In this note
Describe before you identify.
The pressure to recognise a note can make a person stop smelling. Begin somewhere easier. Is it cool or warm? Smooth or fibrous? Near to the skin or filling the room? Does it arrive as a flash, a cloud, a line or a weight?
Try a short sentence: ‘At first it feels cool and green; later it becomes softer and closer to skin.’ Your words can change as the fragrance does. Temperature and texture are comparisons for the impression, not measurements.
Paper compares. Skin decides.
A blotter makes it easier to compare several fragrances under similar conditions and to keep a record over time. Skin adds heat, movement and the smells already present on the body. Use paper to study. Use skin to decide whether you want to live with it.
For a simple comparison, apply the fragrance and let it dry without rubbing. Keep the amount and the surface consistent when comparing two scents. Write down when you applied each one, then return to it.
Smell less. Return more.
A crowded table of blotters quickly becomes one indistinct atmosphere. Work with a few. Step into fresh air when they begin to blur. Write the time on each strip and keep it; the most revealing part may arrive after you have left the room.
- 01
Number the blotter before spraying.
- 02
Take one short smell rather than a long inhalation.
- 03
Write sensation first; possible materials second.
- 04
Return at twenty minutes, two hours and the next morning.