Comments/Compliments

First off, I wear perfume for my own enjoyment, if i love the way something smells, I revel in it. Some make me feel confident and aggressive even,  feminine, elegant, some I seek comfort in and a few make me feel almost skanky. I do not wear perfume to seek the approval from others, or to gather compliments.  Several years back, I continued to wear Gucci Rush at work even though one woman complained it gave her a headache (well, she complained about everything) another person said something about the place having recently been sprayed for bugs. (On a side note, that was said when I on my 3nd bottle, which I swear smelled "off").

Today I wore Jesus Del Polzo In Black. Applied bit heavy handed, I was working in an open atmosphere so I can get away with more. No one said anything, which is fine. Also typical.  A co-worker was wearing her Tommy Hilfiger T Girl and I hear, "Oh, you smell so pretty, what is that?" from others a few times, and one "What a nice perfume, you smell like shampoo." Lololo, you smell like shampoo! I may not have gotten any compliments on my perfume, which is better than being told you smell like shampoo. If someone told me I smelled like shampoo I'd toss that fume, I'd rethink what I was wearing, depending on what it was, how much I liked it.  Squeaky clean scents, shampoo scents, laundromat scents are not my bag.

Ironic thing is, since I began this perfume passion, I can't recall much in the line of comments or compliments from anyone about my scent. Occasionally when I slather on some hand lotion at work I will get a compliment, actually today I had a tube of Insolence in my purse and the woman next to me said she liked the scent. Didn't want to try any when I offered her a squirt. During the winter when I wore Boucheron's Trouble, this (young, much younger than me) girl told me it smelled like something her mother wore. Okay. But other than that, nada. Back when I was wearing coconut & vanilla scents, everyone commented on it. At the grocery store, the doctor's office, cab drivers, co-workers, I must have worn the coconut well. But I tired of it, burned myself out on it. Of course I will probably hit the bottle a few times this summer.

Tomorrow I will be working in a closed room with TGirl.  Historically, TGirl has always sort of competed with me: men, clothes, drinking, dieting, jewelry, anything.  It doesn't bother me, I take it as a compliment and have a bit of fun with it. My husband once said, "Why is she making a competition with you?" I hadn't realized it until he said it. Last week we worked together, it was TGirl and Mitsouko, the possible beginning of a perfume competition. So now I'm wondering what scent of mine would compete well against TGirl? Without gagging the other 2 people in the room, of course. Coco or No.5 came to mind, but I'm thinking something obscure. And with silliage. Kenzo Jungle Elephant? Guerlain's My Insolence? Maybe LouLou? Habanita? I wore that to bed last night and I can't get it out of my mind, need to fully test drive that one. I'd better make up my mind tonight or else I'll be spraying a bottle of anything  on my way out the door.

Edited to add: I wound up wearing Serge Lutens' Louve. It came in the mail the day before and I was eager to try it. Very creamy and comforting for a stressful day at work. No one noticed, but at least I enjoyed it ; )