How Did I Get Here?

If you're reading this I must have worked up the nerve to de-lurk over at Now Smell This or Base Notes.

I'm Kate. I recently spent almost six months out of work hoping against hope that my bottle of Chanel No. 5 wouldn't run dry before I got a job offer. (It didn't!) Since I didn't do much besides troll the internet for jobs or hit up the gym or the grocery store, it was the only thing in my life that was even a little bit glamorous.

I've been a casual reader of Now Smell This and Bois de Jasmin for a few years. Now that buying a couple of bottles of perfume won't break the bank - especially if I stick mostly to decants! - I'm ready to start a real collection. And, hey, I'm stimulating the economy.

I really loved Angela's post at Now Smell This about becoming a perfumista and decided I fell pretty squarely into stage two. And yes I did just learn to pronounce "chypre." What can I say, I took Spanish and German. Let's call this the slutty summer abroad of my perfuming life - I'll try anything right now. Feel free to help me add to my To-Do List.

Here's a quick rundown of perfumes I have known:

Love's Baby Soft
Purchased at a drugstore, probably around 1990. It smelled a little better to me than the scent strips in Sassy or YM, but not much. When I sprayed some on my skin it smelled like...deodorant. By the time the Nirvana song came out I had abandoned the Love's Baby Soft for good.

Cacharel Noa
I asked for this for Christmas the year it was released. It was actually pretty lovely, and maybe even something I would wear now. But...knowing nothing at the time I picked it for the bottle.

Lucky Brand Lucky You
I have a soft spot for this one. To me it smells like roses and ginger ale.

Givenchy Very Irresistible
This was a watershed purchase because I actually went to the perfume counter and tried it out before purchasing! Granted I didn't know anything about top notes, heart notes and base notes and probably would have guessed that drydown is something you do to a boat. But...I can kind of see how I went from Lucky You to Very Irresistible. They're both sweet florals.

CB I Hate Perfume Crushed Fig Leaf
What? How does someone go from schlocky department store fare to the latest in avant-garde niche perfumery?! It was a happy accident. I live within walking distance of the CB I Hate Perfume gallery, and Christopher Brosius' "scent museum" was enough to make a convert out of me. He helped me try stuff out himself (this was a couple years ago, now there are trendy sales associates who do that) and I think he was surprised at the way Crushed Fig Leaf smelled on my skin. It's very feminine on me somehow. I was surprised by how many different smells were bottled up, and how different they smelled on my skin than they did in the air.

CB I Hate Perfume Tea/Rose
This is the most beautiful smelling perfume at first blush and I was thrilled the whole walk home. Then all of a sudden I decided I smelled like Miss Climpson in Strong Poison did when she had to fake her way through a seance after a long day in various tea shops. The rose had faded away and left me smelling - no, stinking! - of black tea. I wore this one for a few weeks and then gave up.

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle
I got this off eBay. Total impulse purchase. Luckily, I totally dug it. Coco Mademoiselle is polished and ladylike without being frumpy. I wore it happily for a year, and then bought another bottle. My first repeater!

Issey Miyake L'Eau d'Issey
This one is just too pretty for me, plus it disappears completely within an hour. I got it as a gift, and I still wear it sometimes if I'm going somewhere where a stronger perfume might annoy people. Gym, post office, date with a vegetarian. I think that L'Eau d'Issey might have prejudiced me against floral aquatics. I'll have to work on that. (I'm supposed to be trying everything!)

Chanel No. 5
I put off trying Chanel No. 5 for two pretty stupid reasons. First, I was afraid I wouldn't like it and then have to defend my own taste in perfume to myself, and second, I had heard it was for older ladies. See, stupid reasons! I ordered a sample and wore it everywhere for four days straight. This was love. As with Coco Mademoiselle I could follow the smell through its three distinct stages, but this time around I loved all of them. Chanel No. 5 is what it is: a little loud, maybe even pretentious. I feel like I have to wear red lipstick when I wear it (or vice versa) and I'm glad because I love wearing red lipstick. For me Chanel No. 5 is not about being sexy or even confident, it's more about deciding that today matters.

So that's my story! I spent most of this weekend feverishly clicking around NST and Perfume Posse to put together a list of about 20 samples to order from The Perfumed Court and Luckyscent. I can't wait to get started.