My first memory of perfume comes from when I was about four years old. My grandmother had a set of miniature perfume bottles, probably ordered from the Sears catalogue, and when they emptied she filled them with water and gave them to me to play with. My grandparents lived in a snow belt in the Cascade Mountains in northern California near the Pit River Indian reservation. I sat in her cool bedroom and copied my grandmother’s motions by dabbing the faintly scented water behind my ears while my grandmother went to the back porch to ring the triangle, calling my uncles in for dinner.
My grandmother had four sons but thirsted for a daughter. Later, she told me that she cried after her third son was born because she wanted a daughter so much. (When I asked her what she did after her fourth son was born six years later, she said she didn’t care whether she had a son or daughter, she was just happy to have another baby after so long.) Then she had a grandson, then, at last, a granddaughter, me. My grandmother was eager to teach me the craft of womanhood, including perfume. Her signature scent was Revlon Moondrops.
When I started to earn my own money, the first bottle of perfume I bought was Babe. I must have been about twelve years old. I went to the Longs Drugs in town, and after perusing the aisles and passing up Love’s Baby Soft I settled on Babe’s vaguely art nouveau bottle with its gold-tone top. I can’t even remember what it smelled like now, but for me it was the ticket to sophistication. My next bottle, three years later or so, was Chanel No. 22 bath oil.
Thinking about my first experiences with perfume, I asked my friends about their first perfumes. Meredith’s first perfume was Love’s Baby Soft, but the Rain scent, not the regular baby-girly scent. Now Meredith wears Carthusia Uno, Serge Lutens Gris Clair and Chergui, Annick Goutal Eau du Sud, and the occasional spritz of her husband’s Comme des Garcons 2. Aili’s first exposure to perfume was the mostly empty bottle of 4711 that her grandmother gave her. She graduated to tea rose scented oil in high school and now is ruminating over her samples of Valentino and Stella Sheer trying to decide what she likes. I secretly believe she’ll settle on a bottle of Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely. Liz, a bombshell even in her teens, wore Guerlain Samsara in high school. Now she’s a fragrance magpie. Last time I saw her she was wearing L’Artisan Parfumeur Dzing!. Surprisingly, I can’t find anyone I know now who wore Avon Sweet Honesty, although my grade school stank of it.
What is your first memory of perfume? Many of you might remember your mother’s scent, but I want to know about the perfume that you first loved as your own. Do you still wear it? Can you even remember what it smelled like? Did someone introduce you to perfume, or did you discover it on your own?
Probably the first scents I wore were when I was a youngster were Dana's Canoe, and something equally vile called Chaps; I suppose my taste in fragrance wasn't particularly sophisticated as a child! Since then, I've graduated to other scents such as L'eau D'Issey (which I quickly abandoned once it made its way to the US), Chanel's Egoiste (when I try to wear this now, I can't help but think it smells suspiciously like bug spray before it dries down to a warm and subtly spicy vanilla) and finally, my fragrance Holy Grail – Annick Goutal's Eau d'Hadrien. I've been dousing myself with this for the past 13 years and my fascination with it shows no signs of waning!
Hi Angela!
I loved your story about your grandma. I'm glad she got you as a granddaughter. :))
The first perfume I ever owned was back in 1985 ( I was 15) and it was a Christmas present from my mom. The perfume was : Anais Anais. That perfume was the beginning of my love affair or obsession with the wonderful world of scent. I wore the Anais Anais everday and when that bottle was emptied, I bought another one with my own money. To me that scent was romantic. I don't know why, but *romantic* is the word that comes to mind when I think of it back then.
Fast forward alot of years. I tried Anais Anais a few months ago for nostalgic reasons, and oh ……. it is so NOT me. I spritzed it and I was like…. Oh god, what was I thinking???? Ewww. But, even after my bad reaction to it, it still has a place in my heart because it was my 1st real perfume. I don't own a bottle of it but it's forever etched in my memory.
Nowadays, I am wearing 10 Corso Como, L'air du Desert Marocain, Angelique Encens, etc. 🙂
Have a great day.
Dawn
My mom wore Charlie so I would go into her bathroom and sneak a spritz…or 3 or 4! Of course my mom and everyone else could smell me a mile away. Then my sister got “Exclamation” I'm sure you all remember that one! I wasn't allowed to wear fragrance yet but I would sneak her's too, whenever I could. In the meantime I would go out to our canphor tree and gather up leaves, crush them and put them in my pillowcase for later. I am surprised the scent didn't keep me up all night, I find it extremely energizing now. Then one year for Xmas I was told I could ask Santa for a bottle of perfume. Even though I didn't believe in Santa anymore I asked for Cacherel's Lou Lou… what a bottle!! I wore it for years, I can still smell it to this day. And I guess the rest is history, right? I mean I'm here everyday reading this perfume blog and about 10 others!! For some women, it shoes. Since I wear a size 1, it's perfume 😉
That's a Size 12! In my defense I am 6 feet tall…
I read once that Karl Lagerfeld used to spray his sheets with Eau d'Issey, and I really like Egoiste, but Eau d'Hadrien is really great. It's one of those scents that can be present and yet not present, a perfect complement to a person.
Your scents today are worlds away from Anais Anais! Still, that sounds like a good scent to give a girl. I can imagine loving the white bottle and misty flowers on the label. But 10 Corso Como? Not even close!
Hi Angela, that was a nice post. It's so much fun remembering the start of our fragrance love-obsession-passion, isn't it.
I remember always being infatuated with good smelling soap as a kid, so much so, I used to wash often to smell the scent on my skin.
