It’s funny how a person’s scent can easily attract or repulse. A friend brought up an interesting point the other day when he stated how he chose a particular fragrance, not popular, because it fit his personality, because he wanted to make it his own. Sometimes we forget how powerful the senses can be. The sense of smell is one of the most powerful physical sense because it can fire the neurons in your brain that connect you to certain memories. One of the biggest problems that I have is how certain scents remind me of people in the past and present. For example, pomegranate reminds me of a past relationship solely because it was my fragrance of choice at the time. I still love the smell and flavor but remember that one particular moment in life when things were a little chaotic. Lemonade and raspberries remind me of hot summer afternoons at home. Cinnamon reminds me of my grandmother’s special tea. We can sometimes forget memories but rarely do we ever forget how something smelled. If something was rank, it will always be under that “grotesque” category. Same goes with sweet smells. 
The other afternoon, I was helping a few students when a nice gentlemen came up to me to ask for advice. He was such a nice young man but he overbearingly smelled like he doused himself with too much cologne. I want to say he was wearing Axe, that popular men’s fragrance that always leaves me gagging. I don’t know what it is about Axe that I don’t particularly care for. Maybe, it’s the idea that I feel like I can taste the fragrance when I should only be getting soft whiffs of it? Hmmm…maybe this is it, indeed. To make a long story short, I realized how important a person’s scent can be. It is the same with flowers and bees. Bees are attracted to the confectionery scent of pollen. Hey, if you think body odor is appealing, by all means go for it, just don’t wear it too close to where your neighbor can taste it. The key point is that you should be “wearing your cologne/perfume” and not have it “wear you.” Your scent should not be so powerful that it greets your guests before you bid them “hello.” It should complement and not distract. There is that argument that “a world of smell is different from one person to the next.” Where women have a sensitive sense of smell compared to men’s, which does make reason of why most women find that most men wear way too much cologne at times. Still it’s much debatable. Once again, the point is that when choosing a fragrance, choose wisely because that scent can follow you from years to come.
-Ari
