scent as an archive
sat in a single place, present, active, engaged in conversation, and all of a sudden you’re transported in time.
transported to another place. filled with an emotion you weren’t feeling five seconds ago.
it’s absurd.
one moment you’re completely present and the next your olfactory system has sent you back to a moment you haven’t thought about in years.
your first love. the first time you summited a mountain. the smell of the teacher break room at your elementary school. that weird little space you were rarely allowed into, maybe once during home-ec, that somehow still smells exactly the same in your head.
something completely specific to you.
you can’t really stop yourself from reminiscing either. a little smirk forms. you’re there for a second.
a moment in time that is gone but somehow not forgotten.
it’s an indescribable feeling.
almost like a magic trick you play on yourself.
i was sitting in the aisle seat of a plane recently, laptop on my lap, engines spinning up for takeoff, completely occupied with whatever i was doing.
then a scent.
and all of a sudden i remembered that moment. that summer sun. that person. that very specific “fuck it” that led somewhere i never could have predicted.
for a few seconds i wasn’t on the plane anymore.
i was there.
then i was back.
i think these are some of the most important little moments in life and you need to actually let yourself experience them when they happen.
stop for a second. reminisce. explore the archive.
then return to the present.
because that’s really what scent is.
a present that takes you away from the present.
and it should be treated as such.
but this also makes me think about the other side of it.
if a scent can bring back a person, a place, an entire summer, then what you’re wearing right now might be quietly becoming part of someone else’s archive.
which makes finding your scent feel strangely important.
everyone should experiment with fragrance.
find the brands you like. the notes that work for you. what actually works with your skin. maybe you have one signature scent. maybe you have five.
it doesn’t really matter.
but find something that feels like you.
i think it’s one of the most overlooked parts of personal brand because unlike the clothes you wear or the watch on your wrist, scent isn’t really something someone notices from across the room.
they have to get close enough.
maybe you catch someone’s eye.
maybe you meet someone new.
maybe you make an impression without realizing you made one.
and maybe years later they’re sitting on a plane and someone walks past wearing that same fragrance.
all of a sudden, there you are.
that’s an absurdly powerful thing when you actually think about it.
it took me time to find the scents i really love. and, more importantly, the right people willing to open their own archives and introduce me to things i probably never would have found myself.
a few of my favourites of all time:
maison margiela replica jazz club.
comme des garçons, the silver bottle.
and that comme des garçons x KAWS one.
they all have something attached to them now.
people. places. nights. trips. summers. completely insignificant moments that somehow became significant later.
maybe that’s the beautiful part.
when you put on a fragrance, you have absolutely no idea what memory you’re creating.
or whose.
go experiment.
find your scent.
give someone something worth remembering.