Fashion versus the olfactory nerve.

There are very few perfumes which I actively like, and only two which I would wear.
One is L'aimant by Coty [which has unfortunately become associated with old ladies exclusively] or Estée, by Estée Lauder, which I cannot afford. [My sister bought me a bar of Estée soap once, which I treasured, but my son used it all up because the box and bar were blue and he'd discovered where I'd stashed it.
I didn't even know until I opened the empty box when I was about to treat myself to an Estée bath.]

Camay soap. Oh, dear Katie Boyle, where and why did that soap go? It was beautiful. I have one precious bar left.

I possess a very acute sense of smell which is rarely a great gift, and I'm glad I smoke, because think how much worse it could be....?

Smell memory is important, and I've seen many people stopped in their tracks by a smell that reminded them of something from when they were very young.
So. When companies want to attract me to a product, why do they seem to think that changing the scent of it to something never smelled before will do them any good?

There was a perfume which hit the market some time ago called "Poison".
Well, they got the name spot on for me.
If I smell anyone wearing it my throat feels as though someone has emptied a tub of exquisitely vile talcum powder down and it literally makes me gag. I have to quickly get away, usually choking and coughing and with my eyes watering.
Since other perfumes have sprung into existence trying to imitate the stink of that perfume I find myself being made uncomfortable more frequently now.
Certain checkouts in shops are no-go areas for me for that simple reason alone.
I do try not to make it obvious that I'm reacting to the poor woman or man who has spent good money on the terrible stuff.
There is a nasty, powdery, underlying smell which a lot of modern perfumes seem to be based on.
Old ones never were.

I can't be the only one?

Take Glade, for example.
They make many household squirty and stinky things to - ahem - "freshen" your house. When they first introduced "Shake-and-Vac" I actually really liked the "floral bouquet" one, so when I heard they were changing the smell I bought quite a few reduced tubs of it from a "discontinued item" bargain bin to keep me going.
I only used it because I liked the smell, otherwise why would I want to throw dust all over my floors?
I've never bought "Shake-and-Vac" since because they all smell dreadful, often with that underlying powdery nastiness.
At least you can get a whiff of the stuff before you decide not to buy it because it's hideous.
I will never waste money on their air fresheners because I can't sample before I buy. Why would I?

I have always had to rely on discovering a nice smell in someone else's house and then asking them about it.
Quite frankly, I haven't liked any air fresheners - anywhere.

Ambi Pur have a better idea, although they tend to charge a small fortune for their scents, by having scratch-and-sniff patches on their boxes.
They used to do one of their wall-socket-pluggy-device things which I liked. It was supposed to be anti-tobacco, and smelled really posh and lovely, but they stopped doing it.
Why?
Why-why-why?
Again, I've never liked any other smell by them since.

Vanilla candles? NOOO! Vanilla should be in pantries and special sugar bowls and cakes, not on fire in the living room. And I hate the smell of burning vanilla and wax anyway.

I never ever buy bleach.
Guess why.
=)

Vaseline intensive care lotion.
I bought that because I loved the smell. It reminded me of my dear sweet grandmother, who died when I was seven.
Vaseline, in their wisdom, have changed it completely and now you have to buy a whole array of gaudy-coloured bottles to fail to do what the original lotion did.
And they all smell horrible.

And what is it with cleaning fluids?

What bright little whizz kid decided that everything should smell of fruit?
From kitchen cleaning stuff, shampoos and conditioners, soaps, fabric softeners, body lotions - you name it, they all smell of FRUIT?

I want my hair to smell of clean, nice hair, not a bloody fruit salad!!!

Why would I want my kitchen to smell of mandarins?
I associate the smell of fruit with being horribly sticky and therefore dirty, so leave it out, Procter and Gamble!

I never even liked and have never bought "fresh lemon-scented" cleaning stuff either, except by accident.

I actually buy real lemons or cooking lemon juice [which doesn't reek the house out] for descaling and shining, but artificial scents themselves are ALWAYS WRONG!
I wouldn't dream of ever washing my windows with strawberries, and I never want half a banana to fall from my hair while I'm gently flicking it around to show off my fresh, shiny and full-of-body tresses to my admiring public.

Would you clean your cooker with lemon curd, then expect your toad-in-the-hole or roast potatoes to come out smelling delicious?

Mango chutney, maybe, but NOT blackberry jam, or water melons, or passion fruit.

If only one company would have the idea that retro could be the way to go, I might have a chance, but until then, I wash my hair in the herbal Fairy Liquid [purple one, rosemary I think, which isn't gorgeous, but the most acceptible to me].
That reminds me. Dove Silk conditioner is no longer produced, and nothing else smells as nice as that did now.

Dear old Fairy. The only other product left that doesn't stink everyone out with that horrible powdery smell or fruit.
The only product true and faithful to its own scent is Nivea.
Nivea cream still has the original smell, when I last bought some, anyway. My grandmother used to use that, too.

There's only one scented cleaning product that I like at the moment. Bold Infusions washing machine cushion thingies. The creamy-white one.
I suppose they'll be changing it soon. I won't buy it any more if they do because it is incredibly expensive for simple clothes washing.

Excuse me, now. I've got to go out and buy some star fruit and lychees because
I need to clean my car...... ;)