Bonjour!

I have returned from Paris, which was as exciting, and vibrant, and lovely as ever. Being the beauty/perfume junkie that I am, one of the highlights was visiting the Guerlain flagship on the Champs-Elysées and just basking in the luxury of it all. A seriously gorgeous boutique. I did not return with any new full-bottles, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t have perfume on the brain.

My time in Paris got me thinking about the way I wear perfume in my day-to-day life. Normally, I just do mundane things like go to the office and run errands. The office where I work is a fairly small space, so I try not to spray on too much perfume so as not to overwhelm my co-workers. I just do a few spritzes on my wrist.

But wearing perfume in Paris is a whole other ballgame. City life seems to demand more than a couple spritzes to the wrist. After all, in France, it’s expected that you would be wearing perfume, and a lot of it. And I have to say, it’s necessary. The metro is like a living beast that swallows up all smells, mixes them around, and then regurgitates the bad ones. Sometimes you can detect a glimmer of Shalimar through the stench of stale sweat, and that is a moment to be savored.

It became clear to me that my typical perfume routine wasn’t up to the task of withstanding Paris. So I started applying more perfume, and more often throughout the day. I sprayed my clothes and my scarves with perfume, and carried a sample bottle in my purse, just in case.

Now that I’m home, I kind of want to continue doing this. I know I have to be polite to my co-workers. Even though I might think they should become better acquainted with L’Artisan Parfumeur and Serge Lutens, I can’t force it on them. But I like the idea of spraying my scarves, I think I’ll keep that up. That way, whenever I bring a scarf to work with me, I’m also bringing my perfume with me in a way.

So, what about you guys: How do you wear your perfume? Do you adjust to your surroundings? Do you like to spray it on your clothes?