I finished the teachers’ classes today. From April to November on Tuesday and Thursday mornings I do English conversation lessons with small groups of teachers ; sometimes exhausting, often enjoyable and intriguing, especially when for whatever reason some can’t join and you are left one on one.
I find that when alone, teachers – especially men – reveal more of themselves than when held back by the for-the- sake-of-appearances groupthink ; recently I have had some very interesting conversations about perfume and ‘aroma’ – as the topic is generally referred to here.
One teacher had gone down to Osaka to specifically seek out a contemporary Japanese perfume brand , Shiro ( his favourite fragrance is white lily ); another, whose main interests are Egyptology and bodybuilding, professed an obsession with osmanthus; today he brought in his all natural solid perfume by Seikatsu no Ki ( Tree Of Life); an aromatherapist I also often frequent : he carries it around in his pocket and let me smell it today in the lesson ; clearly a natural absolute in the base, animalic, with orange and apricot facets ; delightful to me that more people are interested in scent, and the art of the olfactory, than initially meets the eye.
The Black Narcissus 
How lovely. It must be so pleasurable for them to open up to you about that, and for you to share your thoughts and knowledge with them, like you do for us on here. I’m going to go put on some proper senko to remind me of Japan, now, just for that. No reason not to even in the everyday.
That must be wonderful when they finally open up, and that whole front they have to keep up falls away. Especially when you find out the enjoy fragrance as well.
I think so. Men can smell gorgeous in flowers !
But of course. Violets used to be used in men’s preparations at the turn of the 19th to 20th century. Now we consider them for women.