The Perfume Bee

Hunting for Your Signature Scent…

Filed under: Perfume — Christine at 10:23 am on Monday, December 4, 2006

That elusive signature scent… The perfect scent to call one’s own. Will the hunt ever end? Or is it the hunt that makes it all worthwhile?

Yesterday’s New York Times T Magazine has an article by Daphne Merkin discussing her lifelong quest for her signature scent. (If you want to know if she is successful in her quest, please read the article here. Hint: she is…) She describes the search for your own perfume, the one imbued with your signature every bit as much as your handwriting.

I like her comparison of a signature scent to one’s actual written signature. It is something that is uniquely associated with oneself in an extremely personal, inimitable manner. It is like a scented calling card which you leave behind, letting others know that, yes, you were there.

As I look through my own fragrance wardrobe, I do not see a signature scent. What I do see is my own fragrant journey… I will write about the particulars of this scented story in a future post. For now, I am in interested in your signature scent. Have you found it? If so, how long did it take you to find it? How did you know when you had found it? Or are you, like me, still searching?

image source: Wikepedia public domain

5 Comments »

Comment by Cait Shortell

December 4, 2006 @ 11:23 am

I think that perfume fiends like us don’t have signature scents. I think that a perfumed aura is one of my signature characteristics, but the contents of that cloud change from day to day. Today it’s a zingy beautiful Tubereuse 40 by Le Labo.

Comment by christine

December 4, 2006 @ 1:54 pm

Hi Cait,
That is a perfect way to describe it! We’re known for the fact that we float around in a perfumed cloud, but the details of it vary from day to day (sometimes hour to hour!)

I LOVE Tubereuse 40! Recently unable to get to NYC myself, my dear elderly mother-in-law and her equally elderly sister-in-law faithfully made their way to Le Labo for me on a recent visit of their own. Bless their hearts! Whever I wear it, I am reminded of their kindness, which just adds an extra layer of delight to a near-perfect fragrance.

Today I’m wearing the warm, spicy Armani Code. Perfect for a cold gray Pacific Northwest afternoon!

Comment by Anonymous

December 5, 2006 @ 4:34 pm

I found my signature scent years ago, and although I buy approx. one bottle of ‘other’ perfume each week,
I always have a bottle or two of my own scent. For any important event I must wear my signature and my significant other prefers it, knowing it on me for so long, yet he indulges me with gifts of the others too.
I know nothing will replace it, it is me, in that way.
I don’t know how many scents I sampled before finding my signature. I was given scents, spritzed by my sisters, mother and aunts with a sparkling array… I was always intrigued, but it was love at first sniff with the signature, I didn’t need to sample it more than once, i didn’t need to compare it to anything else, i didn’t need to shop around, it was undconditional love. Once it hits you, two things occur: You know this is IT, and you don’t want to tell anyone what it is. Some people will just know, the important ones will know, the ones who stand close, often. The rest will have to guess.

Giselle R.

Comment by christine

December 6, 2006 @ 10:27 am

Hi Giselle,

The way you so beautifully described finding your signature scent reminds me of what it is like when falling in love with a person, too: you just know it. End of discussion!

Your evident love and appreciation for perfume is inspiring. Thank you so much for sharing!

Christine

Comment by Sandra

December 21, 2006 @ 8:06 pm

I have found my signature scent. I found it at Urban Botanic. I attended a party, made my scent with Cedarwood, China Musk, and Pear and fell in love. My fragrance wardrobe has since increased, but that is still the one I go back to and go back to and go back to.
If you want to find your own personal scent, made just for you, let me know and I can help you, because after falling in love- I joined the Urban Botanic team and now help other women find their own personal signature scent.
www.urbanbotanic.com/sandrasparties

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