Guides

Why Is Chanel Perfume So Expensive?

Chanel has been a designer perfume powerhouse for a century, dating back to the release of the iconic (and still popular) No. 5 in 1921. From feminine staples such as Coco Mademoiselle to the genre-defining masculine Bleu de Chanel, the name Chanel is as good as gold in the perfume world.  However, you might have…

How To Tell a Coworker Their Perfume Is Too Strong

Every day, you watch the clock anxiously for the arrival of that coworker.  At 9:00, right on the dot, you begin to detect scent in the air. At first, it’s not so bad, but then the scent grows stronger and stronger, until that coworker opens the door. What was at a distance a lovely fragrance…

Why Is Perfume So Expensive?

Seeing the price of expensive designer perfumes from Chanel, Dior, or Louis Vuitton can make eyebrows cock and wallets cringe.  As wonderful a hobby as fragrance is, it certainly ain’t cheap. The vast majority of people might be able to afford one or two such extravagances, but any more than that might be somewhat of…

Why Does Perfume Smell Good?

Everyone knows that perfume smells good (well, to most of us, anyway). It’s about as much of a truism as, “The sky is blue,” or, “Carol Baskin killed her husband,” (c’mon, we all know it).  But have you ever wondered why perfumes smell good? What is it exactly about them that pleases our upjumped primate…

Why Can’t I Smell My Perfume Anymore?

One of the most distressing crises that can affect a perfume lover is not being able to smell your perfume anymore.  It happens to the best of us. You love a perfume and wear it to death, then one day you wake up and find that you just can’t smell it, no matter how deep…

What It Means When You Smell a Dead Person’s Perfume

I smell dead peooopleeee… Have you ever been sitting comfortably in your living room, minding your own business, when suddenly your nose is greeted with the familiar fragrance of Shalimar, which your dearly departed grandmother used to wear?  If so (or if you have experienced anything approaching this relatively specific anecdote), depending on your beliefs…

7 Ways To Deal With Fragrance Allergies in the Workplace

As wonderful and fascinating as perfumes can be for people like myself, for those with fragrance allergies, anything scented can be akin to airborne poison.  This can especially be a problem in the workplace, where the mingled scents of perfumes, scented soaps, air fresheners, and cleaning products can be an absolute nightmare for those with…

9 Perfumes Strippers Love

If you’ve ever been to a strip club – or so I’ve heard; I, of course, have never been to such an establishment – you’ve undoubtedly been confronted with a powerful wave of fragrance.  Variously described as “strawberry air freshener”, “bubble gum and sweat”, or “eau de baby oil”, the piquant perfume(s) that diffuse through…

Attar or Perfume? What’s the Difference?

If you’ve been in the fragrance world long enough, or if you happen to be from the Middle East or the Indian Subcontinent, you’ve probably heard of attars before.  While perfume or eau de cologne is the byword for fragrance in the Western world, in the East, attar occupies the same pride of place.  But…

7 Ways To Neutralize Perfume Smells In the Office

Let’s face it – every office has their own “cologne guy” or “perfume gal”. Heck, I’ve even been one myself.  In a cramped office with carpet from the 90s and little ventilation, even a normal application of perfume can become a choking miasma, and can linger long after its wearer has left.  So how do…