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Friday, March 23, 2012

Perfume in the workplace - phone fun


A while ago I was chatting with some of the girls at work, mentioning that I have a perfume blog. They seemed interested and (remembering Tarelesio saying something similar on Facebook not long ago) I blurted out, "But wouldn't it be fun if I brought some scent samples to work, we could sit in the lunch room after hours and have a little sniffaton?" They seemd positively inclined to this so I went home, trying to choose what to bring. In the end I settled on my sample set of "By Killians". It seemed like a sensible choice as I have a full set and they are all tiny sprays, which I reckoned would be less messy to try on than perfume from those samples that come with a wand cap. And they do know how to make an impression, so By Killian it was!

The sniffaton did go well, everyone found a favourite. Again, I was amazed how different a scent might smell on two different persons due to skin chemistry. Also, no one showed up to lecture us on the risk of Anaphylaxis - a relief.

I was clearly having a tuberose day. When smelling those samples, Beyond Love stood out like a diamond in a pile of rocks (or, maybe more like a pile of gold nuggets, in this case). I just couldn't stop sniffing it. Unfortunately I didn't spray it on myself as I had some stupid idea to prove a point about how Ambre Oud is so different on skin from paper (it wasn't). But I did take a card with BL sprayed on it and shoved into my pocket, thinking I'd sniff it on the way home. The next day I realised my work phone had also been in that pocket, snuggling up to that card. It reeked of tuberose!

Now, I'm a programmer and a very slow context switcher. That means that when I'm coding I tend to forget everything else and sink way into the piece of code I'm working on. If someone asks me something it might take me several minutes to snap out of code mode and get resettled into whatever plane of existence my coworker happens to be on. Not that I don't want to help out, I do, but this is just the way I am. And what I dislike the most, while working, are phone calls (I love mails though, as well all other forms of asynchronous communication). As I can't snap out of code mode instantly I always come across as a complete dork. But with a tuberose smelling phone, talking to people, is a whole different thing!

Instead of getting the smell of electronics and plastic while talking to these, often very agitated, people, I now get them gift wrapped in a big cloud of pinkish, frivolous fun. Instead of imagining them as basement dwelling Richard Stallman-lookalikes, I now picture them wearing big pink ballgowns, secretly buffing their long rhinestone studded nails while talking to me. I like that, as a change!

But why stop there. Aren't phone scents a business idea worth considering? You could manufacture little pods to drop in with the battery. The warmer the phone, the more scent comes out. Maybe a lavender pod for a calming effect? Citrus for keeping you awake during boring conversations? What scents would YOU like in a phone? I'd love to know :)





17 comments:

  1. OMG! So they used to do scented glove leather, why not the same for phones, you could change covers, and perfume. Too much?
    I am going to try it myself.
    Portia (perfume lemming)

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  2. Portia, I'd love to hear what youäll find out by trying this :) Just be careful so you don't do anything that risks short-circuiting the phone. I've heard the batteries can be sensitive to fluids!

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  3. This.is.brilliant. Sigrun, you're a genius! I hate the smell of my phone (it is one of those previously "unscented" things that, since I became very interested in perfume, is no longer unscented). I'm going to try scenting my phone, but just as you did. A card. I think I might try Bottega Veneta, based on Portia's analogy to scenting gloves.

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  4. Nathalie, I bet the fruity leather of Bottega Veneta would be great on a phone! I have an phone with a plastic case-thing around it and to get leather instead of plastic would dramatically increase my well being when using it :)

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    1. My phone has a sort of rubber back to it, which I think will help it absorb the scent.

      But a leather case would be lovely!

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  5. Yes, you are both right. A card is the best answer till I can buy a leather phone case and work some Indian oils into it.

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  6. Yum, Indian oils, I wonder what kind of images those would send into my head while talking.... :)

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  7. Pojkfröken, thanks!!! And i love seeing you here :)

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  8. What a fun idea to come out of your workplace sniff-in! I would be fine with the white florals for summer and maybe a woody oriental for winter, I reckon... : - )

    And thanks too for giving the world the wonderful phrase "code mode".

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  9. Yes, I must say I love having my phone scentet. The tuberose stayed for several days and I'm all ready to try something new. I'm thinking towards green, maybe I go real crazy and try some Bandit :)

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  10. Fun idea! I wonder if it can be combined with the Dee-style therapy for the best results? ;)

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  11. Undina, that's an excellent idea! I just loved that post. Another thing I'm thinking about, will the opinion one has about the people one is talking to on the phone reflect upon the judgement of the scent? For me, I bet it would!

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  12. I know the pain of sitting through those boring phone calls too.. after years of working in an office, this isn't such a bad idea!

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  13. Thank you, god to know that there are others that feel like me :)

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