Getting different perspectives keeps me curious and learning. I like to see things in new ways. Funny how we “see” when the new experience can be a touch, taste, sound, smell…

I’m a smell junkie. Candles, incense, diffusers and perfumes are daily fixes. Rosemary clears my head, grapefruit lifts my mood, rose makes me happy, and lavender is good all the time.

I try to pay attention to what is real  and what’s artificial. We have too many fake smells filling our daily lives..  That’s why it is important to smell fragrances that are true friends, and good stuff. A clean body is one of the best things to nuzzle your nose into.

Recently, at a party, I got a hit of a new, unknown smell, or better I say fragrance. I was attracted.  What is that? Strong but feminine, it had presence and dimension.  Later, I found out it was Sharka, the beautiful, confident Czech woman, who was wearing the perfume.  I complimented her and she produced the bottle from her purse. Cariter, Baiser Vole.

“This could be a nice Christmas present for your wife, don’t you think, ” she coy-fully suggested to my husband.

Christmas surprise! when I unwrapped the powdery-pink box, Cartier Baiser Vole, “Stolen Kisses.” And Eau de Parfum, yum!

First time I used the perfume I thought, “bitchy sophisticated.” It was a high-voltage fragrance, and it was also the real thing. Potent and independent- strong stuff for a woman.  A cautious Ann voice whispered in my ear, “that’s too powerful for you, you can’t carry it off…don’t attract too much attention.  (Where the hell do I get these Protestant work ethic voices?)

I could amp up my voltage with a charge of confidence. Why not try pulling off some bitchy sophistication?  Practice being comfortable with making an impression and being noticed.  Isn’t that all brands want to be, “memorable?” Can we carry off being a memorable brand?  These questions gave me a new way of framing how comfortable I am being a high voltage woman. It’s tricky.  I think that a lot is practice and faking it, and cultivating ambition.

So, I am practicing turning up my voltage with Baiser Vole.  How high voltage do you want to be?