Hi Rajesh: There is a lyrical book by James McHug <https://www.artandolfactionawards.org/judges/james-mchugh/>h called Sandalwood & Carrion <https://www.amazon.in/Sandalwood-Carrion-Indian-Religion-Culture/dp/0199916322> which talks about how ancient Indians didn't discriminate between 'good' and 'bad' smells and it describes all the smells that surrounded our ancestors. His research is on smells and soma in ancient India if you want to check him out on Academia <https://usc.academia.edu/JamesMcHugh>. All fascinating stuff. He has written other books <https://marg-art.org/product/UHJvZHVjdDo1NDU2> on smell also. I interviewed him during Covid for BIC so a somewhat self-serving clip here <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la84chnw2po>.
If you want to read an opposite judgemental approach to how people in this part of the world dealt with smell, read this piece on the "sniff-kiss <https://www.jstor.org/stable/592764?searchText=smell+in+ancient+india&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dsmell%2Bin%2Bancient%2Bindia%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3A9394f67ca6c309c615ee6a1c301cff7c&seq=2> ." Lastly, I am not versed in Hindu philosophy but I always find the word "vasanas" which seems to be used for "imprints" fascinating. Yes, I am a bit obsessed with scents/perfumes/smell. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2025 15:07:36 -0400 > From: Rajesh Kasturirangan <[email protected]> > To: [email protected], Intelligent conversation > <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Silk] Remembrances of Perfumes Past > Message-ID: <4487de1a-ab44-449b-a9ed-9e6d2e4a525e@Spark> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > Our abstractions and technical disciplines are so driven by language, > vision and hearing (e.g., sabda, darsana and sruti all have epistemic and > sacred overtones in the Indian traditions) that it?s an interesting thought > experiment to ask what philosophy might feel like if it were based on > smell; or more adventurously, what philosophy a dog might invent if it were > in a Socratic mood. I wrote a short essay about this some years ago, but > never pursued it further. > > Rajesh > On Apr 18, 2025 at 2:03?PM -0400, Christopher A Kantarjiev via Silklist < > [email protected]>, wrote: > > This reminds me of how much I enjoyed the book "The Emperor of Scent" > some years back - which was not only a good yarn but dove into competing > theories about how our olfactory system works (quite distinct from taste). > Unclear to me how much of that was really well-founded, and how the > understanding might have changed in the intervening years. > > > > A friend of mine has suffered from anosmia for decades, after a blow to > the head. He spent years trying various therapies that largely consisted of > various forms of amphetamines that were meant to increase his olfactory > sensitivity - to minimal effect. He has lately switched to some sort of > resensitization therapy - conscious exposure to individual scents, to try > to remap the brain's receptive wiring. I think he's been getting some > positive results - I'll ask him for a reference. > > > > On 4/18/25 10:14 AM, Priyanka Sachar via Silklist wrote: > > > I can truly identify with smells transporting us elsewhere. AND I'm > also suffering from Anosmia. ?? I've also lost sense of smell gradually > over a period of 1 year Since 2022. Have run from pillar to post but to no > avail. ENT specialists are absolutely clueless and somehow medical science > hasn't progressed much in this regard. No one knows why exactly it > happened.. It could be due to covid (jan 2022) or due to a booster dose of > vaccine (July 2022). > > > > > > Any pointers (which work) are welcome! > > > > > > On Fri, Apr 18, 2025, 9:42 PM Hari Shenoy via Silklist < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > > Reading this note made me feel so grateful. Also, the replies from > the rest of you will give me inspiration. Here's why: > > > > > > > > For all of 2024 I lost my sense of smell due to a chronic sinus > issue. That also led to difficulties breathing, speaking, singing and > rapping. > > > > I had surgery in December to get my sinuses operated on, after > months of strong medication that?didn't help with anything. > > > > > > > > Following recovery from the?surgery, I have worked to regain my > sense of smell gradually. > > > > Ergo, I paid good money to experience every possible scent. > > > > > > > > The other day, I was at a pub in Dublin and the gents loo was > stinking. > > > > My first thought was - "Jeez that stinks so bad!" My second was - > "Yay, wow that stinks so bad!" > > > > > > > > Hari > > > > > > > > > On Fri, Apr 18, 2025 at 3:03?PM Thaths via Silklist < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > Smells, more than taste (well, what is taste, but just a weaker > way of