Then at about 8 or 9 I was given some samples with names like Missl Bailmain, Vent Vert, and so on.
As a young teen I remember using a Lily of the Valley and Fidji by Guy Laroche.
And then, at 16, in a friends bathroom, sniffing her mother's perfume, it hit me. Hard. Cabochard by Gres. I fell in love and I love it still.
Then, in fast succession through my teen and young adult years came: L'air du Temps, Chanel No5, Shalimar, Chamade, Jardin du Bagatelle, O de Lancome, Femme, Opium, Poison, Miss Dior, Chanel No19, Cristalle, Coco, and some others. All of those were, of course, pre-reformulation. Lucky for me, growing up in Berlin, I had access to all those wonderful creations.
Now I'm sniffing and loving my way through Andy's creations, Alamut, Anne Pliska, LaChasse aux Papillions, Aoud Black Roses(and many others), catching up with some older Guerlains I had always wanted to sniff but never did. Isn't (the fragrant) life wonderful?
Thanks for your post, Angela, how your Grandma must've loved having you.
K, gosh, I thought I posted a reply to your comment, but I think blogharbor ate it!
I love the thought of Santa's elves making little bottles of Loulou. You must have been sensitive to scent even as a kid to be stuffing fragrant tree leaves in your pillow. And you're lucky that your habit isn't perfume AND shoes!
I'm the daughter and granddaughter of perfumistas, so my love of scent developed very early. I remember having a bottle of scent (it was called Apple Blossom, but I cannot recall who the manufacturer was) as early as age 4. I also remember receiving a small bottle of Muguet des Bois for my 1st Communion. As such a young child, I was encouraged not to 'wear' my scents, but to use them to scent a hanky which I would keep in my pocket. Such a charming, old-fashioned notion of propriety!
For 8th grade graduation, i received a bottle of Yardley's Oh de London. This was the first scent I was permitted to wear. Even my dad got into the act, buying me a bottle of Coty's long vanished Elan on my 13th birthday. On my 16th birthday, my mother bought me a bottle of Miss Dior. None of my friends had such a fancy fragrance, I felt very special indeed!
In college I mainly wore Faberge's Tigress and Woodhue and by my senior year I began wearing Opium. I was married wearing my mother's Joy. That was my 'something borrowed'. 🙂
Today, like many of us, I continue to chase that elusive will-o-the-wisp, the HG fragrance. In some strange way, I hope never to find it. I think that's because the pleasure is actually in the chase. 🙂
This summer I've been sampling jasmines and citrus scents, finding lots of new friends.
My favorite lines? Annick Goutal and Divine. They always seem to produce winners for me.
You have amazing taste! I had to wait until I was an adult before I got to sniff any of the Balmains.
I adored my grandmother. Once I went to her, kind of upset, because I'd heard that “Dogs are a man's best friend” and “Diamonds are a girl's best friend”. After all, a dog is a real friend, but a diamond is just a rock. She put down her dishtowel and said, “Honey, if you've got a diamond, you can buy all the dogs you want.”
What a great story. Muguet des Bois sounds absolutely perfect for communion, too (imagining Tigress at communion, on the other hand…). And your mother's Joy for your wedding? So perfect.
Goutal and Divine are wonderful lines. I used to think my favorite Divine was L'Homme Sage, but I just got a sample of L'Inspiratrice and I adore it.
Angela, what a beautiful story…apparently we have a couple things in common! My grandmother was definitely also the person responsible for my love of fragrance, and indeed, of all the beautiful things in life. We didn't have much money when I was growing up, and most of the women in my family, including my mom, were very no-nonsense types who would never think of spending money on unnecessary luxuries. (I believe my mother's whole beauty routine consisted of Dial soap, Suave shampoo, and Colgate toothpaste, ha ha) But my grandma was different. She was poor, too, but any extra money she had went to spoiling herself in little ways. Her clothes may have been from JC Penney,but her dressing table was home to an array of perfumed dusting powders in beautiful jars- I remember Chantilly and Emeraude- and she *would* have her bottle of Shalimar, the real perfume, sitting in the middle of her dressing table, like a prized jewel. I can still remember going to the department store with her one time when she purchased some…I had never been in such an elegant place in my life, and was dazzled by the glittering crystal bottles on display at the fragrance counter. I think my real love affair with fragrance, and all things girly, began at that moment.; I became aware of a whole world of beauty and glamour that I never knew existed. And, like you, my first fragrance was Babe! I told my mother when I was 12 that I wanted perfume for my birthday, and I picked a bottle of Babe, which narrowly beat out Cachet and Heaven Sent.
I remember Muguet de Bois with vague fondness. A stronger memory is Estee Lauder's Aliage. Fresh and green and lovely is how I remember it, but it's been decades since I've smelled it in the flesh (or nose). I loved the spray and the lotion.
Our grandmothers would have been great friends, I'm sure. And Cachet and Heaven Sent! I completely remember them, along with Toujours Moi. And Windsong. I loved the twist in the Cachet bottle.
I also remember being dazzled by my first trip to a big city department store. I rode on an escalator, and I may as well have been on a rocketship for all the excitement it gave me.
Oh, you should stop by a department store and sniff some Aliage again! I have a small sample on top of my dresser right now. To me it's green with honeysuckle and a little peach, nice for summer.
