Funny enough that just a month after publishing my review for Twisted Peppermint, I come to realize how synthetic it smells. This upsets me quite a bit as I’ve realized the more vanillas I smell and pay attention to, the less I can tolerate synthetic vanilla. Something in Twisted Peppermint really tips off my radar now. I used to love this stuff, now I can only smell it in small doses. I know it’s just fun and still good but leave it on me for a little while and I feel like it gets too sweet for my tastes. Ah, fickle nose.
Anyway, the real reason for this post is my frustration over people who still think a notes list for perfume is a list of ingredients–it’s not. I don’t know if it ever was when it comes to commercial perfume but when someone asks, “Hey, what are the ingredients in my perfume?” Someone else inevitably tells them to go look up its notes online and see. One particular woman the other day held up a list of notes that she insisted was a bonafide list of ingredients for Marc Jacobs Daisy. She seemed very proud of herself too like she’d uncovered a lost treasure.
We all know there’s legislation in the works that’ll force fragrance manufacturers to disclose all the ingredients in their fragrance and there’s been widespread fear amongst perfumistas that this will drive small perfumers out of business while larger perfumers will start packaging their fragrances with a book of ingredients that no one in their right mind will ever want to read or reference.
I’m not all for the legislation as I think it’s highly unnecessary and incredibly alarmist, but I would like it very much if people stopped claiming a list of notes is a list of ingredients.