This morning, I met a friend for coffee, and she smelled fresh and clean, like she’d just stepped out of the shower. My guy friend wears bergamot, and every time I hug him I take the deepest breath. My neighbor smells like roses.

Do you wear any fragrances? I’m on my second bottle of Angie, and funnily enough, 11-year-old Anton has also gotten into scents. He’ll beg me to take him to Sephora after school so he can try colognes, and he saved all his birthday money to buy a small bottle of Dior Sauvage, which I have to admit, smells really good. Sometimes he’ll even brush his teeth, put on pajamas, and spritz on cologne, which makes for an eye-watering bedtime cuddle. “Young enthusiasts say that cultivating an air of sophistication is what separates the boys from the slightly older boys,” reported the New York Times, which made me laugh.

My kids’ dad (Alex, of course!) wears one that smells like a violin shop, and when Toby recently got a whiff of it at a store, he said, “This smells like my childhood.” Sobbbbbb.

Of course, fragrance doesn’t always come from perfume. This hand lotion has a cult following; and people can smell like their daily shampoo. This weekend, I went to my friend Gisela’s birthday picnic and gave her a tomato candle I’ve loved for ages. The woman at the store had told me that she liked the scent so much, she wished it came as a perfume. Her workaround? She waits for the wax to melt, then rubs a little onto her wrists.

What scents are you wearing these days? Do you change things seasonally? I’m so curious…

P.S. A fragrance smell test, and my life in perfume.