In the U.S. traditions, food, culture varies greatly from state to state, neighborhood to neighborhood. It's a big melting pot especially in the metro areas. I had to think of something that consistently is universal among most white "middle Americans." I'll call it fragrance rage.
Americans Seem to Really Have a Dislike of Perfumes
This really disappoints me but I'm in the minority here in that I LOVE fragrance and perfume. But there's one sure way to get in a public confrontation with a complete stranger here and that is too "over spray" or wear a bit too much. Americans have no problem telling a complete stranger they "stink" or have worn too much for their delicate noses.
Most medical offices have signs about not wearing fragrance. Some work offices have a policy about it. It's a big deal here to wear too much even if accidentally. Even scented hand lotion can earn you some frowns. People do fight about it and get in conflicts.
It seems so silly and rude to me especially in a temporary open environment say a line outside somewhere why someone feels they could comment on your personal scent. After all, the situation is temporary. The liberty people feel to which they can comment on it is baffling to me.
It's stressful figuring out how much is too Much
So say you like wearing perfume you have to go through a testing phase and plan your fragrance experimentation. With a new one, you may decide to try it on a weekend, at night, alone. But then you do not have valuable feedback... is it too strong? Is it offensive?
Well the short answer is probably yes because even with just 2 sprays I've had strangers tell me they don't like it in public. Even with careful testing among close friends who say it's OK I can assure you someday some rude lady is going to say something about it in public.
People just hate it here - by that I mean on average, nationwide. Of course there are places it is more acceptable - more often in a city or metro area, for instance where there are people from all over the world living. But if you venture out to the burbs or medium towns into the "middle" America this is where the strongest aversion to perfume resides.
Fragrance seems to be more tolerated at night or at a club or bar. I've smelled a lot of perfume clubbing so this seems to be a safe haven to let your scents hang out.
The "Fragrance Journey"
I am actually new to trying fragrances. When I was a kid in the 80s I did receive cologne in my Christmas stocking - nothing fancy but whatever was trendy at the time. Then something happened in the 90s and onward to us culturally to really become anti-scent for a person's body. Candles and incense are seen as ok because that's in your private space, not public.
How I got back into it was by my friend sending me a link to a guy on YouTube named Jeremy Fragrance.
"Cheap Fragrances that Smell Expensive"
He has so many videos that are entertaining and informative! Even if you don't like perfume (as I had been, as I said, beaten down to not like it) this really makes it fun again. Jeremy is from Germany and as I understand it perfumes are more popular there. I think Jeremy started out as doing men's fragrances only and then expanded out to also do women's. He has over 350k subscribers.
There are many YouTuber's that post about perfumes and you can follow this "chain" and get lost in the different presentations and styles. I had completely forgotten about the joy of scents until I started watching these and having some ideas what to try.
Another fun site to visit is Fragrantica https://www.fragrantica.com/ where you can search for scents that you know you like, i.e. woody, floral, green, etc.
Most Times, I Spray Alone
With my rediscovered love of perfume comes the bittersweet realization that I really can't just wear it without having to go through a checklist of "Will it be ok?" I always have to consider those around me in public because I don't want a confrontation (In my area the same rules apply to smoking cigarettes almost exactly). Maybe someday Americans will find their love affair with perfume again but we just aren't there yet.
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I was nominated by @conradt for this culture challenge. Thank you Conradt! :)
The rules:
Write a post about an aspect of your culture - e.g. food, arts, dance, economy, money, governement etc
Do this for 7 days in a row if you get nominated
Mention three people who should do this on each day.
Tag it with #7dayculturechallenge and include these rules at the bottom of your post
Include a picture of something from your culutre related to yoru story if possible
Post these rules at the bottom of your post
Note - if you like the idea of this and would like to participate but weren't nominated, feel free to join in and just mention that I nominated you :)