On my trip to discover the Olfactory scents of Paris, I came across NOSE
A boutique to discover a scent that best fits me. All the brands are simply and purely displayed. I was impressed to see many small brands that I knew little of. I wanted to spend time and discover what they were offering. A personalised service to find my favourite fragrance. So I settled to follow their magic….
Nose allows you to create an olfactory journey, by choosing your favourite fragrances and take a similar journey to find another. You are helped by the staff and a ipad application to you choose the fragrances that you like and give them a note which will guide the sales consultant towards certain olfactory notes to narrow the scope of choice.
And so I embarked on a new fragrant journey. “Do I like this more or less, try this….
I found the lady not really understanding me. Making me choose from 5 scents, without having listened to what I liked and not liked.
No there is marine notes, I do not like
No this has a too strong rich note
No There is something that I do not like….
She became confused, “yes I have a very refined nose, lady, I know what I do not like…But how to find what I like
And so we went on, She kept bringing out blotters, and blotters….
After 1 hour, I was lost. Everything was mixed, there was no longer any magic, just a frustrated client and even more frustrated consultant who could not pin point my olfactory favourite scents.
As I sat, lost in fragrance notes, incapable to come back to the one I had appreciated, I noticed other clients. Some were quick in the process, and a sale made quickly, all were happy! Another, who had her male friend with her was also lost. Not attended nor pampered. The consultant flitted from client to client: try this….. try this….. seemingly professional, smelling her blotter papers, with her nose high up… but did she really understand the facing client. Did she even listen. The consultant needed absolutely to follow the ipad application. When did she face the client to listen to what she liked. Fill in, place here….orders were given. My neighbour was probably Oriental, I could tell, not from any distinctive clothing, but the discreet way her long shiny hair fell down her shoulders, the refined nail polish, rings, the hit-bag, the dandy dressing of the boyfriend, his sunglasses. I am sure they would have spent money there, but they were not well attended, no one asked the boyfriend for his opinion, only the lady client. Oh how I wanted to shake the sales team! “See you are loosing a client! Make her feel good, she requires the pretty girl treatment!”
I finally left, confused and sad, with one blotter that I liked, but no name on it, who is the brand, the notes, the fragrance…?
I found that, the magic that initially I had hoped to discover when I first wandered into the boutique, lost to an app.
Oh so how I got Lost with my Nose, in Paris!