Cologne, Aftershave, Eau de Toilette, Eau de Parfum, etc.

[Mickey]

As a further consideration, how loyal are people to their smell? For example Alan H. says the only product he really uses is Irish Spring; is that a long term situation or does it just happen to be the soap that was on-sale last week?.

For me, I am loyal to what I'm told works, and after many samples over the years, nothing compares to my main three, Brut still being the tops. I've actually had strange women (as in, women I don't know... as well as "strange" women..) swoon over my scent when wearing it, then give me a dirty look when I tell them what I'm wearing. They seem to think it is a smart-a@@ answer.

That brings up an interesting point: Individuals' body chemistry being a bit different, not all people will smell exactly the same using the same scent.

Which is why Brut and Old Spice seem to work on me and others just make me smell quite rank. It is also why I not only wear cologne/aftershave/deodorant (also O.S. or Brut), but also have it in my work desk and sometimes the car. I can apparently go from "flowers on a baby" to "sewage treatment plant" in a matter of hours, depending on the weather. And when you can't smell yourself, better safe than sorry.

For some unknown reason, the olfactory senses are very closely related to memory. So it's not surprising that while smells can take you back to a fond memory, your memory can also recall smells very vividly. It's fascinating, isn't it?

This is what makes this thread fascinating to me. I've read about these types of things that I can't experience, but I imagine it to be similar to music or taste, though I hear it is much stronger. Unlike Bugbear, who has a memory of scent, I can't ever recall smelling anything. So it is really cool to read things about this sense, at least to me.

(when I was in my teens, I was sprayed in the face by a skunk... never smelled a thing.. outside the fact that it was a powerful fume... Walked into the house and all hell broke loose. Didn't know what the problem was. But I can testify that between pepper spray or skunk in the eyes.... I'll beg for the pepper spray!)