I have a terrible long-term memory, but will try to participate. My mother wore, and still wears, very heavy, mysterious-smelling perfumes. The first one I remember was a tiny vial of precious Cartier pure parfum, a musk, but I can't remember the name. She also graciously wore the drugstore scents I bought her, most notably the horrendously reformulated Emeraude. (We have the same birthday in May and emerald is our birthstone, so I thought it extremely appropriate at the time, and was very pleased with myself.) My grandmother also craved daughters, only to have three sons, and then drowned her first 5 grandchildren (all girls!) in Avon products. I did not received fragrances from her, though, only neutral make-up and the “sporty fresh” mists and bath gels, because I was considered to be a tomboy. From the age of eight to about 13 or so, I wore exclusively the “masculine” Yardley's Lavender – which is weird, now that I think of it, but certainly was a sign of things to come. I remember wearing Charlie. Loves Baby Soft and Exclamation! in high school, but don't remember purchasing them for myself, so they must have been gifts. I think the first bottle I ever bought myself was Dior Fahrenheit. I didn't own more than two bottles at any given time until I was in my early twenties.
Your memory seems pretty sound to me! Your Yardley choice does seem remarkably prescient (I wore PdN New York yesterday and thought of you). At least your grandmother didn't try to make you over by giving you Sweet Honesty instead of the “sporty fresh” numbers.
I wonder if your family's taste in perfume will skip a generation? Then your daughter will be wearing the glamorous orientals that your mother does.
Thanks for that lovely post!
I don't comment here very often since I still regard myself as somewhat of a novice, but your post took me back, so I just had to comment.
As far as I can remember, the very first scent I bought myself was when I was 15. I was on a language course in Hastings on the south coast of England, and it was the first time I was abroad without my parents (I'm Swedish). There was a tiny little pharmacy down the road from where I was staying, and it was there I fell in love with Yardley's Petunia. I can't remember how it smelled, but I loved it and it was all mine. I know I thought it to be very exclusive since you couldn't to my knowledge buy Yardley in my home town.
Before that my mum had given me her used bottle of Anais Anais which I loved but couldn't wear since it always felt like my mum's. Another gift from mum was L'air du Temps, which I didn't like much either. After that I moved on to other things – as a teenager I wore Shalimar, in my early twenties I saved to get a bottle of Ysatis which I adored.
Nowadays I wear things like SJP Lovely, Bandit, Enjoy, My Queen amongst others. I recently rediscovered my Nana's signature scent, Diorissimo, which I'm wearing right now. Such lovely memories.
I really enjoyed this article,Angela! 🙂
My interest in scents began at the age of six when my mom wore Chanel No5,she would place a few drops behind my earlobes and it made me feel so proud and pretty.
My fist perfume that I wore was Jovan Musk,all through high school and I smelled it on someone not too long ago at work and it make me ill,it's so not me! it's so funny how our taste changes over time,now I own ten bottles of perfumes and my signature scent is hypnotic poison.I guess you could say that my taste in perfumes has evolved.:)
It's funny to think of the scent of petunias as being exotic, but in your circumstance it was! I can imagine hoarding the bottle. Now it sounds like your perfume taste is really varied–from bombshell to demure. I definitely agree with you, too, that Diorissimo is very lovely.
It really is amazing how taste in perfume evolves, but I guess taste in everything evolves (I'm thinking nowabout my favorite pants when I was in second grade–red bellbottoms with sailboats on them–yes, tastes change).
Hi again,
yes, I can safely say I have very varied tastes, but I always know straight away if I like something or not. I have scents such as Prada, Narciso Rodriguez and Agent Provocateur on my wishlist, and I also love Rochas Femme (went out in search for it after reading review here!) and Marc Jacobs Blush.
Well, in my opinion if you love Rochas Femme, you can move right out of “novice” status and into diehard perfume lover. (I think my grandmother would have loved Femme. I know I do.)
My earliest fragrance memory is smelling all the bottles that my mom kept on her dresser – and there were plenty of them! Giorgio and Shalimar are two that I remember: My favorite of hers to smell was Cinnabar, though she hardly ever wore it.
My first real perfume was a bottle of Tommy Girl that I got as a Christmas present in Junior High. Thus began my love of floral scents, and I still have that bottle, although I never wear it anymore. My second was Opium, purchased at 15. (Yes, 15! Everyone else was marinating in Cucumber-Melon what-have-yous, and I wore Opium!). I wore Chanel No. 5 in college, along with a very cheap bottle of Taylor of London English Rose that I found at a local discount store.
Now my favorite scents are Caron N'Aimez Que Moi, Penhaligon's Bluebell, Lorenzo Villoresi Teint de Neige, Diorissimo, and Serge Lutens Sa Majeste la Rose. I love powder and flowers! 🙂
What fun to read so many stories, so many childhood memories. Growing up I always envied my friends, who had mothers who wore makeup and feminine clothes and hats and HIGH-HEELED shoes; one could go to their houses and play dress-up, my absolute favorite game. My own home provided arid fare indeed — my mother was always very “mannish”; she possessed all of two cosmetic items: a bottle of Elizabeth Arden Blue Grass and a tube of red lipstick (probably Arden as well; Victory Red?). If she wore these two things, my sister and would demand to know where she was going, as their use signified going out into the world!
Needless to say, I grew up consumed with a passion for anything in a pot or bottle. My first fragrance arrived when I sent away for one of those $1 World of Beauty kits that advertised in the backs of newpapers and magazines. Amazingly, it was Roger & Gallet's Blue Carnation! I fell in love on the spot, and wore it exclusively until it was discontinued back in the late '70s-early '80s; I can remember cleaning out every department store and drugstore in the greater Boston area when the supply began to dry up! Now it seems to be an item much in demand on eBay, and I cannot compete for it, but it will always have pride of place in my heart, and no other carnation fragrance can supplant it.
