In talking to Jessica — yes, our Jessica — about her perfume life, I tried to squeeze out a juicy story. Maybe her love of roses had to do with an ex-lover who brought her a dozen lipstick pink rosebuds every Tuesday? Or, maybe it’s because she won the Miss American Beauty pageant at the horticulture society? But no. The best I got was that her first rose-centered perfume was Avon Roses, Roses, and it came in a pink bottle shaped like a pig with a screw-off head.
Jessica’s path to perfumistahood will probably sound familiar to a lot of us. She grew up in suburban New Jersey with a quiet mother who wore dramatic fragrances, such as Rochas Femme and Guerlain Shalimar, and a grandmother who wore Caron Bellodgia and gave her Avon perfume in figurative bottles, including the pink pig.
The mall provided Jessica’s earliest fragrances. In junior high and high school, she wore Vanderbilt, Camp Beverly Hills, Revlon Jontue, and Ralph Lauren Lauren. By college, she’d moved on to Ralph Lauren Safari, Oscar de la Renta Ruffles, and Laura Ashley No. 1.
“It was by my early twenties that I really started to like rose perfumes,” she says. “Rosy and sweet.” Rose water, Crabtree & Evelyn Evelyn, Romeo Gigli Gigli, and the first Betsy Johnson joined her line up. Although she dallies with other floral notes, such as violet, she consistently returns to rose. She doesn't get along well with all floral notes, though. Although she likes smelling tuberose on others, it feels like a "costume" on her. The same goes for full-bodied, old school chypres.
In 2002, Jessica heard that Givenchy was reissuing L’Interdit. Investigating it online, she discovered MakeupAlley and soon was swapping perfume and cosmetics and investigating niche brands. She had just moved to New York City and was slogging through her dissertation, and MUA’s perfume community was a welcome diversion. She says she’s continually surprised at how much that perfume people have in common besides perfume. Some of the people with whom she started as internet acquaintances are now friends in real life, nearly 15 years later.
“For a while, I was buying perfume at a fast and furious pace, then it slowed down,” she says. She estimates she now has between one and two hundred bottles, but would rather not count them. She stores them in an old farmhouse cabinet that had been in her mother’s family. For her birthday, her husband gave her a small cabinet with rows of drawers for her samples. She organizes her perfume loosely by house, with one section set aside for special fragrances, minis, and sentimental bottles, such as Rosine Poussière de Rose.
Each month, she pulls a handful of fragrances from her collection and puts them on a Bakelite tray on the cabinet’s top so she can focus on them.
Jessica usually avoids vintage fragrance, because she doesn’t want to fall in love with something that will be impossible to find, but she wouldn’t say no to a bottle of pre-2007 Caron Bellodgia. She dreams of having some Guerlain Après l’Ondée parfum, and she regrets swapping away a bottle of Lolita Lempicka. Otherwise she sounds happy exploring the perfume world at a leisured pace, sniffing her way through fragrances redolant of summer gardens, patisseries, and dressing tables. She’s come a long way from that little pink pig.
What a beautiful collection and beautifully displayed …love the first photograph! and thrilling to see some of the ones I loved in Jessica’s earliest collection (Vanderbilt, Safari, Lauren and Laura Ashley no 1).
You may have found your perfume twin!
…and I’d probably still wear them today, if they were available and/or hadn’t been reformulated!
OOOH! and I just spotted Lou Lou
What a treat to get a glimpse of Jessica’s lovely collection and her charming storage and display! Thank you, Jessica and Angela!
I especially enjoyed seeing the little roundup on the tray, because I do the same thing — select maybe five or six bottles as the current rotation for the season or until my mood changes.
I’m sure you see a few familiar “faces” in the crowd!
That’s my end-of-summer into early-fall rotation — and it *is* rose-heavy, I’ll admit!
The variety and “mood” of the roses is amazing, though. I mean, Ombre dans l’eau and Grace Coddington? Night and day.
I was inspired to do the tray thing, too, from Brooke, another person whose perfume cabinet we featured. It’s such a great idea. (Note to self: put together a September tray.)
I’ve been inspired to put a tray under my rotation, and I have just the one! I have a gold sugar-and-creamer set on a tray, given to one of my great-grandmothers to commemorate her (50th? presumably) anniversary in the Daughters of the American Revolution. I think that tray would serve nicely.
