What do you smell like?
Yesterday, I went for a ridiculously long run to a friend's house and when I got there an hour and a half later, I showered. After I had dressed etc, the friend hugged me and said "you smell like post-exercise shower". He didn't mean that I simply smelt clean and freshly showered, nor did he mean I smelt of sweat (or so he maintains...!). I have no idea what he actually meant.
Also, a couple of days ago I was in a posh jewellery-and-other-things shop and the lady who runs it asked me at the till "what are you wearing?". I hesitated for a moment, pondering my choice of clothes, before I realised she meant my perfume. "It's not Angel, is it?" It's not, and luckily I managed to remember what it is called on the spur of the moment! (Lancome Miracle Forever, for those of you who wish to buy me perfume).
The smell of a person has always been a big factor in my attraction to a person. A guy who didn't smell of Lynx Africa when I was 15 was a major novelty and a major attraction! I have been known to steal items of boyfriends' clothing purely to sleep in because they smelt of the person. My stomach still flips when I catch a scent through a crowd which matches the aftershave my second boyfriend liked to wear. And I'm dreading it happening with the aftershave my most recent ex wore, because I know it'll bring back a plethora of memories that I don't want.
One of my friends used to wear Dior Addict and her then-boyfriend made the critical error of saying "you smell like my mum"!! (She smelt like my mum too, to be fair...clearly Dior Addict was popular amongst mothers...) Note to all guys: Never say this to your girlfriend/potential girlfriend/bit of stuff, unless you don't want sex ever again.
I remember reading/hearing things about how the smell of a person, or rather whether you find it attractive or repulsive, determines how healthy the babies you'd have if you were to have sex would be...something to do with genes...anyone want to help me out here...?! (I'd Google, but I'm in a rush to go out!)
I suspect it's not just me that cares this much about a person's smell....
7 comments:
It's not just a person's smell, it's a place's smell. Smelling a particular food always takes me back home when I'm away!
I like the smell of old books, I like the smell of new books. I love the smell of freshly washed clothes and the newly baked bread and diesel and whitespirit and creosote...smells are wonderful things - most of the time until you come across something unpleasant. I do like to state the obvious :oP
I know what you mean about a person's smell, I got a whiff of a particular men's fragrance my ex wears and it was quite strange how suddenly all these old emotions/feelings/memories came flooding back. Quite an odd experience.
Angel, smell horrific, you can smell out someone in a crowd if they're wearing it.
Smells are horribly evocative. HOrribly so. It's been known to make me want to cry...
Recently I had my clothes washed by my friend's mother after I turned up all bedraggled and covered in ketchup (LONG story).
Even now the clothes I was wearing that day smell uncomfortably like my friend, (who apparently smells primarily of washing powder...!) which has been pretty unsettling at times, to be honest!
Oh, and yes, I HATE Lynx Africa. Reminds me of those endless residential school trips to the war graves in Belgium, or the French and German trips. And is just horrible.
Lynx in general just isn't pleasant really...
Smells involutarily transport me back to days which once were before my brain even has a chance to catch up with what I'm feeling, there'll be a squirm in the stomach, or a lead-heavy heart. I'm not great at placing smells, though I often find a connection, I'm rarely sure where it comes from.
The phermones thing - is it that you're supposed to be attracted to people who have complementary genes to yours, ie you make heathly babies and that's determined by how attracted you are to their natural smell, but because people cover up with deodrant and whatnot, it doesn't have such an effect, possibly? Also, women smell nicer when they're ovulating - prime baby making time, boys beware!! :P
I didn't think that a guy's smell was such an important factor for women. Obviously, it's ideal not to smell like stale sweat but I wasn't fully aware of how much preference is placed on odour.
I often don't wear aftershave for the simple reason that it's very easy to overdo it. Better to have none than to marinate.
I'm also guilty of being a former Lynx Africa wearer. For shame.
Otherwise I like your blog, you've got an intriguing writing style and I hope to read more.
Hi, Aaron :)
As a general rule, as long as a guy smells clean, it's all good. And shame on you for the Lynx, but at least you're a former wearer of it!
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