When Meredith and David met in graduate school, they both liked scent but weren't fiends for it: Meredith wore mostly Chanel Coco, and David stuck to essential oils. It wasn’t until they moved in together that they really began exploring perfume. Over the fifteen years or so since, Meredith and David have built a modest but thoughtful collection of shared and separate fragrances.
First, a little background. Meredith, an artist, grew up in Anaconda, Montana, in a rambling Victorian house. Her family wasn’t big on perfume, although she remembers her mother occasionally wearing something that smelled like lilies of the valley. When Meredith was a teenager, she bought a bottle of Coco, which became the foundation of the few bottles of perfume she kept on hand and set the stage for her love of orientals. As she was finding her perfume legs, she wore Jessica McClintock and Issey Miyake Eau d’Issey, too.
David, also an artist and management at a big Portland design firm, grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, in a fragrance-loving Italian-American family. His mother loyally wore Lanvin Arpège, until she jumped ship for Estée Lauder Beautiful sometime in the 1990s. David’s first fragrance was Old Spice, then, in middle school, Canoe. In high school he moved on to Ralph Lauren Polo and Guy Laroche Drakkar Noir before going hippie with amber, sandalwood and frankincense essential oils in college.
Once they were dating, David gave Meredith a bottle of Gucci Envy — he wore the masculine version — and sometime later, Meredith bought Prada Eau de Parfum, “a pivot back to orientals.” Then, together they discovered L’Artisan Parfumeur. Méchant Loup, Premier Figuier, and Passage d’Enfer formed the nucleus of their shared collection. They learned that they both wear incense well and added a few of the Comme des Garçons incenses, which was a natural segue to Tauer Perfumes. (David gave Meredith bottles of Tauer Perfume Incense Rose and Phi — Une Rose de Kandahar in an attempt to head off her hankering for a more powdery rose.) Other fragrances they share include Imaginary Authors Cape Heartache, Histoires de Parfum 1740 and Carthusia Numero Uno.
They can’t share all perfume, though. David’s skin burns straight through top notes and sours some florals. He does well with intense vetiver (Le Labo Vetiver 46 and Lalique Encre Noir are favorites) and the woods and incense of Comme des Garçons (CdG 2 Man and Hinoki, especially).
Meredith adores Serge Lutens and cherishes her bottles of Chergui, L’Eau Froide, Fourreau Noir and Daim Blond. Gris Clair opened the door to lavender scents, and David’s Valentine’s Day gift to Meredith was a bottle of Guerlain Jicky Eau de Toilette. Meredith says she’s ready for the challenge of more “nebulous” vintage fragrances.
They keep their main rotation of perfumes on a glass shelf in the bathroom. In the linen closet is a plastic shoebox jumbled with empty bottles (“to remind us which ones to get”) and bottles that don’t get used as often.
Where they haven’t seen completely eye-to-eye is on household fragrance. “David wants the house to smell like an old fire in a dirty sock,” Meredith says. David counters that Meredith would transform their house into grandma’s place with roses, lilacs and powder. They both like lavender and incense, though. And they’ve given serious thought to their ultimate perfume: it would smell of “hot sand, pine, funky ocean, and fresh, sweet seagrass.”
The perfume gene lives on. David and Meredith’s seven-year-old son frequently accompanies them to perfume boutiques, occasionally wearing his signature cape. A few years ago, he announced his dream perfume as “flowers — and peanut butter.”
Too cute! Relationship goals right here. And look how much of the Serge they’ve used up! A perfume partner-in-crime must be the secret to actually finishing bottles!
It’s a great excuse to buy more bottles, too!
I would buy that flowers and peanut butter perfume! Love it when the kids inherit the gene…
Demeter has probably already made it. 🙂
I know they have a peanut butter cup one at least.
It would also fit the Friday community project!
A fun one, too!
I know! I thought it was adorable. The last time I asked him, he’d settled on “tulips and stargazer lilies,” but the peanut butter remark was too cute not to include.
I like the wording about modest/ thoughtful collection. That’s my goal!
It was fun to profile a smaller collection this time, just to see how focused it was.
Thanks. That was a good idea. And it makes me think this: if I lived in a major city my collection of decants and samples would be smaller. I’d regularly go out to use the testers at the upscale department stores and perfume shops.
That’s an interesting observation! It’s true–you wouldn’t need to order lots of samples if you were able to sample them in person.
Another great collection article! Thanks Jessica, and of course Meredith and David! Question for them: Do you collect the empty bottles for their own appeal? The bottles are part of my obsession! LOL
Things I noticed:
1. They USE the bottles up! I have a goal to start putting a dent in my collection before adding any new items, and this is motivating!
2. I say whoever cleans the house picks the household fragrances! HA HA (Because at my house, I do 99.975% of the housework, I tend to gravitate towards citrus….LOL) May I recommend Fabuloso Fiesta Orange? It’s a winner!
3. Most important: I LOVE sharing my collection with my 2 girls! It makes the hobby more fun to have someone to discuss, sample, and sniff with! My 11 yr old daughter picked Marc Jacobs Dot for us to wear today, so of course I’m wearing it and smiling when I sniff….
GOOD STUFF!!
These are all great suggestions! I love it that you share your fragrances with your girls, and that they have the power to choose your scent of the day.