Somehow I feel those DAR members would approve, too! After all, French perfumery, Lafayette, the Revolution, etc….
Thanks for sharing! I noticed a lot of bottles we have in common, and even more that I do not recognize at all (but am certainly curious about). Love how all the bottles are visible at once. Also, the Tray of the Month trick is great for saving some time and thinking power.
I love doing these features, because they appeal to my nosiness! (Whoops–pun not intended.)
As puns go, it’s wonderful, though.
…and embarrassing. But thanks!
Such a treat! Thank you for sharing a glimpse inside yer perfume cabinets, Jessica! I really enjoy seeing these, it brightens up my day.
I didn’t spy Lipstick Rose but perhaps that is left for winter wear.
I’m craving Lipstick Rose right now, in fact! Maybe once my Mythique wears off I’ll see if I can find a sample around here.
Yes! It’s there, behind the Carons, in a red box autographed by M. Malle *and* M. Schwieger, hah! #fangirl
Jealous!!
Nice!Love to snoop!It does seem extremely well curated,I need desperate help in that department!!Lol.Thanks for sharing!
It’s fun to see how people’s perfume mirrors their personalities. Don’t you just know you’d like Jessica by seeing her perfume choices?
Absolutely,and I’m a fan of dark,natural wood furniture myself,I immediately noticed her cupboards and perfume-stash areas!
I especially like the farmhouse cupboard.
Yes, I like it all!
It’s inspiring, isn’t it?
Such an enjoyable post! Thank you and Jessica.
You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I wish I was this organized… with anything!
No kidding! I know just how you feel.
Thank you Angela for allowing us the opportunity to take a glimpse of Jessica’s fabulous collection! Her organization system is one to be envied. I am slowly but surely turning into a rose lover and was trying to get some ideas from her collection. Its funny how the sense of smell appeals to a certain scent at one point and then changes to another. I am beginning to appreciate a good rose scent more and more everyday.
Rose is a tricky note that, on its own, seems to have fierce lovers and real detesters. I’m growing to love rose more and more, too.
Oh, I love this! So nice to see others collections.
I love it, too! I admit to being nosy.
What a great collection and beautifully displayed. I have quite a few of the same bottles but mine are not as nicely presented. Thanks for sharing with us.
You’re welcome! It’s fun to recognize bottles and know you have them, too.
Wow, thanks for sharing Jessica’s organization and collection. I saw a lot of Carons. I wonder which ones they are? Hazarding a guess, I would say Parfum Sacre would be one of them. I also really like the idea of a Focus of the month tray!
I’ll clue you in! The standing bottles are Bellodgia (post-2007, argh), Bellodgia (pre-2007, almost empty! alas!), Farnesiana, Caron Pour une Femme, and Farnesiana extrait…the lay-downsa re N’Aimez Que Moi and Or et Noir.
I still miss the bottle of Meteorites that I swapped away, years and years ago…
…I don’t know what made me think of the Meteorites, but it would have stood near those other Guerlains in the back corner!
Thanks, Jessica! I have a bottle of Parfum Sacre, a green lay down bottle of N’Aimez que Moi, and a really old Bellodgia Extrait in a bottle that looks like the one in the ad below. I would love your take on the Bellodgia one of these days!
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UVttulSHw40/UKZVcsJ4LbI/AAAAAAAAJkk/EkBI3iRCEvg/s1600/Caron+Bellodgia+vintage+ad+atticpaper.jpg
I’m really enjoying these inside the perfume cabinet posts, Angela. And thank you to Jessica for sharing yours!
I’ve been feeling quite chaotic and acquisitive for a while now, so a well-curated collection is very meaningful to me. I’m beginning to understand that while I may appreciate many things, I may not necessarily want to own them, and I may not want to keep the evidence of their existence even in sample form. Seeing how everyone else approaches this passion has been incredibly enlightening for me, and has helped me define my own parameters.
I often have to convince myself to let something go–or not buy it–with the thought that it will bring someone else more pleasure. I did a big purge of my perfume collection a year ago or so, but it could use another one.
Holly and Angela-
Love the nuggets of wisdom from both of you….will bear all in mind next time I think I really need something! Thanks to you both
You’re welcome!
Oh, this is wonderful. I just wish Jessica’s gorgeous cat had wandered into the pictures!
I know! If we could insert photos, I’d give you a shot of Mae West lounging prettily on her cushion instead.