Such lovely stories! I really do love finding thing like this out. My mum wore perfume for 'best' when I was a child, Pagan and Obsession. I loved them both but it was my Aunties Theresa and Julie and my cousins Angie, Nikki and Jackie who really introduced me to the idea of perfume as an everyday item. They used to give me perfumes they bought from the market, they came in big botles and one was called 'Gardenia' and the other 'Black Rose'. I would love to know who made them but I just can't remember. Later they would buy me cheap knock-offs of Poison and Opium. I was about 10 years old and still to this day I love my perfume strong and spicy! I can still remember they were called Potion and OP!! I loved them though! Loved them! My absolute favorite was the one my cousins wore; Giorgio Beverly Hills. I love my cousins, they are about 17 years older than me and I saw them as glamour personified. I used to try and apply my make up like they did and wanted to be like them when I grew up. I don't have any children, but my 6 year old neice lives with me and she has her own little dressing table and her own little perfumes; one from the Avon, one from Next, a bottle of Chris 1947 by Dior with only the absolute dregs left (she loves it because it is pink)! and for her birthday she would like some Vera Wang Princess (love heart bottle and all that). She comes into all the department stores with me to smell any new releases and passes little comments like “Hmmm, very fresh” or “That would be nice in the winter”. Maybe one day she will tell all those stories herself like we are now! As far back as I can remember perfume has been part of my life, even when I was a tot and wasn't wearing it myself. Isn't perfume great!!
Elizabeth,have you ever tried kenzo amour?
it is very powdery and flowery…very pretty.
Did you ever read I Capture the Castle? The star of the novel dreams of (and finally receives) a bottle of bluebell perfume, and I decided she must have been thinking of Penhaligon's Bluebell.
I love reading the list of scents you wear now. Their names alone are so evocative.
And Kenzo Flower Oriental, PG Ilang Ivohibe, and Keiko Mecheri Loukhoum, too (I just went on a powder bender a few weeks ago).
I love the name Victory Red. Watch out world for the woman wearing Victory Red! (And watch out for a lot of needless alliteration, too.)
I also love the World of Beauty kit concept, and what a score to get a Roger & Gallet scent. I like their regular carnation. I'm a little old for dress up these days, but wouldn't it be fun?
Your niece's comments are pretty sophisticated for a 6-year old! Obviously she's been tuning into to Auntie. Nice work, Baby Jane. Have you ever seen Auntie Mame? Could be a possible role model. (An aside: in one scene in Auntie Mame she gives the cook a giant bottle of Shalimar for Christmas.)
I have never heard of it but I will try and watch the film version. Do you think I drive her demented? Sometimes if we have words she will say to me “and I HATE perfume”!! It always makes me laugh. If I ever had a daughter I would probably reformulate the alphabet: “a is for aldehyde, b is for base, c is for cedar…..”. I'll probably do it if I had a son!
Oh, yes do go out and rent Auntie Mame! Make sure you get the one with Rosalind Russell and not Lucille Ball. Your niece might like it, too–it has some good slapstick humor in it here and there. The story is about a glamorous woman in New York during the late 1920s and '30s who unexpectedly ends up raising her nephew. Her motto is “Life is a banquet, and some poor suckers are starving to death”.
I LOVE the scent alphabet idea, too. Must work further on that idea.
*chuckling* at your “powder bender” comment,Angela..
now you have me curious about FlowerbyKenzo Oriental,going to Ottawa next month,my daughter asked me what i wanted to do,i replied “what do u think,perfume sniffing” of course.
I think the Flowe Oriental might be a limited edition, so if you get the chance to smell it, by all means do! Have fun in Ottawa.
I'm really keen on the 1920's so I must watch it. As for the alphabet, I think it would be great if there was a perfume version! If they had incorporated perfume into maths at school I might of been a lot better at it! Can I pester you off the subject? If it's late where you are just ignore me! I would like a really gorgeous musk perfume. I find Narciso Rodriguez too sickly and I don't really know any others. I would be grateful for any suggestions.
I wish I had more experience with musk perfume and had something good to recommend. March at Perfume Posse has been into Worth Courtesan lately, and on me it packs plenty of musk, although it's tempered. I've seen lots about CB I Hate Perfume Musk and Musc Maori and Musc Koublai Khan, but I wonder if they would be too, well, musky. I've been really curious about Lorenzo Villoresi's Musk, too.
Sorry I don't have much to offer. But if YOU find a good musk, I'd love to know what it is!
I don't know why but lately I just feel like a nice musky perfume but it is unchartered territory for me. I will try Courtesan next time I am in Harvey Nics. Thankyou!
Here's another suggestion: I just read about a really nice sounding musk perfume by I Profumi di Firenze – Talco Delicato. I've seen it online at Bigelow's and Luscious Cargo.
What a great post. Your grandmother must have been so happy to have a granddaughter . I do remember Revlon Moondrops, but can't remember how it smelled.
My mom got me into perfume, I think. She often talked about it. She said she'd love to have a bottle of Joy one day – I don't think she ever got one. She did have a bottle of Chanel No. 5, which I loved to play with, but it didn't smell good to me at the time. She loved Sand & Sable, Charlie, Pavlova Picasso, Youth Dew. I never liked what she liked that much, but I loved perfumes, scent. My first scents were Skin Musk by Bonnie Bell, which I still wear occasionally, and Love's Baby Soft, which I wouldn't go near today. I think I was 10 or 11.
