Post Ajx1yBQHBGs225ZGHg by triple@typo.social
(DIR) More posts by triple@typo.social
(DIR) Post #Ajx15bmFUhjVqHp1iS by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-15T09:47:25Z
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Vaseline was able to grow their market by making products for lip care and hair care (these are kind of pointless, it's the same petroleum jelly just tinted and with a little fragrance) but, because these are "women's" products (only women have lips and hair I guess?) they made a version for men since their whole product line was perceived as feminine. The only difference from their regular plain petroleum jelly is a "fresh scent."This is all very silly and funny-- but I have a suggestion.
(DIR) Post #Ajx1OUi9zPFZQhunQ0 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-15T09:50:46Z
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I'm not just an angry feminist pointing & laughing at gendered marketing. I want to get to brass tacks: what's the real issue here? Beyond creating the illusion of choice to make more money, the issue is fragrance.By adding fragrances that are associated with women to some of their products Vaseline worried they'd miss some of the market. It's not unreasonable to be particular about how you smell. But our language for fragrances is beyond useless and clumsy. What, pray tell, is a "fresh scent"
(DIR) Post #Ajx1nL4OyM5AleAItM by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-15T09:55:19Z
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What if there were more precise and clear language to describe and discuss scents? Could this lead to better discrimination between products than "man smell" or "wild rain" or whatever?Fragrances are the least measurable and quantifiable of the things we sense. There are some standardized benchmark scents you can acquire, but fragrances have bouquet and they evolve. It's terribly complex. So we have these reductive shorthands: gendering, vague adjectives.
(DIR) Post #Ajx1yBQHBGs225ZGHg by triple@typo.social
2024-07-15T09:57:14Z
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@futurebird And most of the vocabulary linked to scents is inherited from taste. I see the connection, but could we have some more specific vocabulary please?
(DIR) Post #Ajx29ryhImanCVEyS8 by NatureMC@mastodon.online
2024-07-15T09:59:22Z
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@futurebird As a woman who has done a lot of research in European petroleum history, I do love this idea! 🤣 In former times, miners covered faces and arms with raw petroleum against sunburn and parasites. But the smell of oil was combined with the scent of sweat. 🤧 😁 They try to double their target audience. Surprise: Marketing studies show that particularly many crossover purchases happen with perfumes. But they would never tell this aloud.
(DIR) Post #Ajx2IvIyIl987q2aRM by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-15T10:01:01Z
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@triple From what I understand the way the mind and body processes fragrances and tastes is hopelessly interconnected. eg. food is bland when you can't smell because you have a cold. The nose and mouth are connected. I think the language for tastes is somewhat more clear... so using it as a baseline might help? But maybe it's also a limitation.
(DIR) Post #Ajx2UL4ErG2hDAaols by glent@aus.social
2024-07-15T10:03:03Z
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@futurebird Vaseline was never going to market a "men's" product in that era. It was trying to escape the association with homosexual acts, after we'd run massive campaigns saying "Don't use Vaseline with condoms."
(DIR) Post #Ajx2YyVSAPLGggX6XI by NatureMC@mastodon.online
2024-07-15T10:03:31Z
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@futurebird We don't need gendering. We have a vocabulary for wine tasting because scents and smells are so difficult to describe - and it works beyond any gender. Everybody knows if they prefer a fruity wine or one with a wooden note.Or what about a sticker: "ants love it" / "your dog will hate you"? 😉
(DIR) Post #Ajx2gAOoLd2BbEr66S by triple@typo.social
2024-07-15T10:05:13Z
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@futurebird Oh you're right. We can this upside down and just consider that the language of taste is just in fact inherited from the language of smell and not the contrary :3Still we miss some specifics for smells, scents and harmonies.
(DIR) Post #Ajx30KjxbqgDSoMdc0 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-15T10:08:53Z
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@NatureMC Half of my perfumes are "for men" ...I'm kind of obsessed with perfumes. I don't know if it's the marketing but some of the really expensive ones I've gotten are the best. Just really interesting unique and enjoyable things to smell.I like to use perfumes to mark periods of my life, then I can time travel back by taking a whiff later on. I wonder why perfume companies don't talk more about using perfumes for this kind of emotional time travel.
(DIR) Post #Ajx3svgSTEBbgBl8bo by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-15T10:18:37Z
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@hirnsushi This is why freedom is a mistake.
(DIR) Post #Ajx3wGpqHpgk9Ek3TU by UpWeardale@hachyderm.io
2024-07-15T10:19:12Z
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@futurebird is there a difference in price? In the UK things like deodorants/razors etc. are often more expensive when marketed towards women even though they are the same thing
(DIR) Post #Ajx42XE2GFaEid2r3I by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-15T10:20:28Z
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@UpWeardale In this case the specialized products are more expensive, including the "men's" version. The plain is a little less expensive.
