The Working Nose  

 

  The subject of smells came up not long ago. Good smells, not those other smells. There were a few girls just girl talking. Lotions and potions and their different smells.
 
            I buy lotions by the smells. I, not apologetically, will take the caps off lotions and sniff them before I buy. I admit that I am addicted to a lotion that I have used for more years than most people work before retiring. Why? Well not because it is the best lotion available for my dry desert roasted skin. But rather because I enjoy the cherry and almond scent my nose is greeted with when I pump a gob into my hand. Most of the girls I know do the same thing. Buy by the sniff. 

            There are times throughout the year when a “special” lotion will pique the interest of us sniffers. Okay at least of my sniffiness. In the fall the earth comes alive with apples and cinnamon and pumpkin and cranberry. I am not talking candles; I’m still talking lotions. I try a new one every so often. The “new and amazing” stuff that will make every part of you feel as soft as a baby lamb. I still buy by the sniff. Some are great but some tend to be sticky. I blame the sugary additives to make them attractive to my nose.
 
            Oh, but. Yes, a cranberry spiced “but.” Then you move from the lotions and potions to the shampoos, hair products and all over body sprays. Here not only do the ladies get sucked in, but now you see men doing the pick-n-sniff testing too. We should all love that. I can still remember the smell of Butch Wax my father used. Oh he got some of the father standby of Old Spice. Whose dad didn’t. But all I remember is the smell of that pink jar of waxy yuck.
 
            Now both men and women have miles of isles of choices to choose from. If it works and smells good and isn’t more than my wallet will bear!! I win the trifecta of the horse race hair, skin or other personal products contest. 

            All of these products promise the moon to us all. Shiny hair, smooth skin, dry up places that need to dry up and moisturize other spots that need moisturizing. If everything that needed to be fixed were actually fixed, so many people would be out of work. The R&D guys, (research and development). The advertising world would grind to a stop. Traveling salesmen, or saleswomen would curl up and cry in their sales books. So actually, the fact that not every promise can be kept is good for the economy.
  
            The smells. How in the world can there be so many different smells to smell and keep changing smells? I went to buy some liquid soap the other day and as I was trying to decide between lavender-peach-island sun or strawberry-citrus-moonlight, I was reached over by at least three different customers who were buying three and four bottles of different smelliness. These ladies knew what they wanted and were not waiting for me to get the last tangerine-brown sugar-fluffy cloud scented soaps.
 
            Oh, but the granddaddy of the entire sniffy kingdom? The perfumes. Holy cats and kittens Batman. Using your nose to make a living? Well there’s a line you don’t see every day, do you? If you have a super nose you can make up to $250,000 with your olfactory sense just by sniffing stuff. I don’t know about telling the nuances of perfumes or coffee, but I can tell you if that chicken that has been in the fridge too long has gone bad just by opening the door! Now that’s a talent.
 
            Lastly. There is a thing that somehow has become the new way of keeping your smell fresh all day long. It is something called sent layering. According to my good friend Google, “Smelling nice all day relies on scent layering—building a foundation from scented body washes, matching lotions, oils, and long-lasting perfumes rather than just spraying a single perfume.” Sounds a little greasy to me. Personally my nose would be just as happy layering the smell of bacon in the morning, tacos at dinner and a great finish with either chocolate cake or popcorn for that evening attire. I mean perfume is really, really nice. I have a nice array to wear depending on the mood and event. But who’s other half won’t get just as happy when coming into a kitchen where the smell of bacon is the main attraction?
 
            From $300 per ounce perfume, to fresh rain that hits hot dry sagebrush, to a BLT from the kitchen, the nose knows what it likes.

Trina lives in Diamond Valley, north of Eureka Nevada. Contact her at itybytrina@yahoo.com or Trina Machacek HC 62 Box 62101 Eureka, Nevada 89316