My first grown up perfume was Poison. The next one was Chanel No. 19. Neither smelled great on me, but I wanted to smell sophisticated. Salespeople intimidated me. I grew up in a very small town in Georgia.
Today I'm wearing Bois d'Armenie in my hair, Oude by Ava Luxe on one arm, Tubereuse Criminelle on the other. I'm into strange, woody, smoky, incense scents as well as the tuberose in Lutens. I'm sort of all over the place with my tastes. The two full bottles of Lutens I own are Arabie and Un Bois Vanille. Those two are night and day, and that probably tells you a lot about my collection.
Thanks again for this post. I've really enjoyed reading all the comments as well!
Hi – Lorenzo Villoresi's Musk is quite nice. It's very soft.
I just remembered Dana's Canoe and Lauren. I wore those too! ha!
BJ, I pondered your question as I just walked to the grocery store, and I thought of Serge Lutens Clair de Musc. Have you tried that one? It's delicate and pretty rather than animalic.
I'm putting a sample on my wishlist now!
Talco Delicato makes me think of powder rather than musk. Sounds interesting.
I can understand being intimidated by perfume sales people after a rural upbringing. I swear I was in college before I was confident of what to do in a restaurant. But Tuberose Criminelle and Bois d'Armenie! Life is strange and wonderful.
You're right, it does sound like powder, doesn't it. Here's how Bigelow describes it: 'Delicate musk with a whisper of spice. A soft powdery feel, seductive and serene'. I've not tried it myself, though, I just thought it sounded pretty good.
And, to add a question myself: I just came across the ad for Tigresse by Yosh Han and thought the notes sound interesting, and I like the bottle, too. Have you smelled that by any chance?
That's funny, wearing three perfumes at once. I do that too, sometimes when I can't limit myself to just one. I'm wondering about the Oude by Ava Luxe, how do you like it? I've been pondering about ordering some of her scents, and that one intruiged me since I've smelled (and loved) Oud Black Roses by Montale.
No, I haven't tried it. I'd love to know what you think if you do have the chance to give it a sniff.
I can remember being in Grade 2 and asking my parents to buy me a set of miniatures which I took to school and played with on my desk. When I was 19, I had a solid perfume by Avon called “Here's My Heart”. It had a faux petit point pattern on the tiny container.
In my 20's I worked at a dept. store and bought Youth Dew. What was I thinking?! There must have been very little else advertised at the time to make me wear something so heavy. I also bought Aliage which I still wear in the fall. It conjures up a sunny day with leaves blowing and wearing an Aran knit sweater, moss green wide-wale cords and brown leather short boots.
My mother wore Evening In Paris and I bought her L'Air du Temps. She loved perfumes as did my dad who never appeared at the breakfast table without a shave, being dressed and his cologne. He used Brut and Hai Karate. Gawd! That must've been all one could get/afford then.
In my 30's, I wore Anais Anais as suggested by a neighbour. I bought Fidji too. Dear old dad gave me a gift of Chanel No. 19 and it was a hit!
In my 40's I began a new phase in my working life in the cosmetics dept.! A customer was smelling divine and when asked revealed she wore Jessica McLintock. I still love it. At Xmas I bought 4 tree ornaments that were perfume bottles. This was even before my illustrious career in perfumes!
I befriended a French lady co-worker who was a perfume lecturer and we eventually went to Paris together twice. My current position as perfume lady is pure coincidence though.
When a customer asked for Vol de Nuit my interest was peaked. I ended up working for the company and am now the fragrance specialist, twelve years later. Unfortunately I wasn't able to give my mother perfumes because she passed away but my dad loved Vol de Nuit, Voile D'Ete and Heritage.
Now I wear light versions of perfumes so I rarely get to buy an extract as most are EDT's in a frosty bottle. I like Lolita Lempicka, D & G Light Blue, Un Air De Samsara, No.19 (still), Fleur de Diva, Ocean Dream, Clair de Nilang, Glamorous, Cristalle, White Linen Breeze and Venezia by Vittadini. My favourite men's is Chrome and I love Aqua by Bulgari or anything that has the word “Eau” or something to do with the sea. I've always lived by the ocean and love the tang of salt in the air.
Ultimately I do think that we are shaped by our forebears' tastes and interests. I'm grateful that my parents loved perfume and now I am happily a true perfumista enjoying not just the scents but their history and the beautiful bottles.
Dawn, this was the first perfume that I loved as a teenager too! I loved the soft dreamy advertisements, and the pretty art-nouveau design of the packaging. I tried it again not long ago, and it just wasn't me anymore either. Today my fragrance choices are all over the map: Annick Goutals (Hadrien, Petit Cherie, Neroli), along with some of the Guerlain Acqua Allegorias, and Apres l'Ondee. So I guess I still have a fondness for soft romantic scents with vintage looking bottles!
I really like Oude. Everything I've tried by Ava Luxe, I've liked. I ordered 20 samples at once, and each one is lovely and unique. Oude is intense, very smoky, so if you love smoke, it's certainly got that. Try a sample…I love that she sells samples.
Such a wonderful story! I like thinking about your mother wearing L'Air du Temps and your dad, nicely shaved and smelling of Hai Karate as he sits down at the breakfast table. And what a terrific dad to introduce you to Chanel No. 19!
So you work for Guerlain now? Lucky you. Vol de Nuit is one of my very favorite perfumes. I'll have to try Un Air de Samsara.
