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My Intoxicating World of Fragrance



Is being obsessed with fragrance considered a type of addiction or is it just good olfactory fun?


Currently, I say…. simply fun. I will hold firmly to that opinion as I anxiously await my multiple orders from Fragrance.net to arrive.


However, it does beg the question, as I have seen many you-tubers displaying $100,000+ fragrance collections with endless shelves, trays and temperature controlled dark rooms full of every possible scent you could purchase. These people collect and collect, then review and collect some more. They stockpile more expensive fragrances than any one person could use in a lifetime even if they always heavy spray and have a casual day, gym, workplace, date night and sleeping fragrance routine.

If not just obsessive scented play, is this the kind of addiction that is so out of control that it gets a person included on a Netflix’s intervention series with their most “trash friendly” loved ones trying to save them? Or worse, the kind of disorder that gets one invited as a “special” guest on a Dr. Phil or the “my fists are flying” Jerry Springer show? Is that even a thing anymore?


Is fragrance obsession, the kind of closeted bone fide disorder that a person needs to detox from at a fragrance-free rehabilitation center? The benefits of detox being to clear one’s head, nose and rest one’s debit card.


I wonder if such an obsession ever gets to the level that high end fragrance purchases are made on the down low, out of the back of a car, just like Samantha Jones did when getting some knock-off Fendi purses in NY. Could this kind of obsession actually rise to the level that requires a year-long commitment to a “Court Ordered” support group: FHA, Frag Heads Anonymous?


HUMMMM…


Well, I confess. I do like collecting fragrances. It makes me happy. I did the Marie Condo Test and it brings me joy.


And this is how I started.


Mrs. Meyers cleaning products and scented candles. They are the gateway, my friends.

I’m just saying. They are the unsuspected baby steps that lead into this potentially expensive habit.


Oh sure! Go ahead. Laugh.


I realize these items seem innocent enough with their natural seasonal scent profiles and under $5 price tag, but trust me when I say, once you get your first whiff of Mrs. Meyer’s Apple Spice Counter Top Cleaner (definitely not the Pine), you just want more.

Yes, with one hefty spray of the Apple Cider scent, you are transported to autumn orchards, fresh picked apples and the wafting aroma of a warm baked pie while paper toweling the gunk out of your 80’s white counter tile.

AHHH…

I think we can all agree that scents transform one’s world, if even for a moment.

That is if anyone can agree with anyone, on anything these days.

Scents can actually take you to happier times in your life.

Times when you were in love. Times when your life was closer to carefree. Times when you were not stressing about having enough money in your roller-coaster ride of a 401K, Roth IRA or whatever is left of your retirement “nest egg”.

Heck, a good frangipani coconut fragrance can transport you to a relaxing Hawaii beachside vacation, so long as it is without kids.

Even the traditional family holiday gatherings can be more bearable with the

right cranberry bourbon spice fragrance pumped through your diffuser. It also helps if you are drinking some spiced bourbon and the event is not in your own home.

I’m just saying that escaping through scent can be habit forming. The craving of scent builds, similar to the principle that one glass of wine is good, but two is better.

Your nose just wants more.


It beckons a person to explore others options.


As for me, I quickly leveled up from scented household cleaners to candles and diffusers.

I mean, if my countertop can smell so wonderful, then so should my home.

Candles, and diffusers come in all price ranges, décor styles and scents. Bath and Body Works has made an empire of the scent business. They have a voracious slew of specialized

you-tube reviewers, influencers and exhibitionist collectors who, from what I have seen, are beginner level hoarders headed for a possible intervention themselves.

You can find any synthetic faux scent you want, or don’t want there: scents like: Wild Berry Jam Donut, Pink Prosecco Frosting, Iced Dragon Fruit Tea and Lemon Cake Pop.

Bath & Body Works does seem to excel in food or rather “gourmand” scented fragrances.

They do also have Fresh Laundry or Gingham, if you are not a foodie.


Since the above mentioned scents and their siblings were not really going in my now sophisticated direction, I had to explore other dealers, I mean sources, for my candle collection.

I started out with the usual beginner seasonal holiday scents: pumpkin spice, apple harvest, balsam fir but quickly got more sophisticated. My nose began to fancy various versions of Palo Santo, some even imported from Australia where they grow their own moldy woods.

Each new scent provided a new existential experience, a new moment in time.


Once each room had its own scent profile and sufficient back-ups, what was a budding scent connoisseur to do?


More is more, people.


So, I redirected my focus from room sprays to personal spray.

NO, I am not talking about feminine hygiene spritzers.

I am talking about the fancy elixirs known as perfume, EDT, EDP and cologne.


