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 :)

Beyond Love by Kilian

Tuberose, tuberose tuberose... I like it whenever I encounter it but always there is a big "but" waiting to be inserted into the scentence. "I like it but I'm not sure about that supporting coconut note" (Mona di Oro). "I like it but I wish there wasn't so much bubblegum" (Vamp á NY) or "I love it, but when will I ever find the right occasion to wear it?" (Tubereuse Criminelle). However, now, I've found a tuberose that is just right, just "me" and that is by Kilians Beyond Love.

It's no easy access however. The first hours are ... difficult. First there is a faint whiff of cloyingly sweet orange coconutty vanilla. I'm guessing i's there in order to smooth out the onset of the tuberose, because that is heavy stuff! If you've ever had flowers in a vase of water, then left home for a month, come home, found the flowers long dead and the stalks rotting in the water, or if you've had coworkers with bad breath, I'm not just talking garlic for lunch here but long term gum infections, those kind of notes are what I'm getting. I'm wondering, are these "indoles"? Are they part of how a real tuberose (the flower) smells (I've never smelled one in real life) or are they a byproduct of turning the flower into perfume? I'd be truly grateful if someone could educate me on these points!

Well, things do get easier. There is a Swedish proverb saying "Whoever waits for something good never waits for too long", and that is most true in this case. By then, there is this most gorgeous, inviting, tropical, suggestive (suggesting things in a wide open, come and get it type of way), sweetly intoxicating scent imaginable. I've spent the most part of the last couple of days just smelling and smelling and smelling my arm and then smiling because I smell so good. I love that feeling and fortunately this lovely drydown phase of Beyond Love lasts very long indeed.

So, wearing Beyond Love takes a bit of planning. This is not a fragrance to spritz on just before going downstairs in order to make a stunning impression on your prom date. This one you put on right away when you get out of the shower, before you get dressed, do your make up, do your hair, get that last bit to eat and text all your friends about how fab the night is going to be. Doing it that way around, if that date turns out to be a disaster, at least it won't be due to the way you smell.

For more reading on tuberose, the Candy Perfume Boy has published a great guide to tuberose here.

Official notes according to the by Kilian website: coconut, Egyptian jasmine absolute, tuberose concrete, tuberose absolute, green tuberose, tuberose petals accord, ambergris and tonkin musk.