In Fine Parfums - Antwerp

So how did you apply your fragrance this morning? Did you spray it on your back, with the help of a friend? This is how I was advised to do it by the SA at In Fine Parfums in Antwerp, Belguim. A very nice parfumerie located near the heart of the old town square. She said that by spraying it on the front, you smell it too constantly, and soon you can't smell it anymore. So by spraying it on your back the fragrance will waft around and you will catch whiffs of it throughout the day. Hummm. Well I wasn't buying into all that static, even though she sprayed my back with a scent that never came around front. But I did get caught up in the sales ploy nonetheless.

Entering the store it was hard to tell what the end game was. There was a table with many bottles of scents, all numbered. You then went down the line, sniffing each scent, and marking down the ones that hit you in a good way, at least initally. There were coffee beans for cleansing the palatte, so I began. Now I'm a very easy to please person, so many of them smelled quite nice. I was setting aside so many, I had to ask what the usual amount should be. When told it was 4-6, I went back and eliminated a few. That being done, I finally narrowed it down to my six favorites. It was now hitting me that these were not single notes, they all were their own compostions. I was wondering what comes next. Do they hand mix all six of your choices into some rare and select perfume that is created just for you? How exciting!

Next came a talk along with illustrations of the fragrance catagories and what each one translated into in terms of personality. Ok, ok, get on with it. I'm warm and sensitive and compasionate, yada, yada. Next she asked me to close my eyes and they let me smell each of the scents again, eliminated one by one by comparison to the one I liked best. At this point my friend and I were full of questions - "What notes are in here?", "This smells just like ...". But no. The notes are secret. The numbers on the bottles are the only idenitfiers. And it seemed Number 53 was my HG. My destiny, my fate. The unique fragrance that was me and only me. And of course anyone else who choose number 53.

Well at this point, I did admittedly really like the scent above all the others and was so caught up in the moment, I bought the scent in the small size for 54 euros. A nice 50ml bottle. I walked out wondering what just happened. Neat trick. Well I really didn't mind because it was fun sniffing all their scents and it was a nice memory from Antwerp I'll always carry with me.