NOSTALGHIA, part two: perfume poptimism

base notes on camp, and why bad perfume isn't always bad perfume

I can imagine some of you likely regard this title with doubt. I understand that as a critic of perfume I am hardly known for my love of accessible or widely available fragrances. That said, like most people, malls and beauty supply stores were where I first started to love perfume, and the realm of ‘pop culture’ fragrance as it were still carries a number of deeply emotionally affective and technically notable compositions. This is my attempt to catalouge a few of these biographical and vernacular impressions, and to mediate, perhaps, on why the luxury of perfume feels at once so inaccessible, and so much like home.