bottom of the cup. The person who would wear this fragrance would exude the personna of a classic beauty with style, grace and dignity.

Not only are these scents very accurately described, but don't let the folksy sounds of the scents put you off. We're not talking about those cheap Renuzit autumn-scented candles you smell in stores that make you feel sick. No-no-no! This is as if you were to take something elemental about nature and childhood memories and a hint of wistfulness and put it into a bottle and when you put it onto your skin, you exude traces, bits, hints and fleeting memories that will drive you nuts and others too and make people intrigued by you to no end. I have never quite smelled anything like this and know I never will.

If I were a promoter, I'd honestly quit everything just to plug these perfumes. That's how freaking impressed I am
.

You know those 8-track songs of Gordon Lightfoot or the smell of chlorine or Bain de Soliel suntan lotion and its coconut essence? If you were to take all those great memories and bottle them and wear them all the time--that's this. Yeah, it doesn't get better for your disposition and your attractibility either.

I will tell you that after buying 3 scents from here, I plan to only buy scents from here exclusively--so, let's keep these folks in business, shall we? You don't want to see Autumnforest rushing the black market in search of any lingering bottles of this heaven in a glass container.

BTW: I was given nothing for writing this post. They didn't even know I did it until I wrote it. I simply have the very strong conviction of promoting things when I know they have true heart and true talent which is why I also promote smaller blogs to get them going. There's a lot of unknown talent out there. I'm determined to do something about it one by one as I uncover them....

Comments

  1. Well, if like complex smells, I'm gonna recommend something with a hint of darkness: DarkCandles.com! I've heard nothing but good reviews of their INTENSE candles (I've only ever purchased essential oils) but they smelled GREAT! All of their products are Goth/Halloween themed, and are heavily plugged by Pumpkinrot on his blog. Some of the more popular scents include Dark Carnival, Clove, Bonfire, and Falling Leaves. You should give 'em a look.

    www.darkcandles.com

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  2. HalloweeNut;
    I will definitely check those out. They sound fantastic!

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  3. That is such a unique idea. Love the winter of '72. A splash of pheromones would be perfecto.

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  4. The smells of sweet perfume reminds me of the movie Perfume, The Story of a Murderer. Great thriller.

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  5. CB;
    This Xmas I'm getting myself that scent. How sentimental. I'm sure he captured it perfectly correct, too. It's fun finding someone who has the same sentimental scents, same sort of time period. It's funny, but winter of 72 brings to mind something completely different than a winter of 99, huh? One seems rather classic and the other seems rather city-like "leftover trash on a NY curbside intermingled with a hot dog vendor and fresh fallen snow slush..."

    Echo;
    Now, I gotta go check that one out.

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  6. Wow...that is a great idea. Scents that actually remind you of, dare I say it?...scents.

    I don't wear cologne because I have sensitive sinuses and all it does is clog my head and give me a migraine. The same thing happens when someone is standing near me that has on too much fragrance.

    However, I do enjoy candles and I love the smell of rain :)

    If they can make a scent that reminds me of rain clouds rolling in, you know... right as the first couple of drops start to fall and the air smells slightly of ozone, then I will drop down on my knees and bow as their humble servant...seriously!

    Thanks for sharing this, I'm going to forward it to my aunt, she loves things like this.

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  7. Marcus;
    I had a friend sniff it who is highly sensitive to scents. No problem. In fact, she put some on. It's very natural, not like those "hit you over the head" scents in stores. I agree about the rain. He has some with those elements of rainy/wet stuff. I am totally enchanted, I must admit. I don't like to smell like perfume, but I like to have an essence that sort of catches people as I breeze past them, but only a tiny lingering hint. I hate when people smell like cologne and you know it's cologne. Men have a tendency to do that and along with hair spray and mousse and other shit, it just annoys me. I love a man to have a scent, but I only want to smell it when he gets hot and sweaty... :-P

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  8. Awesome! I will have to check this out! I can't wear perfume for the most part. It gives me a headache and then my eyes get blurry. The lighter in the bottle, the more I can wear it, but years ago my ex bought me some "light" stuff that was ok, but then we decided to just give up! LOL I can wear stuff from Bath and Body Works just fine. Probably because it's not near as "chemical" as other perfume.

    Speaking of scents that bring up memories, my Dad has and does wear Jovan Musk. There is something about how it reacts with the chemicals in his own body that produce a very comforting feeling to me. The cool thing is that Bath and Body Works has a scent called Moonlight Path that, to me, smells just like my Dad! This is my FAVORITE scent. My Daddy is my heart and every time I smell Moonlight Path, I think of him.

    Hmmm....which reminds me I need to pick some up. I haven't had any in quite a while. The only drawback is that it can be a bit heavy for the summer for me unless it's during the evening.

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  9. Tara;
    Yeah, I switch around depending on the season and with Az being so freaking hot much of the year, I have to choose really light stuff.

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