The Perfume Time Machine.

image source e-slovensko.sk

I was navigated today to perfumerie Fann in the small town nearby where I go sometimes to see a medical specialist. Well, I was ready to see somehow limited selection, less novelties and stuff, but what awaited me there was a flashback to perhaps 30 years ago. Unfortunately, the timecapsule contained the attitude and poor selection, not that they would have fragrances from the time.

My friend informed me that in the town near Bratislava where she lives, there is a branch of Fann perfumery in just opposite to the ambulance of the doctor I visit there. It surprised me because I have been there many times and I would never knowingly miss a perfumery, so I didn’t want to believe it. Certainly, I took it as a small challenge and decided to add a little pleasure to the necessity (examination) and to search for the perfumery.

I found!!! (This is never a guarranteed with me, due to my combination of total navigational inability with considerable spatial cluelessness.) Even though they did not care to mark or label the store. When I walked in I got a… what to call it… a airy feeling! Almost Concept Store! Just imagine a perfume shop with those old fashioned sliding glass showcases, with gaps for a tester on sides, where there is usually only one perfume in the case (I mean just one bottle, not bottles of one model), or sometimes there are tastefully arranged two bottles. The Collistar shelf was a bit richer with a pyramid of about 4-5 cosmetic products was installed there. The overall impression was highlighted by the fact that probably – but only by my guess – there was going on a promotion of Nesti Dante, so there was a kind of installation in the center, close to the cash register that was supposed to look rich and Mediterranean with the brand’s soaps and testers, so it looked like they brought all the merchendise they have to the middle of the store leaving the shelves empty.

I immediately noticed a box in a tester’s cup – Chloé Love (!!!) jumped after it like our late tomcat after blueberry yogurt, but disappointedly found it to be empty. So I turned around and decided to ask for help that I politely refused earlier. “We do not have it, it is no longer produced”. Well, I know so much too, just with the remnants of hope I asked why do they keep the box there exposed. The answer was a nice but embarrassed shrug. So I went further and saw the Omnia Amethyste tester, so I thought, at least I will refresh my memories. I took the tester to my hands, and from behind my back I hear, “I doubt there will be anything left.” Doubt has been justified. The tester was so dry that it seemed there was never anything in it, and yet it wasn’t wiped out with a dry handkerchief. “We do not put testers there, only empty bottles” answered the saleswoman to my unspoken question materializing in the air. “If you want a tester, ask for it and I’ll pick it up from the showcase for you.” So I asked for it. “We do not have that. ” “?” “We don’t have this one, we have the ones you see in the showcases”.

Well, so I looked around. One perfume by Elizabeth Arden, one by Chopard, two Aigners, three Versace, one of them men’s mistakenly included among women’s, one Chanel Chance (if only they could see it !!!), on the men’s side it looked even more miserable (probably that’s why they placed it even those few pieces of cosmetics there) and in the middle of the store the pile of soaps and three Nesti Dante perfume testers. So I tried those, added both Aigners – I would probably prefer others in a regular perfume store, so they got a chance – and dropped out quickly.

I’m just wondering what to tell that friend that I would recommend to her now in the spring and summer. Probably we will meet for a cofee in Bratislava.

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