Gap The Individuals

…like smelling your way through an identity crisis.



I was in Gap recently, feeding my unceasing need for stripy, long-sleeved T-shirts, when I noticed their austerely packaged fragrance line, The Individuals. The Individuals are five eau de toilettes going by “because I said so” monikers: The Visionary, The Artist, The Natural, The Original and The Lover.

There’s nothing I like better than smelling my way through an identity crisis, so I eagerly sampled Gap’s options for defining my persona. I zeroed in on The Artist, guided by my inner Dorothy Parker. Personally, I enjoyed The Artist’s musky-sweet softness, but my inner DP was unmoved, proclaiming The Artist “good enough for tweens, but not nearly bad enough for me.”

Next came The Natural, with listed notes of thyme, vetiver and bergamot. “It smells herby...and smart,” is what I’ve managed to formulate on the topic. Unfortunately, I’m not smart enough to explain what I mean by a smell smelling “smart.” But The Natural certainly seems chipper and on the ball. A lot brighter than that pretty-but-dumb The Artist, anyway.

The Original is aptly named. It’s the Individual that smells the most niche, with figs, leather and cedar. It’s an interesting masculine that would be even more interesting on a woman.

I didn’t know what to expect with a scent called The Visionary. It could have smelled like a cross between Joan of Arc and the person who invented frozen yogurt. Instead, The Visionary smells like piss. The only vision I’m getting here is of being dunked in a sheep dip to remove the odor.

Just when I was despairing of finding a place in Gap’s cannon of available personalities, I tried The Lover. Mmmmm! The Lover is a transparent apricot-patchouli with a satisfying way of subtly sexing up the skin. Praise Sybil and all Three Faces of Eve, I have found myself! I am...”The Lover”.

Gap The Individuals are available from Amazon.com, and UnbeatableSale.com, starting at $24 for 3.4 oz.

2 comments:

  1. Yay!...and Curses!...while I completely agree with you about both the Lover and the Original...i must profess that I was completely taken with the Visionary...as a non-fan of pissy smells, I shall have to content myself thinking that it just must smell unique on moi... : )

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  2. The listed notes for The Visionary are bluegrass, sun-dried geranium and frosted fennel (frosted with what...visionary deliciousness?),and they all seemed to gang up in a weedy, aromatic pong that never resolved into something nice. But your enthusiasm gives me cause to re-investigate.

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