I Sniff WiFi, Not A Whiff

I have always been a sucker for anything pleaasing to an olfactory sense. No, and I am neither a scent specialist nor a perfume pundit. I just love lovely scents so much that I even spray(subtle amount) my pillow with eau de toilettes. And since most of eau de toilettes cost a bit lesser than easu de parfum, I wouldn't mind squandering a relatively bursting amount in its bottle for as long as I will sleep with rewarding respite.

Last night, I went to Sta. Lucia East Mall as a "heaven-sent scent haven" suggested by some of my lady friends checking out perfumes at an unbelievably dirt-cheap prices. And a cheapjack that I am, I immediately vroom into the place after work to check out wide array of fragrances. And true enough to its cause of providing similar effect as Rustan's redolence in profusion to the budget-constrained individual, they offered perfumes almost Php1,500 less than what department stores' perfumery section offers.

Bvlgari Extreme is what I have bagged, a myriad scent inclining to femininity. Why? Hell not. I'm neither gay, nor do I have a testosterone-deficit dysndrome. I just loooove women's scent so much. Men's scent is just way too thuriferously musky and can cause me a swift, sudden, and unwanted sinusitis. You see, I still have the empty boxes of the perfumes I have used in my lifetime. So few since my meager paygrade as a writer slash engineer couldn't hoard me with so much. Back of it are handwritten labels to remind me of what kind of ocassion will I wear it for.

Two of my male colleauges I brought along with me happens to be my day's surprising blow. Having stepped into the corporate ladder not knowing the very inner workings of the fragrance factory and not even knowing the difference between perfume, eau de perfume, and eau de toilette is such a huge stun. I was even given a blank stare for asking for a coffee in a perfumery section, only to have found out that what I am asking is not coffee per se but a coffee bean to neutralize or diffuse the nostril-sticking smell.

But let me provide you a brief rundown on how each types differ:

Most perfumes are complex combinations of natural materials, such as essential oils from plants, and synthetic products that increase the lasting power and heighten the smell. Alcohol is used as a liquid base for perfume, and the ratio of alcohol to scented perfume concentrates determines what the final concoction is labeled.

From highest concentration to least, the different forms of perfume are:

1) Perfume, also called extract or extrait perfume, can include 15-40% perfume concentrates. This is the purest form of scented product and is the most expensive as a result.

2) Eau de parfum contains about 7-15% perfume concentrates. This is the most popular and common form of perfume. It provides a long-lasting fragrance and generally doesn't cost as much as extract perfume.

3) Eau de toilette has around 1-6% perfume concentrates. This makes for a light scent that doesn't linger as long as the more intense versions. It was originally intended to be a refreshing body splash to help people wake up in the morning.

4) Eau de cologne is sometimes used interchangeably with the term eau de toilette. However, the concoction began as the name of a light, fresh fragrance mixed with citrus oils and was made popular by Napoleon.

Some perfumers today have a version of this called eau fraiche. Given it to be a French counterpart for "fresh water", it might be a scent based on a non-alcohol and non-oil solution but purely on fresh water. But I have to verify that first. Like what I said, I sniff wifi, not whiff.