[Nat]

I totally lost my sense of smell a year and a half ago. Since then, a tiny bit of it has come back. It's sort of like - if the ability to smell were like the ability to hear, I can only detect a few notes. There is a sweet note that I can smell in pretty much every perfume and incense stick. It's the same note - I can't differentiate. And there's the dead smell that chicken and eggs have - the smell that's hidden by the delicious smells when a person has a full sense of smell. Similarly, my hair conditioner smells like chemicals, but I can't smell the scent they cover over the chemicals with. If I could find a good conditioner for my hair that was all happy and organic, I would switch.

Back when I could smell, I loved so many smells. I wish my brain could call up the memory of a smell the way it could a voice or a person's face. It's very rare for me to remember a smell.

I loved incense. Frustratingly I am finally with a person who also enjoys the smell, and I can't enjoy it anymore! Such is life, right? But sandalwood, nag champa, patchouli - those were my favorites.

For perfume, I never was drawn much to the fruity scents. I liked strong, dark scents. Opium was my favorite for years, though the last time I remember smelling it, it just reminded me of the pain of my early adulthood. I enjoyed Obsession and Obsession for Men, Drakkar Noir for Men.

I loved the smell of Chanel No. 19 because it smelled like nostalgia and the pages of a long-unopened book. And I wore Chanel Coco for about a year and loved it. I discovered Paloma Picasso in an antique store and found it intoxicating. I bought a fresh batch and still loved it, though some days it appealed to me more than others. A date told me once I smelled like icecream when I wore it.

I also loved to wear Arabian Musk or White Musk oils from time to time, because I found them lovely. But I came to understand others didn't agree - so I only indulged on occasion.

The last smell I remember smelling was a pink mimosa flower. They have a very pretty scent - light and sweet. It's one of those smells that's been with me since childhood. I'm glad I took the time to smell it. I loved the smell of honeysuckle, hay, freshly-cut grass, roses, desert sage. Heck, I miss the smell of dirt. Dirt had a good smell to it.