It is fairly well known that in most areas of my life, I strive towards minimalism. Do not get that confused with being frugal. We are talking about luxury minimalism here. That is where you buy less but purchase better quality things, which is difficult to do now that most everything is made in China or India out of synthetics and plastic derivatives. I also declutter regularly for fun and therapy. My home is simple and modern with the perfect objects in their exact perfect places unless my hubby or kid is home.

I have a simple concise “Project 33” style wardrobe and I like my world organized, calm and peaceful. It is my sanctuary.


Not so long ago however things took a turn. Fragrance and I became inextricably bonded and I began to collect, which Is the actual Anti-Christ of behaviors in Minimalism.

With each new bottle, came a new mini transport to another time or place.


To be fair, I started personal fragrance with the usual and accessible designer fragrances, like Chanel, Dior and Gucci. The ones sold in most department stores. Quickly, I discovered the fragrance communities, the you-tube reviewers, the online blogs, the discontinued fragrance market, the land of resale in e-bay, the world of niche and the controversial “dupe” fragrances sites.


It was a secret world that I had no idea existed. Not that secret, I guess. It was on you-tube, but for me It was like finding a passageway into the dark web of fragrance. It intrigued me. It pulled me in. I spent hours lurking around trying to unlock the secrets that newbies just don’t know.


I learned some of the special language too. Important words such as projection, sillage, beast mode and flanker.


Then a terrible thing happened that immediately derailed my new adventures.

No, it is not that, I use an alias for that.

During the Holidays, I lost my sense of smell.

It was due to some nasty world virus going around.

Loss of smell! My nose now meant everything to me. Are you kidding me!

I had just ordered the much sought after and possibly discontinued Armani Prive Rouge Malachite EDP. All my new transcendental experiences absolutely depended on my nose sniffing capabilities

.

This was serious, my friends. S. E. R. I. O. U. S.


I had to try to be optimistic about my future. I had to do something to empower myself and not be a symptom victim. I had to put my nose to the test whenever possible, however possible. I had to challenge my nose in any way that I could. I must get it to catch a whiff again.

Any whiff.


I opened a can of tuna. The good kind. Not the cat food version. Deep Sniff. Nothing.


Trader Joe's salmon sitting uncooked, too long in the fridge. Another Sniff. Nothing.


Pure 90% alcohol & the OG bleach scent, not together, Nothing.


Egg fart. Not mine, the actual container full of peeled hardboiled eggs. Nothing.


Toilet sniff, after asparagus. Still absolutely Nothing.


I questioned, in my virus fevered state, is this some kind of karmic joke?


Well, as all good things are sometimes rewarded with patience, my sniffer did return to its proper function, proving that I do have good Karma, no matter what the Scientologists say.


All in all, life is good.


Fragrance is my comforting friend. It helps me relieve anxiety, which I need in today’s chaotic mess of our new world order. My little bottles of captured memories bring me joy and solace every single day. It is no matter that my collection has grown and I now need multiple shelves from IKEA to hold them. They are the tiny shelves!

Some days I even watch you-tube fragrance reviewers for hours. It is cheap personal therapy. Mostly cheap anyway.


I heard what you are thinking. Don’t Judge!


At least I’m not watching dogs skating on ice or cats in costumes knocking objects off the table on tic toc!

That, even I will judge.


Finally, just a quick word of caution, from a fellow fragrance lover, to anyone enticed into this escapist world of fragrance.....


If you find yourself sniffing the Apple Cider spray, or loitering in the Home Goods candle aisle, remember your social etiquette. Do not go to any fragrance counter or candle section and get mindlessly lost in your sniffing bliss. Never inhale with such fervor and intoxication that people start to back away from you like you are some kind of a panty sniffing pervert.

They won’t understand.

They will call security.


In case you are curious, you could check out a few of these popular you-tube fragrance reviewers.

Jus De Rose

Demi Rawlings

The Perfume Guy

Not Jeremy Fragrance. He scares me.


Obsession, addiction, or just fun. Whatever.

Later my lovelies.

I need to go to Ikea

And Don't forget to subscribe!

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2 Comments


thecushionqueen7
Feb 26, 2022

Adeline, you made me giggle this morning! I think a lot of peeps could relate. When I first discovered Mrs. Meyers…I found myself washing my hands even when I didn’t need to just to keep that basil scent close at hand! One fragrance I became immediately addicted to was an air scent thatloomed over the entire lobby of the Vinoy Resort in St. Pete’s. I was so taken by it I had to ask about it at the concierge desk. The two woman behind the desk were tickled by my curiosity and told me I could by a candle or some diffuser stuff in the gift store. When we finished talking and I was about to walk away one…

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adelineblock
adelineblock
Feb 26, 2022
Replying to

Glad I could make you giggle. I know some of those hotel scents are great. I love the one in the Vidara in Vegas!

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