smelling?), play the role of bringing?memories of madelines past for > me. > > > > > > > > > > > > What are some scents from the past that you would pay good money > to experience again? > > > > > > > > > > > > https://www.ft.com/content/53a3a13b-fe98-4670-9163-be659ccbf4f2 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Inside the hot market for discontinued perfume > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Very few things can be as personal, emotional and sensory > triggering as perfume, which is why some people spend hundreds of pounds to > get their hands on a favourite fragrance that has been discontinued. > > > > > > > > > > > > Since 2007 it has been the job of Mathieu Iannarilli, a > Paris-based vintage perfume dealer, to track down rare scents for clients > who spend from ?150 to more than ?3,000 per bottle. ?Some buyers only wear > one perfume. When that is discontinued by a brand, from one day to the > next, they find themselves orphaned of their olfactory identity. These > people then turn to all possible ways to find their perfume again,? he says. > > > > > > > > > > > > There is no estimate for the market of vintage and discontinued > fragrances, but demand is high. A simple search for ?discontinued > fragrances? on eBay brings up more than 50,000 results. Among the most > expensive listings are Tom Ford Amber Absolute ($4,300, shipped from the > US), Vivienne Westwood Boudoir ($2,784, from Japan) and Giorgio Armani > Prive Myrrhe Imp?riale ($1,500, from Sweden). The market is partly fuelled > by the craze for ?flankers? ? short-term spin-offs of brands? core > fragrances, which are catnip for collectors. Est?e Lauder Sensuous Noir, a > 2008 flanker for Est?e Lauder Sensuous, goes for ?265 on eBay, for example, > while Thierry Mugler A*Men Pure Malt, a version of Thierry Mugler A*Men > from 2009, goes up to more than ?600. > > > > > > > > > > > > There are a few reasons why a fragrance might be discontinued: > it might not be commercially successful; a long-used ingredient in its > composition might later be banned and prove too difficult to substitute; or > the brand itself might end its license or go into bankruptcy. ?The prices > of some fragrances from iconic British brands such as Vivienne Westwood and > Stella McCartney have tripled since these brands ceased their perfumery > business,? explains Iannarilli. Other vintage perfumes from heritage brands > such as Guerlain often reach high prices because they are both sought after > by customers who want to wear them and by collectors who would preserve > them. ?[Guerlain] Djedi can exceed ?3,000,? says Iannarilli. > > > > > > > > > > > > It?s not just high-end fragrances that stoke demand. Since 2019, > Alexander Fury, fashion features editor at Another magazine and the FT?s > men?s fashion critic, has been buying Ultima II Sheer Scent for his mother > as a Christmas gift. The Revlon fragrance from 1990 was and still is her > favourite, but was discontinued at the turn of the millennium. > > > > > > > > > > > > ?I?m not hunting for it every day, but it is something I look > for every week or so. It has become progressively more difficult and > progressively more expensive,? he says over the phone. When Fury bought it > the first time six years ago, the perfume was already selling on > second-hand platforms for about ?500. Today it can be purchased on Etsy for > more than ?700. > > > > > > > > > > > > In some cases, people are hunting for the original formulation > of perfumes that are still on shop floors today. Starting from the early > 2000s, regulations on cosmetics ingredients have become stricter, > particularly in the EU, forcing many brands to recreate best-selling scents > using alternative ingredients. In some cases the results have been less > than satisfactory ? at least according to some noses ? prompting the > hoarding of older bottles. > > > > > > > > > > > > ?I have a tiny bottle of Guerlain?s Mitsouko from the 1970s that > smells completely different and so much better than Mitsouko does now,? > says Aimee Majoros, a beauty PR and fragrance collector from upstate New > York who has worked for Guerlain, Givenchy, Acqua di Parma, Tommy Hilfiger > and Donna Karan. Majoros, who learned to love perfumes from her > grandmother, had at some point 300 bottles in her collection. ?The best > thing I have ever smelled in my life was a sample of L?Air du Temps by Nina > Ricci from the 1960s,? she continues. ?The current formulation smells > awful. I know that in the fragrance community people are upset when things > are reformulated.? > > > > > > > > > > > > Claire Smith, a cell biologist based in the UK who has a > 130-rich fragrance collection (around half of them are discontinued) became > passionate about perfume in 2019. After reading rave reviews online of > Thierry Mugler Alien Essence Absolue, which had been recently discontinued, > she decided to go on a hunt for it. ?It goes for hundreds of pounds, but I > was very, very lucky and found a good deal. For a lot of people it?s about > the find as much as the fragrance itself,? she says. ?When I started I > would only buy things that I could afford to lose the money for, until I > learned what I was looking for.? Her self-training included watching online > videos comparing fake and real fragrances to learn how to spot them (colour > is a good giveaway). Smith now has a YouTube channel called > @dr.claire.perfume where she talks about her collection, explains relevant > terminology and tells the back-story for some famous fragrances, such as > Chanel No 5 or Robert Piguet Bandit, to her 13,900 sub > scribers. > > > > > > > > > > > > But for certain perfume collectors, the draw is not the scent > but the bottle. Some even collect factices, the oversized display bottles > brands used for advertising in pharmacies and department stores until the > early 2000s. Simon Martynoff, owner of Galerie Martynoff in Paris, both > sells and collects factices. Among his treasures currently on sale he lists > a 30cm-tall Nina Ricci L?air du Temps bottle for ?5,200 and an even taller > (39.5cm) decorative bottle by Baccarat of Guerlain Shalimar for ?4,100. > ?There are two different consumers: one is a collector who wants an example > of each bottle, and the other is an [interior] decorator,? he says. > Martynoff sources them from auctions or shops that still have them, but > says they are becoming increasingly hard to find as the number of > collectors increases. ?The interest has gone up and you can see it from the > prices. In the 1990s you could find some at a very good price, now some > bottles are 30 to 50 per cent more expensive.? > > > > > > > > > > > > Antoine Poujol is the founder of the Perfume Art Museum in > Paris, which houses a collection of almost 8,000 bottles, factices, press > kits and shop catalogues. He says interest in collecting perfume bottles > started in the 1980s, when many of the bottles designed by artists such as > Leonor Fini (Shocking by Schiaparelli, 1937), Raoul Dufy (Rosine by Paul > Poiret, c1925) and Ren? Lalique (for Lucien Lelong, 1929) started to hit > the 50-year mark. His goal is to ?keep track of everything that was and is > made by the key brands, because the idea is to trace their evolution from > the start to today,? he says, adding that his expertise has been tapped by > some of the largest brands who want to build their own collections and > retrace their histories. > > > > > > > > > > > > Poujol?s collection includes rare examples such as Lanc?me > R?volte, designed by Georges Delhomme in 1936, which is?a block of raw rock > crystal shaped like the Parisian cobblestones thrown during the French > Revolution (currently valued between ?1,000 and ?2,000), but also > mass-produced bottles that can be purchased for ?50.??We are in a universe > where you have very expensive bottles, but you also have very nice stuff > from ?50 to ?200, which can make a nice collection. You also have > collectors of miniatures which go for ?5, ?10 and ?15,? he says. ?There are > bottles for everyone.? > > > > > > > > > > > > After speaking to Poujol, I took out my own collection of > perfume minis, which I used to hoard as a kid in the 1990s. I used to spend > an unusual amount of time admiring the small bottles and smelling them and > they are still kept in a wicker box in a bathroom cabinet in my childhood > home. I have at least 40 of them, an assorted selection that includes Miss > Dior, Gianfranco Ferr? Gieffeffe, Fiorucci Vanilla Scent, 4711 Cologne and > La Perla Body Silk. While I?m quite sure there is nothing particularly rare > in there, even if there were, I?m not sure I could part with it. It?s hard > to put a price on something with the power to trigger such personal > memories. > > > > > > -- > > > > > > Homer: Hey, what does this job pay? > > > > > > Carl: ?Nuthin'. > > > > > > Homer: D'oh! > > > > > > Carl: ?Unless you're crooked. > > > > > > Homer: Woo-hoo! > > > > > > -- > > > > > > Silklist mailing list > > > > > > [email protected] > > > > > > https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist > > > > -- > > > > Silklist mailing list > > > > [email protected] > > > > https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist > > > > > > > -- > > Silklist mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: < > https://mailman.panix.com/pipermail/silklist/attachments/20250418/cc0e4c05/attachment.htm > > > > ------------------------------ > > Subject: Digest Footer > > Silklist mailing list > [email protected] > https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist > > > ------------------------------ > > End of Silklist Digest, Vol 25, Issue 4 > *************************************** >
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