After a bout of housecleaning on a hot summer's day, there's nothing worse than stripping down for the shower only to realise that the only soap available is your dad's Lifebuoy soap. Dont get me wrong. Im sure Lifebuoy's a good soap, with skin enhancing properties, environmentally friendly, not tested on animals etc. I just hate the way it smells. Choiceless, I used the soap, uncomfortably aware that I smell like my dad.
I used to love smelling like a man. Probably the first body spray I used was El Paso, Im sure those of my generation remembers it. And Jovan White Musk for Men. I liked the hints of musk, wood, tobacco and alcohol in perfumes and sprays.
Each of us have our own distinct smell and the same perfume smells different on different people. The one Im currently using smells like crisp spring day on me. And on another girl I know, it smells like summer flirtation. I hate that girl. She makes every perfume she wears smell like a weapon of mass seduction. But thats how it is with some people.
I read somewhere that the purpose of having hair in pits and pubes is so that it would trap our natural smells and act as a seductive pheromone something or the other. And while we might not exude such strong personal aromas as our cavemen forefathers, we all do have our personal scent that nothing can quite disguise. Which is why the scent of an ex-lover is such a strong trigger for nostalgia (or revulsion, depends on one's experience).
And this is the main reason that God made men generally taller than women. Its so a woman can burrow her face in a man's chest and inhale the essence of him. And a man can bury his face in a woman's hair and know how distinct she is from every other woman.
All this just to detract from the fact that I smell like my dad.
19 comments:
"a weapon of mass seduction" Nice phrase that, I like :) Sometimes my sense of smell is pretty strong but most times I don't really notice. That's unless I'm confronted with someone who literally stinks. Like the one time I was on a bus and a woman came and sat down beside me, with a baby strapped to her back, and the poor child and the whole puakpuan reeked of stale urine. That was one nose-boggling bus ride.
Here’s the thing: I am obsessed with smelling strong. And by that I mean wearing very heavy fragrances. I don’t want to smell like flowers or fruit or any of that teenage stripper bullshit; I want to smell good and distinctive not overpowering, all day long.
Been through the El Paso and the Musk for Men stage in school. Damn, you sounded like me in the that paragraph.
And that thing about tall men, the face burying and the hair smelling. Perfect for the time I'm ready to slip into bed, it's nice and warm, like a hug from a loved one (without arms). Sure to soothe anyone with a (sad, lonely) dream... sigh.
Smell does trigger memories in no other way the other senses do. It hits you suddenly and before you realise what's happening all those long forgotten things come back to you. The smell of a soap at a cousin's place, the smell of smoke on an old friend's hand, how your dog smelled after a bath,that old stiff plastic schoolbag you carried around,the smell of forgotten people...
The smell of Lifebuoy reminds me of childhood, that and the translucent Pears soap. Aduhi is right about smells triggering old memories, we associate smells not just with people, but with a lot of events in our past. Maybe you've had a bad experience with Lifebuoy in your past to hate the smell so much, eh?.. hehe..
The smell of Lifebuoy reminds me of childhood, that and the translucent Pears soap. Aduhi is right about smells triggering old memories, we associate smells not just with people, but with a lot of events in our past. Maybe you've had a bad experience with Lifebuoy in your past to hate the smell so much, eh?.. hehe..
PS: Sorry about the double reply, my "Enter" key got stuck, damn humidity..
@Caliopia: Thank you :)
Once stood in a crowded bus and this man's armpit was level with my poor face. It was a hot summer's day and that man had reaalllly strong B.O. Not one of the most pleasant rides, I tellya.
@Eve: I sound like you. Hah. Great minds etc :D
The El Paso and Musk thing happened in the last century during my school days. Gawd, I feel old :(
Tall men... yeahhh :)
@Aduhi: that it does! The smell of Xmas, the smell of hostel, the smell of the night the neighbour's house burned, etc. Im not that big a sniffer, but I love, love, love the smell of woodsmoke, sun-dried clothes, rain, freshly cut grass and shoe polish.
@Black: Heat expands. Hence the keyboard got stuck. To undo, apply cold compress on affected area.
Noh, no bad memories of Lifebuoy. But Pears! Only the rich kids used Pears on a regular basis (tralala). For us it was a once a week thing, a Saturday bath soap, to be precise. Rest of the week, we made do on chingal, sabun var, etc. :D
Too.. many... jokes... inside... head... must... resist... urge... to... *dies*
@ Illu: "Here he lies where he longed to be
Buried 'neath a casket of whiskey crates
Amidst a pile of dirty mags"
And we shall now observe 2 seconds silence to acknowledge his passing.
...
...
:P
uiiii what "smells"??? hehe va mak teh daih veee, "Each of us have our distinct smell" yewwww I dont know about women but men smell like sweat!!Period.
Women smell like period. Period.
@Jayme: Pick up your friggin phone you!
And maybe you smell like ewww de par- fume but my personal scent is eu de femme :P
@Illu: Tell your women to clean up sometimes!
Jay-me, clean up, yo!
LOL @ "She makes every perfume she wears smell like a weapon of mass seduction"
I'm a lover of aromas in general, the smell of my favorite perfume, the way my mom who never uses perfumes smell, the perfect aroma of great food..
And that distinctive smell that each person has. This is also why it's so important to be careful while buying perfumes. Some smell great in the bottle but turn into something headache-inducing on your skin (eg, for me Elizabeth Arden's Mediterranean), some smell great in the bottle and even better on your skin and you can sort of fall in love with yourself just smelling yourself eg Versace's Bright Crystals :))
@Illu: ... w/e.
@Jeru: (A woman who doesnt wear perfume is ) a free woman. She is sure of being able to seduce with her own fragrance- J.P. Gaultier. :D
Yo momma is a free woman, eh?
I prefer light perfumes on my skin too cos heavier ones always make me headachy. Just a hint on the back of my neck is enough. Im almost emancipated :D
uiii lal illu, im not your woman, im somebody's babe, doll, honey and everything pampering!....I smell good, gaultier's free woman i am, yaar, period.
@Jerusha I have this Versace Bright Crystal your're talking about, sooo... heheh...I probably smell good eh??*blush*
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