MY TWITCHING NOSE

Perfume, without the actual alchemy of a woman's skin, is too empty. Not all fragrances are thus, but the smells associated with females really require the impact of a wearer. Each person affects the scent in a different way, and by the combination their nasal presence is given form.

One of the most enjoyable shops in downtown is owned and operated by a courteous gentleman with a keen nose. But I have not been to see André for years now, as purchasing his products would be pointless without a face to associate with the distillate.


PARFUMERIE JACQUELINE
103 Geary Street
San Francisco, CA 94108.

Just up from Grant Avenue, less than a block from Union Square.


One day I watched a nearly-blind gentleman carefully select fragrances for over a dozen people of his ken. He and the owner discussed skin types, ages, and personalities, and the customer attentively sniffed the strips of paper freshly impregnated, then painted a picture in his mind's eye of how it would smell on the recipient.
You'll have to agree; colouring your friends with a distinctive odour when you cannot really see them is far more sensible than gifting them with silks. When they are present, your mind cannot but recall shared events and experiences far more acutely than if these were illustrated in every hue.


NARD AND VETIVER, STYRAX AND ITTAR

I've bought several perfumes there over the years. The person for whom they were intended no longer wears them. Her style has changed, and her boy friend doesn't appreciate subtle nose-echoes, the fool.

They would smell quite different on someone else. It's how body-chemistry affects the substance. Each person is unique, and only strong candy scents stay constant.


That faint faint shimmering in the subconscious of your nostril-mind creates impressions more complete than any amount of make-up can; a marvelous person will be more beautiful for the waft-impression that you did not even notice.

As I said, it's pointless to purchase perfume without a person to wear them, someone who would be the perfect recipient of that accent.


Nowadays I sharply note the smells of tobaccos, of coffee, of tea. Jasmine, eucalyptus, and lemons. The crisp snappy hue of certain vegetables, resinous herbal exudates along particular roadways, tar......
A sandalwood incense on Stockton Street, which suddenly reminds me of the Philippines, and a clean scent in a certain restaurant, coming from tables thoroughly wiped. I associate it with a waitress who is attentive and hard-working, whose hospitable attitude vastly improves the taste of dinner.
Glass cleaner, old newspaper, and a weird hint of fake honey dew melon. That last from a girl who passed by; it must have been her large bucket of bubble tea.
Can't recall her face in any way at all.
The drink was more memorable.


There's a faint spiciness to my own skin.
I just noticed it right now.
Rather pleasant.
Nice.


I must smell someone else, though.



AFTER THOUGHT

Since posting that, a spambot tried to seed this blog with the following somewhat relevant comment: "You are correct Greg about the lemon pH, but baking soda is a neutralizer against all acids, so the pH combo of lemon and baking soda will be much more of base, or neutral pH. The lemon oil will require to be washed off with bar soap, because only soap will wash the lemon oil off in the tooth. Tooth paste will not; info for all your lemon eaters as well. "

I am utterly enchanted by the idea that there are people whose teeth smell of lemons. Someday I will have to meet one of them.


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