Scents Deprivation.(Editorial)

Byline: Linda Wells, Editor in Chief

Remember when you were six years old and your mother leaned over your bed to kiss you good-night before she went out? Her embrace wrapped you in Chanel No. 5 or Mitsouko, Joy or Jicky. The fragrance itself didn't matter as much as what it represented: glamorous adventures in a world outside your bedroom. When your mother left, a remnant of her perfume remained on your cheek, your hair, your pillow.

Now imagine if you were a child today, waiting for your evening kiss and inhaling...nothing. Well, maybe not nothing, but just about: a trace of citrus shampoo, a lavender body wash, a hit of Purell. These are not the scents that conjure up evenings in nightclubs, duchesse satin dresses, and dark cocktails. There's no mystery or suggestion in the tinny smell of an anti-aging cream.

More and more women are wearing less and less perfume, with sales in a virtual free fall over the past five years. At a dinner party one night, the host asked everyone to predict what would be obsolete in 20 years. Most of the answers were about electronics--remember when cell phones were as big as your shoe? My friend Perri said, "Do you really think anyone will be rubbing perfume on their wrists?"

I hope so, because even though perfume isn't essential, going ...