Please don't diss Dana's Canoe – I only discovered it last year, and it's gorgeous!
Yes, and I even have a decant of it. It is very pretty!
I haven't read it, but now I think I'll have to! Thanks!
And I always fall for evocative names: For me, they're part of the fun! But only if the scent lives up to the name. And in these cases, they certainly do!
I've never smelled it, thanks for the recommendation!
I know what you mean about evocative names. I swear I wear Vie de Chateau mainly for the name!
I remember I went through only one bottle of love's baby soft. At my grandmas house I would use a chanel 5 that she rarely liked. Then I was in love with this perfume called Charlie express. My kindergarten teacher wore that. So I went out and begged for it a couple years later. I used at least 2 bottles of that one. I liked a cheap version of Giorgio for a year, then I was on to navy by dana. These were all while still in elementary school, so I loved perfume. lol I went through my fair share of parfums de coeur knock offs as well. The body sprays in a can. Then in highschool I wore this perfume from avon that smelled like lolita lempicka. These are just the ones I remember fondly and really loved.
You're the Queen of Knock-offs! A budding perfumista on a budget has to do what she has to do. I hope you're able to get the real thing now from time to time.
lol Yes I had to try alot of those knock offs as a kid. My money was always saved for makeup and perfume. I'm 25 now and do have a nice collection of designer fragrances. I won't even touch those body sprays, but they bring back alot of memories. All the little girls had to have them at my school.
Ah, memories. So wonderful to read everybody's histories: so varied, but the thread of a real passion for fragrance runs through them all.
For me, it all started with the smell of my mother's Arpege, saved for special nights out when we'd be left with the babysitter while Mom disappeared in a cloud of grown-up fragrance.
My first “real” scent was White Shoulders, given to me by my first boyfriend; I thought the spray bottle, lipstick-sized and a limited edition, was 18 carat gold and I treasured it as though it really was, although in retrospect it couldn't have been — or could it have?? My fragrances in those early days all are associated with boyfriends; one in particular — I should have married him, but we were far too young and I let him go — would actually go and spray a dozen different perfumes over the course of several trips to the department store downtown and make his own decision about what I might love. And he was right, at the time: Je Reviens was his, in '76; then L'Heure Bleue; then Oscar de la Renta; then Nikki de Saint Phalle. Sigh. . .then I did marry a man, and it was Magie Noire, Ivoire, Femme, Amarige. . .got divorced, and started to buy my own. I have 117 full size bottles going strong, at last count, everything from Serge Lutens Santal Blanc to Montale Chypre Fruites to guilty pleasures galore — much too unsophisticated to name on this headily sophisticated and erudite site, but think of Euphoria and those of that ilk and you'll get the flavor — and currently covet Frederic Malle's whole line-up. Fast-forward to 2007, and after years of being too opinionated to encourage a man to buy me a scent on his own, I've softened, and my new man — kind and brave — just bought me Tom Ford Black Orchid, with absolutely no input from me!! I think he's a keeper.
What a great story! It sounds like perfume really delineates stages of your life. I like that Black Orchid man, too–hang on to him.
What a wonderful story, Robin. That must've been one nice boyfriend to carefully select a fragrance for you. And the new one – buying you Tom Ford Black Orchid – sounds positively lovely.
If he has a brother, would you mind sending him my way?!
Thanks, you guys! And sorry, Sabina, that angel is the middle boy in a family of sisters — hey, maybe that's why he's more in-tune with girly stuff than many???!!! Oh, and apropos of nothing except new Tom Ford purchases, I just bought Azuree Soleil and am LIVING in it this summer. I picture Bridget Bardot — she did love to tan, didn't she? — in a polka-dot bikini, slathered with French suntan lotion on a beach in St. Tropez. Tres summery!!!
Unfortunately Un Air De Samsara has been discontinued for several years. It came in EDT only and had the underlying signature of the original Samsara but with a hint of mint, lots of citrus and jonquil added. Lucky for me the rep for the company gave me several litres as a wedding gift! I hope you can find some to try somewhere. My husband prefers everything to be unscented that he uses, but I can get him to apply just one spritz of a men's EDT when we go out. I remember when we were dating many years ago he gave me White Shoulders because he had given it to a former girlfriend. I thought I was going to die from it. I can't stand gardenia, tuberose, and jasmine. A former boyfriend used to love Angel and bought me all sorts of body products. He had an acute sense fo smell and we tried an experiment putting several sprays of different fragrances on each arm. After an hour or so only one reigned supreme. It martkedly stood out while the others had faded. It's name? Apres L'Ondee! Good thing I work for the company, huh?!
Lol, you're right, Robin, that Azuree Soleil is the perfect beach scent. I have a little sample also, and I love it. Now that picture of Bridget Bardot in St. Tropez to go with the scent makes it even more wonderful.
I have an after sun spray for hair by Phyto which, to me, smells very similar to Azuree Soleil.
Sounds like destiny!
Drat. Being from Vancouver, B.C., I read with envy all those intriguing names, knowing that the nearest bottle of any one of them is a few hundred miles and an international border away. I will sniff my Azuree Soleil and think of you and the wealth of fragrances you are able to experience. . .
The first fragrance I remember owning and wearing was a Lanvin, Clair de Jour – very soapy, clean and floral as I remember it, probably quite age-appropriate, it worked well on my skin and it does reflect my mother's taste. I know that she bought it for me, and I think we went to a perfume counter expressly to buy something for me – she thought I was old enough to have a real fragrance of my own. I think I was twelve or thirteen or thereabouts… I know I had some kind of scented deodorant spray before that, but I can't remember much about it.
