From inside the perfume: ethnographic particularities about the development of sensitivity among luxury perfumery experts

Abstract

Supported by an Anthropology of Consumption that is anchored in the studies of Daniel Miller (2007; 2008; 2009) and an Anthropology of the Senses based on Ingold (2008; 2010), in addition to the respective reflective origins of both authors, this proposal suggests a brief reflection on the construction of sensitivity in luxury perfumery connoisseurs. Through the expression of their perceptions, we seek to understand the evidence of a sensitive and gradual process through experience with perfumes. Based on a kind of savoir-faire, in which each connoisseur builds with their due aesthetic support, a certain path is represented that moves towards the improvement of appreciation and taste. By harnessing the look on things, behaviors and languages, this is an excerpt from a virtual ethnographic work that also sought to interpret the relationships and ties culturally constructed in Facebook groups made up of connoisseurs of luxury perfumery and its sensitive practices.