(DIR) Post #Ajx4QxPkXiXutOAaVU by jerzone@techhub.social
2024-07-15T10:24:52Z
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@futurebird every product feels it needs to "in-scent-ivize” itself these day ... ask me about my {checks notes} “scented contractor garbage bags”.
(DIR) Post #Ajx4bE3RWuCHOfdGfw by NatureMC@mastodon.online
2024-07-15T10:26:42Z
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@futurebird I do love perfumes for men, too!The luxury perfume houses in France focus all their advertising on emotions and memories. But in a way that everyone can identify with. And unfortunately, there is now the fashion fragrance industry, where it's all about buying quickly because everyone else has it until the next fragrance comes along.And your feeling is correct: Using natural essences is *very* expensive but these scents have a different behaviour to develop on your skin, depending
(DIR) Post #Ajx54jNu7mK8xmGvzs by skolima@hachyderm.io
2024-07-15T10:31:58Z
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@futurebird And then you try buying some petroleum jelly for your old leather jacket maintenance... Good luck finding an unscented one. I'm still using the jar I found in a London pharmacy 10 years ago.
(DIR) Post #Ajx5GTWEwDYZERls3s by NatureMC@mastodon.online
2024-07-15T10:33:05Z
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@futurebird on temperature, humidity, and even your mood. Artificial scents are always the same and don't "talk" with your body.I feel your memory-thing so much! I once wrote about the ballet dancer Nijinsky and the Ballet Russes: they made merch with fashion and perfumes. Suddenly I found their perfume from 1912 still produced! I saved my money and bought a small bottle. It's now my time machine. An extraordinary experience!
(DIR) Post #Ajx6o48PvFDiIvD2Iq by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-15T10:51:20Z
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@medley56 🤣
(DIR) Post #Ajx75dw24SyMG9nXKS by llewelly@sauropods.win
2024-07-15T10:54:40Z
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@futurebird for starters we need a large number of standardized scratch'n'sniff study cards for every child, and a whole section of each grade year dedicated to improving smell vocabulary ...
(DIR) Post #Ajx77VjHYBhNOCizYm by pdcawley@mendeddrum.org
2024-07-15T10:54:49Z
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@futurebird gendered perfumes seem particularly ludicrous, don't they? I regularly wear at least one that's marketed as a feminine and nobody who's ever smelled it has commented that it smells 'girly.' Maybe it's the beard :)
(DIR) Post #Ajx7NjUAAnLugdO7f6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-15T10:57:44Z
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@llewelly Exactly!
(DIR) Post #Ajx7Rx8bM9mUBdJbQe by mensrea@freeradical.zone
2024-07-15T10:58:37Z
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@futurebird what about the no fragrances options. also for soaps, detergents, washing powders, fabric softeners, ...
(DIR) Post #Ajx7Xo73p7EjvyNzvM by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-15T10:59:45Z
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@mensrea The problem with "no fragrance" is there is always a fragrance. No added fragrance is my default choice for products... I don't like how perfumes in products interact with my fancy pants "real" perfumes.
(DIR) Post #Ajx9pS2Qppe2ajlIxM by mensrea@freeradical.zone
2024-07-15T11:25:17Z
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@futurebird i have a strange nose, it's more comfortable with the smell of ammonia than most perfumes
(DIR) Post #AjxA4RWL2eYxKVto36 by flipsels@mastodon.social
2024-07-15T11:28:01Z
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@futurebird Fresh petroleum scent?I'd vote for Diesel or WD40 as scents
(DIR) Post #AjxHaiyaNRNcPgS49Y by VampiresAndRobots@writing.exchange
2024-07-15T12:52:15Z
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@futurebird this is why I'm grateful that some companies and products have embraced fragrance free. I don't want to smell like an anthropomorphic force of nature.
(DIR) Post #AjxR5JBnCYqt07Ht68 by Trine_DK@helvede.net
2024-07-15T14:38:37Z
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@futurebird @NatureMC I’m allergic to most scents and perfumes, which makes it very difficult to share spaces with other people. It’s not until you have to avoid it, you become aware how EVERYTHING is perfumed in some way. The cleaning product used to mop the floors, the laundry detergent in clothes, hair products, air fresheners, deodorants, everywhere!Giving someone a hug, and their perfumes clings to my hair and clothes the rest of the day. 😔
(DIR) Post #AjxSTue7gmgC4kppA0 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-15T14:54:12Z
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@ohmu @flipsels Please stop.lol OMG
(DIR) Post #Ajxh71rsAg617qoRIe by ironorchid@mastodon.xyz
2024-07-15T17:38:16Z
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@futurebird as a congenital anosmic I am always picking shampoo and soap based on which scent descriptions sound like they might smell good (pretty useless)