Yes. The person who cleans, chooses. As long as it doesn’t completely offend the other party! We accept that in terms of household scent, it is a compromise.
In terms of going through bottles, I seem to like to have a suite of fragrances that mark a period of time…. there is something so sweet about when a bottle is just gone (save a few squirts), and you can then go back to sniff and remember. I like to choose a new scent whenever I go on a big adventure, start a new project, or want a season to be particularly distinct. I have empties that are just memory evokers.
I love that idea! It’s sort of like music. Some songs can bring back a particular place or era.
I love it too! Now that you mention it, I bought my very 1st Jo Malone (Blue Agava & Cacao) last month, and I remember thinking it would be nice to save it for my brother’s upcoming wedding in May. A nice scent memory! Now I will try that for sure!! (Although I have worn it a couple of times…) 🙂
That’s a nice idea!
Aw, c’mon David, let her have a powdery rose!
Sorry, sorry that just happens to be a category of which I am fond. 🙂 It’s great that they get so much enjoyment out of sharing a perfume collection. My husband remains stubbornly loyal to his Van Cleef and Arpels pour Homme, along with Knize Ten for special occasions, neither of which I am very tempted to share. And I don’t think he wants to wear my Misia or Rose Absolue either.
It takes a very self-assured man to wear Misia successfully!
I have a feeling Meredith gets her hit of deliciously old fashioned fragrances from time to time…
So sweet. 🙂
I just bought a three-tier table thingie that I’ve been searching for to fit all the ‘fumes. I’m anxious to show it off, choose me, choose me next!!!
(I really am kidding, I’m relatively new at this game, and I love seeing the thoughtful collections of perfumistas who’ve been at it longer than I have!)
This is such a great column!
I started with a tiered shelf, and it was helpful, but I’m too far gone now for a measly tiered shelf to help.
I’m glad you enjoy the column!
I love that they share.. I will share my husband’s but he is too entrenched in the masculine/feminine scent thing to share much of mine. He does like floral candles, though, and is fine with floral soaps. Go figure…
It sounds like you’ve worked out a system!
This made me smile several times. Such a lovely story. And I so approve of the ‘signature cape’.
The little guy isn’t wearing his cape as much as he used to, but I love it.
This article is just gorgeous. How I wish that my dear man could respond a little more to perfume than he does, but he’s just not that way made, so I love the mutuality (is that even a word?) of this part of Meredith and David’s relationship. Like Annikky, I totally approve of and “get” the signature cape. Perfect!
Maybe we should all have signature capes. Bring back the cape! It’s not just for superheroes anymore…
I wish I could share my perfume habit with my boyfriend but he doesn’t care enough. He also goes through a bottle each quarter.i bought him Dior Homme for his birthday in mid February and it’s more than half gone! I counted 14 sprays one morning….
He must smell like a dream! Whoa!
I agree. I was kind of shocked! I’ve learned to search the discounters, though, and to hide my expensive stuff when hisbottle runs dry.
Good thinking!
What a sweet story! Thanks for sharing it with us. Reminds me of the days when I only had a rotation of 5-6 perfumes, back in my 20’s.
It’s been a while since my collection has been so slender, too. A part of me envies it…
A lovely and well-curated collection. I love this series and thank you for sharing a peek.
First thought was “Look! Almost empty bottles! Wow!”
I know! It takes me so long to empty a bottle. I’m glad you enjoyed the peek at someone else’s collection.
I love this series, Angela! Thank you for showcasing Meredith and David and their little guy. “Peanut butter and flowers” to “tulips and stargazer lilies” — not bad for a 7 year old!
You’re welcome! He’s a special kid. Seriously.
Seriously, these posts are among my favorite on nst, and I am a very avid reader. I love this series.
I’m so glad you enjoy it. I’m a naturally nosy person, so I love writing them.
I am perticularly pleased to see so many empties.
I have always felt like I’m the only one finishing off bottles. There’s no way I’d have the time to acquire a large collection.
Somewhere along the line, I accepted that I’ll probably die with enough perfume leftover to embalm me. *sigh*
Love this post and wish I had a “pared down” collection, but parting is such sweet sorrow.
Oh, I know! What if you suddenly decided you wanted a spritz of Nahema, for instance, but you’d given the bottle away? Tragedy.
Exactly!
(And I bet you’d never guess that I’m wearing Nahema right now.)
I’m seeing whole new stories in the finished-bottle box: Hermes, Comme de Garcons, Anick Goutal…
What I would love most about having a perfume-partner is being able to compare how particular scents work on different skins. So interesting 😀
And, like everyone else, I love how focussed that collection is!
Reading over these, I thought about how much David and I actually enjoy smelling perfume together. We both work with art and design and both of us find smelling perfume a fascinating way to experience structure and form from a different angle. Neither of us are perfume experts, which actually makes experiencing it as an art form really fun. Sometimes not being in the know heightens the senses, catches you off guard. Also, we both love a good story, a sensory experience, or a dip into memory and nostalgia! And, of course, we have Angie to fill us in….
Perfume is so great for that, and I feel like most people don’t take fragrance seriously. (Even if you simply have fun with perfume, you can take that fun seriously!) Fragrance can be so much more rewarding than a plain “you smell nice”–although there’s nothing wrong with that, of course.
It was fun to look at the finished bottles–I even indulged in a few spritzes of Mechant Loup.