Potato - Potahto

People's perceptions of things can differ, at times drastically. It's been often noted that eye witnesses are not that reliable as testimony from one witness to another can vary, and a witness can also be easily influenced by what others may have said. But even the very basic things such as fragrance or color is perceived differently from person to person. I enjoy the fragrance of carnations, however I've known others that couldn't tolerate it. To me the fragrance is light, clean and spicy, much like cloves or cinnamon, to a friend of mine it was heavy and cloyingly musky. Star Gazer Lilies are another thing, I can't tolerate their powerful fragrance, my husband and my daughters feel the same way, yet a great many people find the gorgeous pink and white lily's fragrance sweet and pleasingly aromatic. Some like the aroma of roses, to others the odor is bland, insipid.

Color is a whole different, chaotic ball park. What's yellow to one, is gold to another, what's gold to one is orange to somebody else. Is it teal or is it green, or maybe blue or even turquoise ? Is it burgundy, or is it purple or perhaps red ? Since secondary colors are simply combinations of primary colors (blue + yellow = green) it becomes rather murky, and vague and invariably ends up being left to each individual's own perception.

Recently I listed an item and described it as being lilac/lavender (when I purchased the items they were listed in a very large and prestigious catalog as being lavender) however I had someone comment that it was not lavender nor lilac, it was mauve.

Okay so what is lavender ? What is mauve ? Basically purple. What is purple ? Combinations of blues and reds...add white to make it paler. White also transforms the brilliance of reds into a multitude of pinks, from shocking hot pink, to cotton candy pink, to whispery, powder pink. So what's your opinion, is it lavender, mauve or something entirely different ? Me...I'm going to revise my item description to read; "pale purplish colored beads"...mmm, maybe ! But first I have to retake the photos because a couple of people said the sterling silver clasp looked like it was gold colored !