what does love smell like?

for quite a while, i've discussed the mechanics of romantic love with friends of mine - mainly because it's now incredibly rare for me to meet someone with whom i have that kind of attraction. a lot of my friends are unlike me, in that they can be attracted to a great number of people but only fall in love with some of those people. the way they talk about it, it's as though love is like tripping over a very large rock. They just look at their lover one day and realize it, and then that's it and there's nothing they can do but let it ride - as though there is an event horizon of love.

given that everyone has a different experience of love, but nearly everyone i know cannot decide to be in love, it seems like a certain amount of helplessness is involved, but helplessness in a roller-coaster kind of way. i want to capture that in a scent.

so tell me, dear folk: think of when you realized you were in love, and then think - what smell would evoke that moment for you?

perversion at the perfume counter

this is actually a story from December of 2005, but something similar happened in Macy's the other day so i thought i'd repost.

one of the things i love about being in New York is how subtly strange people can be. this weekend, which was supposed to be a weekend of perfume shopping with a bunch of truly cool ladies, was no exception.

i'd gone to Bergdorf Goodman's with fellow Sniffa enjoyers Annie, Patti, Tania, Kathy, Kristen, Desiree and Susan - all really delightful company and each had their own really incredible moments (which i'll share in another post). we had split from the main Sniffa group for various reasons. my personal reason was to get to my favorite Guerlain counter to experience the releases of Angelica Noir and Cuir Beluga - Rose Barbare, another of the line, wasn't at the counter when i went. i enjoyed the smell of Angelica Noir, but i knew that on me it would be too similar to a few other scents i own. on the other hand, i fell passionately in love with Cuir Beluga...yet again, i hate the depth of my love for Guerlain's high-priced line. i'll rave and rant about this particular fragrance in yet another post, sometime in the future.

as i am prone to do, i have digressed. onward!

at a certain point i had lost everyone and was circling the Bergdorf Goodman's beauty level to see if i could catch up with them - Tom at Etro was delightful and mentioned he had just seen Tania heading in the direction of the L'Artisan counter. so i headed that way, saw no one, took a glance back towards the Guerlain counter and started heading back around when someone grabbed me. i turned with a smile, expecting it to be one of my companions, when a glossy male voice said "have you tried Prada Intense?"

i looked over at a wholly nondescript, slightly balding brunette man with glasses and a very intent expression on his face. "it's slightly dangerous, a little naughty, a little sinful -- just like i think you are."

i couldn't help myself. i burst out laughing. "i have a sample, thank you," i managed to reply. "you have one?" "yes i do." "may i give you a ribbon anyway?" i shrugged. "sure, why not?" "well, i have to tie you u--i mean, tie it on you."

again, i burst out laughing. tie me up? a bondage reference in the middle of all these immaculately coiffed and be-furred ladies and gentlemen? i held out my wrist, highly amused. "this is a different pitch than i usually get at Bergdorf's; are they changing their clientele?" he made a mock-sheepish face in response. "i usually don't say things like this, but there's just something about you that made me feel bold. maybe it's the purple hair."

"maybe it's the big black goth coat," i smirked back.

"or maybe it's the look in your eyes, because it's really doing something for me," he replied.

at that point, i was trying really hard not to laugh in this poor man's face, and feeling slightly uncomfortable at the attention as well. he still had hold of my wrist, and i thanked him and mentioned that i was looking for my friends and had to go. still holding my hand, he finished by saying "when you find your friends, you must come back here and we MUST talk some more." i was saved by gorgeous Kathy dashing up to me and saying "thank god i've found you!" (i love when my exit lines aren't lies.)

no, i didn't go back. i was grateful for the exit. the only remarkable thing about this man was the smoothness of his pitch and the silkiness of his voice. i was looking right at him for several minutes, and i still wouldn't be able to pick him out of a lineup - me, who can recall in exact detail the watery eyes and the good-sweet-boy features of the Guerlain SA. but this story will live in my mind forever as part of my New York experience. who else gets propositioned by a closet bondage fetishist sales assistant in a high-end department store?

next time remind me to talk about the hapless subway makeup thief. that's one for the storybooks as well.