Lena Brombacher nos enviou este excelente texto sobre como o perfume influencia nosso humor e domina nossa memória.
How perfume influences our moods and dominates our memory
Every perfume tells a story, reminds us of places where we have been or whisks us off to faraway countries. We remember people wearing a certain perfume, it makes us dream of somebody we would like to be or simply evokes a certain feeling, a state of mind.
Do you remember the scene from the Tom Ford movie “A single man“ where George steps into the office of the university and suddenly smells the secretary’s perfume? From one second to the next he seems to be absent, can't concentrate on what she is saying because he is overwhelmed by a feeling, a memory that hit him – induced by a perfume. He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and finally says “Arpège“. We will never know what had touched him. There is another scene in the film where he sees a woman with a fox terrier. He puts his nose into the dog's coat and says that these kind of dogs smell like buttered toast. He once had dogs like these and lost them when his partner died in a car accident. This scene is so intense that I was moved to tears. The feeling of absence in this man’s life and the smell that reminded him of his beloved ones.
Our nose is connected directly to the limbic system, the part of our brain where we record our memories. That's why you can influence people with scents. In different stages of our life we might have worn a different perfume and we have met people wearing a certain perfume, it will always remind us of a particular day, a certain vacation, a certain man/woman, wonderful times, sad times – whatever. Every smell is linked to a certain memory or feeling. Sometimes you need a little bit longer to remember, but it will always bring up some emotion. The feelings a perfume evokes can be positive or negative. We can't stand the perfume of a person we don't like. And if we smell it in another context it will always remind us of this person. All these emotions are recorded on our ‘hard disk’.
You can also influence your mood with a scent. I have a huge ‘perfume wardrobe’ and I usually choose the perfume that fits my mood or I use one to change my mood. When I want to be happy I take Oranges and lemons say the bells of St. Clement's by Heeley. According to aromatherapy, orange blossoms have the quality to make you happy, that's what happens when I'm wearing this scent. When I miss the ocean I choose Brezza di Mare by I Profumi di Firenze and when I want to feel really feminine I choose another one – which is my secret. And so on. You can influence your own mood and the people around you. No action without reaction. You can add something to your personality, something that could be a new facet of yourself or you can show something that is not visible. We want to please, seduce, provoke, feel more feminine/masculine or change our identity. We can feel summer in winter and vice versa. Everything is possible.
Have you ever met a beautiful woman wearing a wonderful perfume passing by and you wanted to know which scent she was wearing? It happened to me once and since then I know when you meet someone and you think this person is magic you want to own a part of her/him. You want this perfume that makes her/him so irresistible. Even if the perfume is only one aspect of this magic aura. It is kind of a Jean-Baptiste Grenouille thing, the main protagonist of Patrick Suesskind's novel “The Perfume“. Grenouille is lacking personal body odor and becomes a murderer to create the one and only perfume for himself made out of beautiful girls. He wants to be irresistible, to have a unique smell that makes everybody love him, adore him.
An important factor: Two people would never feel the same sniffing the same perfume – it's highly subjective and visceral, that's why people told me that it is impossible to maintain a blog about perfume. Also, you cannot smell what I am talking about. But everything in life is subjective, let it be art, literature or whatever.
Perfume can be like a piece of art. If it doesn't evoke a feeling and if you don't know anything about the artist or about his intention you will never ‘understand’ the artwork. It will never touch your soul. I try to put scents into words so that the reader gets a feeling for them and background information. You can go to a store and see if you like the fragrance or not. Why was the book “Perfumes: The Guide“ by Luca Turin and his wife Tania Sanchez so successful? Because it is a brilliant reference book for all perfume lovers. It works ‘without smell’. Even the description of a perfume can let your imagination flow. I have recorded scents in my mind. I don't need to have them under my nose. I just feel them. If you say for example “Chanel N°5“ I can immediately memorize this perfume. And I can feel the emotion that comes with it.
I am concentrating on niche perfumery – these perfume makers are real dreamers. Above all, they are living their dream to create really exceptional and sometimes odd perfumes. I don't want to smell like everybody else buying a flanker that you may smell ten times a day on another woman. That's why some people don't even tell you what perfume they are wearing. They want to keep it secret – because they know the perfume has a lasting effect.
Lena Brombacher was raised in a theatrical family. After receiving a Master’s degree in Romance Studies and English, she decided to become a journalist and completed an internship at Spiegel TV. She worked as an editor for lifestyle magazines and television before changing sides to work as a public relations consultant. Until 2009 she worked as a press spokesperson for the international fashion trade show Premium in Berlin and continues her collaboration with them now as a freelance editor in charge of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin Magazine and the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin Guide. Since the beginning of 2010, she has been publishing regular perfume reviews on her blog olfactorialist.com in order to share her passion with perfume lovers around the globe. Lena Brombacher lives and works in Berlin.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário