Over the years, I’ve come to understand that a certain scent can transport you straight back to a person, a season, a book, a room, a heartbreak, or a place you thought you had forgotten.
And so after a few days of meeting this person, I’ll call them… Just-Ice, I began wondering:
When we meet someone for the first time- or for the first time in a long time, are we introducing ourselves, or curating an experience? Or maybe… both?
Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with wearing perfume on a first date. For many people, fragrance is part of their signature. Their confidence. Their ritual. Their finishing touch before stepping out into the world. And I love that.
What I’m speaking about is something slightly more personal you see. For the people I sometimes want to leave a deeper impression on- not business connections, acquaintances, or fleeting interactions, but people with whom I share a more intimate or meaningful connection- I’ve grown fond of showing up as plainly and honestly as I can.
Just me, as beautiful and bare as possible, no extra layers, no scented storytelling, just presence.
Which brings me back to you: when you’re reaching for perfume/ cologne before a first date, what are you reaching for?
Confidence?| Comfort?| Expression?| A sense of completion? Trust me, there’s no wrong answer, because I get that sometimes perfume is an accessory, sometimes an extension of identity, and other times it simply helps us feel a little bit more like ourselves.
But on a first date, what do you actually want someone to remember?
The fragrance as your statement?
Or YOU? Whichever way you translate that.
