Hi there, my name is Erica and I am a self-proclaimed fragrance fanatic.
I guess you could say that I was born with an olfactive leaning. From a young age, I was dubbed the family “freshness expert”. Whenever something in the fridge was approaching its expiration date, my mother would call me in to determine whether or not it should be tossed. As I entered my tween years this sensory awareness began branching out into the world of fragrance.
My obsession with fragrance has only increased over the years. I wax nostalgic when I remember first discovering what I believed to be “The One” (I now have others too but the memory never fades). I think of my favorite scents as my “secret weapons” and usually carry at least one of my personal favorites (usually in rollerball or mini-atomizer) with me when I’m out and about. While some women agonize about what to wear to an important meeting or event, my mind is on which fragrance to add the perfect finishing touch. Am I going for intelligent/perceptive or sexy/playful? I have an answer for both!
The magic of fragrance is more than mere illusion. What else can make an 80 year-old woman feel like she’s 18 again? How is it possible that the smells of jasmine, verbena and orange blossom bring me right back to my childhood days growing up in Santa Barbara, CA? Smelling priceless but wearing like a bikini…While scents rarely remind me of specific colors, they frequently evoke the aura of certain seasons. Peony, verbena and gardenia scream out summer fun, while sandalwood and cedar bring me right back into crisp and cooler fall.
Sometimes a fragrance will open with an intoxicating note but end in a disappointing or pedestrian note. It is a bummer when that happens but sometimes you have to kiss the frogs! Lasting power of a perfume can not be underrated and is often a deal-breaker for me.
Fellow fragrance aficionados, I wish you luck in your quest to find that perfect scent which is exactly you only better. If you have any questions along the way please feel free to reach out to me and I will do my best to answer your question and/or try to steer you in the right direction. I encourage you to allow yourself the luxury of your own vision while hopefully pleasing yourself along the way. It is an adventure and the only rule is to be yourself. Happy sniffing!
Erica I love your site. You sense of perfection shows through.
I relate to your mother. My daughter can tell you the expiration date on a milk carton without looking.
Thank you Dennis:) I’m not sure that I would call myself a perfectionist but I do my best!
Erica
Hi Erica,
I’m always influenced strongly by my sense of smell too. Fragrances usually evoke the strongest memories for me, if I smell something I haven’t for a long time or something that represents a significant day or time in my life it always transports me back to that day or time.
Great when the fragrance is pleasant and evokes great memory. Not so great when it’s an unpleasant memory.
I have fragrances for tests or exams or attending weddings, some for every day, others for evenings out. Until I read your page, I didn’t think that I was particularly unusual.
I have a new appreciation my olfactory centre.
Thank you
Jenny,
I’m not sure what the statistics are but I know that some people have a better sense of smell than others. Studies have shown that women usually have a better sense of odor and smell identification than men. One of the reasons for this is that women have a more developed orbital prefrontal region of the brain. Another possibility is that it evolved from an ability to pick the best possible mates. Thanks for dropping by.
Hello Erica
That is a great description and I must say quite a unique description and talent you have.
I know that your talent would surely be appreciated in our home if not to warn me of scents that may be displeasing to my spouse, but also to keep our refrigerator fresh.
Frequently my wife will ask me, “What is that smell?” and of course I’ll be “What smell??”
I’ll be checking out reviews to help choose the perfect fragrance.
Paul
Hi Paul,
Yes, I’ve been told that I have a nose like a bloodhound. It can be a blessing and a curse. It sounds like your wife may have a well-developed sense of smell too. At least you can rest assured that she’ll never serve you anything for dinner that’s gone bad 🙂
Good luck and thanks for dropping in!
This is a great and very intresting post. I will defiantly give your site a visit during anniversary time and Valentine’s Day. Thank you for the presentation of yourself and what you are here to do. I am glad to know that you are a real person and not some random face behind a bunch of words.
I will bookmark your site and be back very soon.
Thanks for dropping by and hope you’ll return soon. If you need a specific suggestion for your wife I’d be happy to help.
Erica
The passion you have for fragrance and smells is awesome. I’ve heard that when we smell something that is the best way to remember something or is the most likely way we will remember something. We will forget things we see but when we smell something which we might have smelt when we were younger it will bring us right back. I really love your website by the way, keep it up!
Matthew,
Guilty as charged! I do have a passion for the world of scents and you are right about how fragrances can bring back powerful good (and bad) memories. Thanks for dropping by 🙂
Smells do bring back memories. Every time I am in an old house and smell the old wood, it just brings me happy memories of visiting my grandparents’ old farm house, when I was a child.
My husband’s favorite flower is the Gardenia. Why? Because he remembers how it smells. His parents had a large Gardenia plant in the yard. And as a child, when he was playing in the yard, he could smell the Gardenias.
Never thought of anyone having an ‘ olfactive leaning’ but it is one of our 5 senses. Mine is seeing. When I was a teenager, I was the one who made sure my colors matched in my outfits.:)
Thanks for sharing your story about your smelling of fragrances. All the best.
Hi there,
Erica, the olfactic fanatic!. It is ever so true that we as humans do tend to have an incredible sense of smell, some better than others and in particular women who have a highly sensitive sense of smell in comparison to us men.
To answer your question, with a touch of humor… hormone replacement therapy can make an octogen feel like a teenager again!
Hi Derek,
That’s awesome! I applaude anything that makes us feel like a teenager again minus the angst 🙂