ODORI D´ANIMA
In this summer season in which perspiration can cause bad, or good as you look, reactions ... (I still remember how in a bus where we were like sardines in a can we made room for a group of 4 or 5 construction workers who were working in the Castellana in full sun and therefore sweating the fat drop, it was a shocking but fun moment, to lift their armpits in a challenging way to hold on from the braking of a Schumacher-like driver a miracle happened like when Moses separated the waters of the Red Sea, they laughed at our reaction and the others ended up much more squeezed, plagued, but also laughing), this is why I decide to reveal in this brief blog post the perfumes that I like, because even French women, who are reputed to be reluctant to reveal their "signature scent", if they were subjected to the refined daily torture of traveling in a crowded subway or bus and with some stinky passenger inside, they would get to give their most intimate secrets if that would encourage people to smell better.
Obviously the fundamental thing in this matter is hygiene and hydration of the skin, because if not, the remedy can be worse than the disease and emphasize the hydration, because the perfume is transmitted better and lasts longer in oily skin.
A firm of niche perfumes, very successful in its advertising, uses the expression "odore d'anima" to describe the sensations, among other things, that odors can transmit. Perfume, like music, is something that can be subtle, but very effective in this respect. A smell of Palo Santo from a Santera mass, a Catholic incense or a "simple" aroma to "Cinnamon Roll" can lead us to a certain mental as well as physical state. That is why it is also important to be measured.
The origin of perfume is very ancient, According to Roja Dove Egyptians for example used perfumed resins which they often burnt as offerings to their gods, as they saw the smoke as a physical pathway connecting heaven to earth. This phenomenon was to give us the name perfume from the latin per fumun (through smoke).
There are very curious cultural peculiarities eg. Mediterranean people tend to like citrus, tart or aldehydic aromas which they associate with cleanliness, as pointed out by fantastic Elena Vosnaki, who as a good Greek is an expert in this area. Or for ex. Japanese people do not like perfumes. In their culture, hygiene prevails, but not the masking of body odor. I would even say that they highly dislike intense perfumes. What they do like is to perfume the house. Or for ex. Arabs... they were the ones who created the art of making perfume in Egypt, although perfume as such seems to have been discovered in the time of Sumerians. Arabs are true masters, with a very developed technique, they like strong aromas, although not as aggressive as those used in Western perfumery, since they use oil as the basis for transmitting the perfume in what they call Attar or Ittar instead of alcohol, used mainly in French perfumery. The Attar can be so concentrated that a single drop on the wrist can have a projection of days, also unlike alcohol-based perfumes, it does not degrade so easily over time, indeed, some seem to improve.
Is a fact that perfumery today has suffered a lot from the restrictions or prohibitions regarding the use of certain compounds of animal or vegetable origin. They have been reformulated, and in many cases, destroyed perfumes that were truly subjugating, as eg. the famous Opium by YSL. But I have to say with some regret that this is necessary, because many of the compounds that fascinate us so much in these perfumes come from extinct species. Musk, castoreum, civet, ambergris, Oud wood, moss, etc. used to be used as fixers, but it must be borne in mind that in many cases, such as eg. the musk, you had to kill the animal to get it. That explains why there is a very active market for vintage perfumes or the exorbitant prices of high perfumery or that there is so much trickery with export bans from countries where if they already skip many human rights, imagine those of other species...
But do not panic, we can still smell good without having to resort to such desperate measures... Progress of science has made possible synthetic substitutes that some virtuosos sometimes manage to combine in such a way that they make us forget that what we have put on it is no more than a mere insecticide :P
So as I'm not French, or given a unique identity stamp, I'll tell you about my personal preferences. As you will see, I usually enjoy cyprus and orientals and some florals.
(Perjúmenes, que me sulibeyan...)
Many attars, those of Sultan Pasha are unique and many others of unknown author.
Fragranced creams, their smell, like that of the attar is usually more subtle.
Female:
Jean Louis Scherrer I
Ormonde Jane line (Frangipani/Woman/Tolu/Black Gold)
Vol de Nuit de Guerlain
La Promesse de l´Aube de MDCI
La Douceur de Siam de Dusita
Cabochard de Grés (previous one, before being remade)
Diorissimo
Le Dix de Balenciaga
Chanel nº 19
Feminité Du Bois / Un Lys de Serge Lutens
Burberry Women
Moringa by The Body Shop
Dolce & Gabbana for women
Baccarat Rouge 540 de Francis Kurkdjian
Lady Blanche by Penhaligon
Kazimi by House of Matriarch
Unisex:
Philosykos by Diptique
L´air de Rien by Miller & Harris
Colonia de enebro by Herbíssimo
Lavanda del Monasterio by Caldey Island
Melograno by Santa Maria Novella
The Other Side of Oud by Atkinsons
Male:
Eau de Monsieur by Annick Goutal
L'air du Desert Marocain by Andy Tauer
New York by Nicolaï Perfumeur
Vetiver by Roja Dove
Nevertheless, I am a mere amateur and I do not understand much, when they start to decipher the olfactory notes from certain perfumes or wines, I get lost... and it seems to me like a bit of an exaggerated lag of Marketing, but if you want to look up more about this topic I recommend the following links to start:
https://perfumeshrine.blogspot.com/
And the following books:
"Perfumes: The guide" by Sanchez, Tania, Turin, Luca
"The Essence of Perfume" by Dove, Roja
"El perfumista de María Antonieta" by de Feydeau, Elisabeth
For those who can not afford to pawn part of their kidney for some of these perfumes, they should know that there are pages on the internet where they sell decantations of them at more affordable prices, fans of this topic usually also exchange vials to expand knowledge.
On Etsy you can buy all kinds of attares at very varied prices.
A few last recommendations, for its optimal conservation, it is better to keep the perfume in its box, in the dark and in a dry and fresh place. The bathroom is not the most suitable place, there are people who even have them in the refrigerator.
And finally some indications of how to perfume yourself. It is usually advised to perfume the so-called pulse points of the body, that is, where the blood supply is more superficial, there are also people who spray the comb or brush and perfume their hair. In the summer I notice that you have to be careful with alcohol, because, unless they are used when the sun does not shine and on the inside, they cause stains, you also have to be careful not to use them on clothes or jewelry, since it spoils them. One must also be aware when perfuming that an extract, an attar, a cologne does not have the same power, we must also consider climate... context in which we find ourselves (protocol discourages its abuse, especially in closed places) ... as much as we like it, it is preferable to be cautious because an excess could disturb others.