My mother has always worn perfume, and I remember helping her pick out several different fragrances for herself during my childhood. She has worn, among others, the original Kenzo in the flower-shaped bottle, Kenzo Parfum D'Eté, a couple of the 90's Cacharels – Eden, I think, in the green bottle, and probably Noa also – and now she wears Dior J'Adore, which I got for her because it smells almost exactly like something she used to wear when I was little. She's a fresh florals kind of woman; I know her taste in fragrances almost as well as my own. She has always said that her favourite fragrance is Chanel No. 5, but it doesn't work with her skin chemistry, so she neither owns nor wears it..
I went on to Rive Gauche, which I never really felt quite at home with, and then a series of fresh, aquatic florals in my mid teens – Laura Biagiotti Laura and L'Eau d'Issey come to mind. I remember smelling New West on a friend and thinking it was the most gorgeous thing I'd ever smelled, but for whatever reason, I never got it myself.
Then I came across Angel (on an airport, of all places) in the mid 90's, when I was in my late teens, tried it, loved it, got it and somehow never went back to the fresh, aquatic florals – I think the first fragrances I got after Angel, a few years later around 20, were Donna Karan Chaos and Feminité du Bois; and I still love and wear them (my bottle of Chaos I hoarde, though. FdB is easily obtainable here). Most of the fragrances I love today are variations on the incense and cedarwood themes; FdB, Chaos, Ouarzazate, Shaal Nur, Messe de Minuit and CB Cedarwood Tea. Angel still has a place in my heart, but I seldom wear it.
Thank you for your story! I think most of us most have gone through an aqueous scent phase. L'Eau d”issey was such a groundbreaker. It's interesting, too, that while your mother likes gentle florals, you veer toward incense and cedar. I bet your family can tell the both of you apart in the dark, at least!
Excluding the adult scents from my childhood memories, one of my friends had a collection of dolls that came with solid perfumes that represented each character (I was scent-sensitive enough to acknowledge a distinction. It was, afterall, a time before toys started cheaply repreating themselves). One of the dolls–some “Rosepetal” thing–carried a scent that smelled of apples, roses and lily of the valley. It was cozy and enchanting and made me think of warm afternoons and lazy days in the fields. I didn't mind the idea of little dolls but I relished the open fields more.
During my next birthday and Christmas, I was delighted to experience “Aspen” for women and Love's baby soft. Scent–transcendence! At first experience, it was as if I stepped into a fairy world or alternate reality.
When I was 12, I was invited to a sleepover birthday party for a friend who was turning 13. That night, while we were sharing stories and testing our “light as a feather, stiff as a board” theories, the birthday girl whipped out some apricot facial scrub and “Love's Lemon fresh” scent. We had a spa experience and I was more captivated by the fragrance than I was by the gossip. This wouldn't be the first time my love of scent would distract me from social matters at hand. a couple months later, I had my first “real” party as I turned 13; one of my friends felt I needed to upgrade my sophistication with Malibu Musk and I cradled that spray bottle as if it were the water of eternal life.
It wasn't until I was 15, however, that I had my first truly exhilerating relationship with scent. I had just started dating my first “real” boyfriend and It was nearing the holidays. I remember looking through my mother's “Victoria” magazine and seeing an advertisement for a fragrance called “Gardenia”. It was all about white linen and crisp waterfalls and white blooms. A picture may not speak of absolute truth, but it certainly served as a prompt for dreams. I rarely asked for gifts but when pressed I expressed that “Gardenia” was in my head. The sweet lushness that I sprayed on myelf a month later came as a delightful and glorious surprise.
“Southhampton Rose”, “Aqua di Gio” (which was my first luxury purchase by way of my first job) and finally “Champs Elysees”. After finishing with “Champs Elysees”, I knew I'd reached my authentic adulthood. Sometimes, though, in the middle of the night, I'll awake to my scents of memories gone. They are the lovely experiences and the sad ones, dreamed up experiences and loved ones long passed. In a flash, they each dance in my head like beacons of time, while my memories of life suspended drifts into the night.
Thank you for this posting…
Thank you for the wonderful story! Isn't it amazing how evocative scents are and how much they can come to represent stages of our lives? I like, too, how finishing that bottle of Guerlain symbolized truly becoming an adult.
Well, Angela, I finally did order a sample of Tigresse (among other things). I caved in, knowing I shouldn't have, against the counsel of my 'gut' feeling. But you asked to let you know if I should ever sample it, so here's my opinion: scrubber! Especially the heartnote part, which smelled like same badly done room spray (cheap). And I didn't even know that perfumes can screach, but this one did.
Maybe it's a skin chemistry thing, don't know. Here's how bad it was: not even my 16 year old daughter liked it, and she usually likes everything I like and even things I'm not too crazy about. But we both said the same thing: 'headache inducing'. Anyone want a sample?
Oh no! Well, at least you know now how your taste has become more sophisticated. With a name like Tigresse, you'd think it would be intriguing, at the least. You've now saved many of us from going down the way of Tigresse, and for that I thank you.
Hahaha, I think I would have really hit it off with your grandmother, Angela! Priceless!
