Sunday, June 19, 2011

From the Curator’s Closet: Weekend Quick Sniffs

Another fastidiously curated collection of smelly links for your amusement.

The ladies have had these for years. Now Schick is launching an Xtreme3 razor for men with a scented plastic handle.
[Brand manager] Ms. Nagaraj of Schick said that, for young users, “the scent provides an additional linkage with this razor that strengthens their bond with it.” She added, “Scent is so evocative, and as they grow older we want this scent to be kind of another anchor that’s in their brain for this razor.”
An anchor in my brain? To help me bond with my razor? Really?

USB USMELLSOFINE. We’ve been hearing about these for years. Now a major manufacturer puts them on the market. And yes, it’s for real.

Nanotechnology it’s not. New scent generator sounds like DigiScents without a working prototype. True, this one is getting unveiled in Angewandte Chemie instead of Wired.

Another day, another Corpse Flower Giant Misshapen Penis Plant. This time at UConn Storrs. BTW can someone help Mr. Rick Buell of New London get a life?
“I’ve missed it a few times and I was determined to get here for it this time,” said Rick Buell of New London, who’d been checking with UConn greenhouse officials for weeks about the anticipated bloom, and posed for pictures in front of the plant Friday wearing a shirt with an image of a Titan Arum on the front.
New Fujitsu cell phone 4ChineseGirlz has a “scent chip” by which they mean a chip you spray your scent on. How do you say “lame” in Mandarin?

À la recherche du anosmie perdu. Molly Birnbaum gives away the gist of her book for free in the Times and the Post.

4 comments:

Perfumaniac/Barbara said...

I bought a skirt from Max Studio a few years ago that was scented with violets. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, just bizarre. I couldn't figure out where the smell was coming from and either read the tag that explained what was going on, or the salesperson explained it to me.

The scent was supposed to go away after a few washings, but my bafflement over whose crazy idea it was never did.

I remember thinking, really? Someone thought this was a good idea? Were people clamouring for their clothes to come to them pre-scented?

Avery Gilbert said...

Perfumemaniac/Barbara:

I know where you're coming from. On the other hand, lots of people like laundry detergents and fabric softeners that leave a strong residual odor. To them, it speaks of "clean."l

Anonymous said...

the scent chip might not be lame if it diffuses the scent via heat, and maybe is a bit spongy and soaks up enough to make a difference over an extended period?

Avery Gilbert said...

Anonymous:

OK, so it could be the SpongeBob SquarePants of aromatic cell phones. (Absorbent and yellow and porous is he . . . )

Nothing wrong with pomanders. Just that they're XIIIth century technology.