last evening as i was on the subway on my way to class at parsons, i suddenly got a whiff of a very familiar scent. i instantly realized that it was "wild hunt". although that perfume is one of my own favorites, i knew it wasn't me because i hadn't put any on that day. indeed since i was working on a ton of things yesterday, i wasn't wearing any scent at all - at least not intentionally. and since "wild hunt" was not one of the perfumes we worked on yesterday someone who just walked past me must have been wearing it.
that realization was a lovely experience. and it's one that i've had more and more over the past few years. mostly i'll meet my own perfumes on people in this neighborhood but occasionally i'll spot them in manhattan as well.
just the other day, i encountered a woman who was wearing my "musk". i knew it had to be that because there's really nothing else on earth that smells that way. i was delighted she was wearing it because she smelled fantastic - it was just the right scent for her. i was also delighted because we were going the same direction so i got to smell her for just a few more moments until i lost her in the crowd.
now this is probably an experience that perfumers who work for the major houses are somewhat used to - naturally their work is made in much greater quantities and in some cases, blankets the world. but for me it's very new and somewhat strange. it never happened before with my old company because those scents were so simple it was usually impossible to tell. it's only since i began making proper perfume again that i suddenly encounter one socially and know it for mine.
sometimes, i'm not immediately certain it is one of my perfumes - they are after all made to be very subtle. but they are of course highly individual & unique so when i concentrate, i can always tell. i suppose since i have such an intimate relationship with all my perfumes, they are to me like children and like any good parent i can always recognize them.
it's a strange experience as i said but it makes me very happy. my creative process tends to be VERY focused on what i'm working on next and once something is finished, i move on. and in general i am pretty much absorbed with what goes on here in the studio so i can be a little out of touch with what goes on in the daily world at large. i spend a lot of time reflecting on what my perfumes will be and of course who might wear them. and of course intellectually i know that a great many people buy them and therefore must put them on once in a while. i do after all have a regular look at the sales figures which clearly indicate a lot of my perfume is going out into the world. but to me that's still all very abstract...
so to suddenly meet one of my perfumes on someone is for me a wonderful experience. it suddenly gives my work a different aspect - it makes it real. and even though the person wearing the scent isn't aware that i'm there and probably wouldn't recognize me anyway, we still have a subtle special bond. and i enjoy that very much indeed.
last evening was rather dreary. it had been drizzling on and off all day and since i had a lot of things to do, i was rather tired & cranky as i left for class. but that one small whiff of "wild hunt" on the train suddenly made me feel fantastic.