“The Perfume Dilemma”

I have come to realize that I have bit of obsession with perfumes, the way each blend of notes transforms your mood, your senses, even your memories, and the way a fragrance interacts directly with your psychology and emotions.

A couple of months ago, I had been commenting to my friend Diana my latest perfume purchase. The brand and creator, a very famous wedding gown designer, whom I will not mention, but had exquisite taste in fashion. I knew of this designer’s latest fragrance launch from an influencer I bumped into on social media, raving about the latest scent.

As I heard the young influencer’s description of the notes, my senses went full mode. I needed to get this perfume, quick! The scent enveloped top notes of mandarin essence, pink pepper and blackcurrant. It’s heart notes were Queen of the Night, tuberose absolute, Indian jasmine, and sambac absolute. And it’s base, ambrose and vanilla accord. I could imagine the heavenly scent as the young girl described each note. Yummy-licious! And the bottle, it came in – I kid you not – a bottle shaped as a diamond ring. So cuuute!

I did not even wait. That very same afternoon I rushed to my favorite beauty store and purchased the perfume. Yep, I blind-bought it, without even trying a spritz of it since the store did not have a sampler on display, for some odd reason.

I rushed back home and opened the box and slid from within the beautiful diamond ring-shaped bottle. I snapped open the diamond cap, and the moment of truth, one spritz.

I fell in…disappointment. What was this scent! Nothing like what I had expected. I wanted the scent to be sweeter, since the name calls for it. Love! But, to me, the scent felt bitter, and a bit strong.

I had been trying to replace my current perfume, Miracle, since it had been my go-to for everyday wear, and I had been window-shopping for a fragrance change. Something new and hip.

So as I mentioned my disappointment to Diana, she sniffed the perfume and said, “Are you sure you don’t like it? I do.” She tried giving back the diamond-shape bottle to me but I held a hand in front of it.

“I’m glad you like it. In fact, I might give it to you since I can’t take it back. Return and refund policies,” I mentioned.

Diana whirled the bottle in the air towards me and added, “But, you know, instead of handing it back to me, why don’t you just keep it for a while, and then try Love in a few weeks. You never know, you might end up liking Love all over again.”

And I actually did. A few weeks later I spritzed some of the fragrance on the same day I would meet with Diana again for coffee. And she immediately recognized the scent.

As we sat in our favorite spot of the coffee shop she mentioned, “It still smells sooo nice. Do you like Love now, since you’re wearing it, and you seem pleased?”

“Well, I’ve taken your advise. I’ve given Love a second chance. The first time, bitter and overpowering, too strong and a bit trespassing, but the second time around, Love is sweeter. And there’s the ring.”

And Diana added, “Oh, yes, the ring, which looks fabulous. So like Love. But…just in case, you still have Miracle, you know, just in case Love doesn’t work out.”

And that’s when I burst out a laugh! Anyone who would have heard our conversation would have thought we’d been speaking about some guy and my relationship. LOL!

But you know what, my friend Diana had a good point there. Sometimes Love is sweeter a second time around. You just have to give Love a second change.