On our way back by train from Oldenburg, where we presented us and our way of creating perfumes to a crowd of interested perfume lovers, we stopped in Hannover. I discovered a sweets vending machine, spent a few scents, entered the wrong numbers, and ended up with a Salamini Calzone, whereby SALAMINI is a registered brand name. The colors in the picture to the left match reality quite well. I have 5 more months to decide whether I want to go ahead and actually eat it. This little yellow (think bread) and red (think salami) piece of plastic is a reason to praise vegetarianism.
And artisanal, indie salami making and hand crafted food. Real food.
But you won’t find these in a vending machine. And they don’t come for 50 Euro cents a piece. The same is true for fragrances.
Although when it comes to fragrances and their marketing, there are some differences to salami. Right now is perfume marketing high season. And based on what I see there, perfume comes with a higher erotic factor than salami. The ads: Cliché. Lips open and eyes in search of anybody to copulate immediately with , the perfect SHE reclines in a position that seems utterly uncomfortable with a perfume flacon nearby.
Perfume is everywhere. Too much for my gusto. Ads everywhere and little articles about scents and how to pick fragrances as gifts. The problem: Perfumes are not an optimal gift. I always say: The perfect gift is a few hours, together, in a perfumery, and the promise to pay whatever is picked as the perfect scent. Being a somewhat interested observer you wonder… The city is plastered with poster sized ads. And you wonder who is going to pay all this.
And again, it is the same for Salamini(R) calzones: Who is going to buy the salamini calzones before they become trash?
Great post for the season! And the “Salamini®” comparison is strangely appropriate. You bring up 2 big issues: the cliched association of perfume with eroticism, and perfume as a gift.
On the first, i find it bewildering that no other sense is ascribed such heightened sensuality, and I don’t think that’s a great thing. Perfume is not just about seduction; I wear perfume more so for myself than anybody else. And perfume, when done well, can communicate comfort and nostalgia as well as aggression and hostility. (I often, in my darker moods, wear perfume as a demarcation of “Don’t come any closer!” zone.)
On the second, I always thought perfume is one of the most personal gifts that should be given only with the greatest care to someone you know very well. And while I wouldn’t want to discourage the hoards from gifting perfume at Xmas, I’d wish they did so more thoughtfully. After all, as much as perfume is my favorite gift, it is more often one to myself than to/from anyone else.
Thanks, Arch.memory!
I am glad you like my post
enjoy your Sunday.
I can go along with arch.memory that I wear perfume for myself and in the morning while still in bed I think about what fragrance to wear that day, depending on my mood. Last week I had two days in a row with Une Rose Chypree!! Followed by Musc by Mona do Orio for example. When I buy something in the local pharmacy (drogist in Dutch) they already know they do not please me with perfume samples. Is that arrogant or smart??
Looking forward to a sample of the cologne du Magreb. Only through Indiscent.com??
Have a nica sunday!!
p.s. in march 2012 I am going on a three day perfume travel to Paris with a group of perfumista’s, visiting 7 perfume houses. I cannot wait!!!!
typing without enough light: Mona di Orio and nice sunday. Sorry
Greetings, Mary
And I wake up and think what perfume to make today:-)
Cologne: yes, indiescents.com (and advent calendar) and as gifts… My apologies.