the Power of Aromatherapy

Have you ever tried to shop for a fragrance?

A fragrance that defines you, makes your unique, stands out in a crowd yet not too overwhelming? A scent that immediately reminds people of your personality, and conjures up images of you, as you?

a list of some of the scents I tried out (over a time period of 2 weeks):
Calvin Klein Euphoria
Beautiful [original, Love]
Estee Lauder Pleasure [Exotic, Intense]
Dior Lily
Dior J'Adore
Paris Hilton [original, ?? ]
Lovely, Sarah Jessica Parker - sheer, light pink, and lovely indeed
Dior Dolce Vita
Pure White Linen
Issey Miyake L'eau d'Issey
Carolina Herrera 212
Lancome Tresor
Happy [citrus, heart]
Healing Gardens by Coty
Bulgari Green Tea
Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue - vanilla and smells like lemon cake =)

The picture here is the award winning bottle design for Kenzo Amour, it imitates the plant Bird of Paradise. Unfortunately, I loved this design, but not the scent as much. Just like the bottle design for Vera Wang Princess is both unpleasing/tacky to the eye, as well as ergonomically awkward.

~~~ latest personal update ~~~:

I've taken on such an "expedition" lately, as a rite of passage into my adult woman-hood. I have finally graduated to the realization that as a woman, I will embrace the idea of adorn myself with delicate and sophisticated scents. This, in complement with makeup (visual), clothing, hair style, nice skin care, shoes, bags, and now finally, the fragrance, completes my "whole outfit".

I have always recognized the importance of inner beauty, however, now I realize that outward appearance is as much a part of who you are as your inner-self. One's inner peace and aura will be projected through one's mannerism and the way an individual carries themselves. Their taste and preferences can also be projected via their choice of clothing, style, makeup, hair and fragrance.

However, the olfactory senses is probably the least sensitive out of our 5 senses. So to have to smell a dozen plus recommendations on my shopping trip, though with the help of the coffee jar, is still a very difficult task. I had to do the binary elimination algorithm, where I smell two similar scents in the same family and eliminate at least one of them. This rapidly reduced my choices down to a mere half a dozen. However, to choose between those 4-6 scents were increasingly difficult since I do like all of them a little bit.

There's just one refreshing scent that really stood out to me the whole time, I had it in my mind the whole time. I think more than the actual scent molecule, the image I have in my mind's eye when I smell that scent is so pleasing that it brings me back to this scent over and over again. Actually, you could say that I had quite an impression upon the first "impression", and it's really that fair to all the other fragrances, since I probably had a secret preference already.

I have finally decided on one fragrance for this season, yes, I admit, I have "fallen in luv" with another "thing". If you pay close attention, you may just get a whiff of my new "fling" next time in person. My new favourite projects a refreshingly clean scent, floral and slightly sweet, conjures up images of a pony-tailed girl running around on freshly cut green grass, in her flowy white linen pants on a sunny summer afternoon.

~~~ a teaser about this fragrance for those of you who are curious ~~~

Fresh. Luminous. Pure.

It steals you away to the perfect summer day. Like a stroll in a flowering garden, it lifts your mood and renews your spirit.

Notes include grapefruit, mandarin, iced rose tea, raspberry, pear, Granny Smith apple, dewy greens, lily, white freesia, white ginger, cardamom, red tulips, rose absolute, honeysuckle, gardenia, tuberose, jasmine, iris, osmanthus, white cedarwood, patchouli and white heliotropine.

The scent opens with a succulent juicy pairing of grapefruit and pear against a complex but well-blended background of white petals. As the scent progresses, the fruity notes begin to relax as echoes of the notes make their appearance — a soft rose, a green leafy note, powdery heliotrope. As the scent develops, it also relaxes, leaving a trail of mostly honeysuckle, lily and again, heliotrope, but here it has an almost almond-like quality.