This is way late, but I like this topic a lot, so here goes:
I received my first fragrance, Tommy Girl, from my parents when I was 12, after a whole lot of begging, but was too scared to wear it everyday- I'd put some on for special occasions, in accordance with my mother's practical, no fuss beauty routine. The next after that was Ralph at 15 (a present from my best friend's parents), but I wanted it because everyone else had it, and never wore it because it gave me headaches (poor judgement, I realize in retrospect). Interspersed between 7th and 9th grade was the lavish use of Bath and Body Work's Warm Vanilla Sugar Silk Body Mist or some such nonsense… and then after that, I wore no fragrance until college! My interest was sparked again by Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche, and snowballed out of control from there. Despite her originally austere beauty routine, I'm now getting her into the fragrance groove, and am thinking of giving her Joy for her next birthday. I now wear Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia, Bond no 9 Chinatown, and FM Une Rose alternately, depending on my mood.
My grandmother was fabulous, and I love even thinking of her. On the other hand, I do have a dog, but no diamonds!
It sounds almost like at first you had to wear a scent named after a man! I love your choices now, though, and could live happily with them.
Hmm trying to remember how old I was when I first discovered my mom’s big bottle of some sort of cologne – can’t even remember what it was. I’m thinking a knockoff of one of the Chanel perfumes but she rarely used it.
Along the way, I encountered Avon perfumes but I generally hated them because they are generally spray-on. I developed a dislike for spray perfume/colognes because I’d smell the base carrier for a long time before I ever begin to smell the actual perfume. As a result, all spray perfumes “smell alike” to me… Avon (in the 70’s) was one of the worst offenders and I’d have a horrible headache after trying 2 or 3 of their perfumes, whenever my mom got visited by the local Avon lady (my mom usually just bought bubble bath or SkinSoSoft.).
Then when I was 11, we moved to Kansas, and within a few years, I would hang out at the little drugstore in the little town we lived in. I’d sniff the Tabu and the Love’s Baby Soft and few others, can’t remember all that they had – not very much. I kind of liked Tabu but I think I was more enthralled with the name, because it sounded like “Taboo”. I was being sexually molested at that time, and the drugstore was my safe haven away from home.
So let’s skip ahead a few years and I finally graduated from high school. I had never really gone to a high school graduation, except for the graduation of a senior I had befriended my freshman year. I didn’t know that people got gifts for their high school graduation.
As a result, one day after school, can’t remember if it was just before or just after graduation, but I was surprised to receive a box in the mail from one of my distant cousins (she’s like a 2nd or 3rd cousin, and also lived in Texas so was “distant” in that sense, far away, as well as genetically. Oh well.). Inside the box? An awesome blue-green floral drawstring bag. Oh! And you want to know what was inside the bag? Inside the bag – well…let’s hope I can remember all of it, but the basic deal was a Cachet collection – a larger spray bottle, a canister of the Cachet scented body powder, a bottle of the body lotion, and a tiny bottle of the perfume itself – “splash” I think they call the format, but I called it “dab-on” – it wasn’t a spray-on. There might have been another bottle too, or perhaps a bar of Cachet scented soap? not sure? I can’t think what it was, and can’t have had much more, since the whole drawstring bag itself was about maybe 6-8 inches in diameter and about maybe 12-14 inches tall, and had a blue twisted satiny cord drawstring.
Well, I’d never been around Cachet and I was really concerned that it was gonna be as awful as Avon, but to my shock, I LOVED Cachet!! But I didn’t know where to get more, so I was really stingy with using it, especially when I began to run out of my supply. In college one time, I was wearing it while a bunch of us students were walking over to do a fundraiser selling pop and concessions for the Rose Bowl in California, and this cute guy behind me started sniffing around and asking all the girls what perfume they were wearing, and most weren’t. Then he got to me and discovered it was me wearing the perfume…but I think he was embarrassed because I wasn’t one of the cute pretty girls he’d been sniffing on…and no…..he didn’t ask me out for a date. Never really even acknowledged presence again the rest of the year. That’s okay – I don’t even remember his name now….
Soooo I’d try out other perfumes and they were always yuckky or gave me a headache or whatever. Ran out of Cachet. Then discovered some for sale after Christmas at a drugstore, and I bought the 3 or 4 boxes they had on sale. That became my new stash for the next 15 or 20 years and I still have them but they are the spray-on kind.
Later on, I discovered Giorgio Beverly Hills – I’m not really sure how that came about but it was in the 80’s…I never did buy myself a bottle. But I loved it every time I smelled it and one time tested it on myself and found that it smelled good to me (most perfumes I test on me, I don’t like how it smells.), and it seemed to generate compliments on others who smelled it on me. So every time I was at a department store, I’d have to test it. Finally I couldn’t find it anymore – by that time I could afford to buy it and I couldn’t find it!
I eventually found the little tiny cheap bottle of the cologne like at a Wal-Mart and bought it, so it’s my “Giorgio” for now, but I’ve since found these places online so will likely go ahead and order me some online!
So there you have it, my dull story…
Since then, I’ve been curious to find out if there’s a website that does accurate comparisons, like saying “if you like (fill in the blank favorite perfume – so in my case, Cachet) and also like (another perfume you might like, if there is such one) and then have it list different perfumes with similar ingredients which you might also like? Because when I am at department store, I get quickly overwhelmed and very difficult to just try one and “get lucky”.
In recent years I’ve discovered a few scents via Yves Rocher and the samples sent in the mail. The one I really liked the most – 8e Jour – they’ve discontinued! GRRRRRR
So I’m hoarding my small stash of it, and in the meantime, I’ve been able to score some “vintage” Cachet on eBay and will try again for some Giorgio.
What a story! I remember Cachet very well, although I haven’t seen it around much. I liked its twisty bottle, too. I think you’re going to have a lot of fun trying new scents here and there.