I’m surprised neither of them wandered into the scene! I wonder what they were up to…
Next time!
Thank you Jessica and Angela for sharing this delightful peek into another’s private perfume world. I love the farmhouse cabinet!
I’m also a perfume tray lover. Each month, I rotate a few in and out on an antique mirrored tray my mom gave me when I was married many years ago. I have a photo of me on my wedding day gazing at my perfume tray in quiet contemplation of that special one (even then!). What delights me now is that there are a few fragrances on that long-ago tray that still appear from time to time on the current tray – but now they are ‘vintage,’ like their owner!
I also created a worksheet of sorts to help me choose my fragrances of the month. I choose a scent featuring one of my favorite notes each month – rose, vanilla, violet, orange, etc – and there’s always a green or chypre and a classic French fragrance on the tray. I also use general categories such as refreshing/uplifting, daytime to evening, and even an ‘eccentric’ category that has me choosing a fragrance that’s the opposite of what I’d normally wear. It’s a perfume-geek game I enjoy playing, and I find the monthly tray helps guide – and simplify – my daily fragrance choice and work my way through the collection of fragrances it’s taken me many years to gather.
Oh, so it sounds like rather than use a theme for the entire month, you choose fragrances that punch certain categories, is that right? It makes complete sense!
I love the idea, too, that you have a photo of yourself on your wedding day contemplating your perfume.
Yes, same categories each month but different seasonal fragrances since I live in a 4-season climate. Sometimes I do a monthly theme, too, along with my categories, just to add to the fun!
Okay, this is completely inspiring.
Thanks for sharing Jessica’s collection with us! Camp Beverly Hills! That really takes me back to the perfume and the clothing(I’m from LA). And I’m also loving the furniture.
I notice I’m always checking juice levels in these posts to see what’s getting wear. Looks like Grace Coddington is doing well!
I know–I love how the bottles have actually been used. And I’m surprised that no one has commented on the Enid Collins purses yet.
Extra points for Angela!!
I do have a few…definitely still in the single-digits, that collection.
Beautiful, Jessica and Angela! The warm wood of the cabinet and chest create a welcoming home for perfume, entwining memories. Lovely collection, too!
Wood really does warm up a room. And wood filled with perfume bottles? What else could you want?
Oh, I love these posts, and I am beyond envious of your sample chest. I keep hoping I’ll come across something just like it (practically being given away, of course). Your monthly tray system is very inspiring, as Angela said. My grandmother had a mirrored perfume tray I could have had, but I hadn’t yet fallen down the rabbit hole when we were packing up her house, and why would I need a tray for two, or at most three, bottles?
Now that you’re remembering the perfume tray, I bet you magically see one at a yard sale or thrift shop somewhere!
Such a fun post! Thank you, Jessica, for opening up your perfume closet to us
I can relate to how this community is a “welcome diversion” and the lovely, and diverse! friendships that can form.
Good job on all that you captured of Jessica’s love for perfume in this post, Angela!
I’ve been amazed and so happy at the amazing people I’ve met through perfume.
Hear, hear!
And Angela is an excellent interviewer.
Thanks for bringing Jessica’s collection to us, Angela. I have a lot of rose fragrance loves, and I always enjoy Jessica’s reviews of rose fragrances. I also enjoy seeing what I believe is the RL Safari “mini” teardrop bottle in the one picture. My older sister had a bottle like that when she wore Safari in college.
Safari is such a great fragrance. Such a shame it’s been discontinued!
I know!! It was beautiful. And that *is* a cut-glass lay-down bottle with just a bit of Safari left…a gift from my grandmother.
Such a treat, thanks for sharing! Lovely read. I just love to nose around in other perfume lovers collection
Reminds me that I have to try that Grace rose soon-ish.
And that cabinet.. just loved it!
That is something I dream of when I finally get my own little hole in the wall, something special. I’ll get there eventually. Can’t complain though. Ikea is a students best friend and my perfumes are spoiled with half a Kallax, innlaid with contrasting doors and custum furniture knobs.. totally nice.
It sounds like you know how to make the most of Ikea! I finally found my own dream perfume cabinet. It’s a walnut cabinet that used to house hymnals in a Presbyterian church.
hehe, yup
wow, that sounds wonderful !
Angela, thank you for being our fragrant guide as we peek into Jessica’s life and her lovely perfume cabinet. The black and white framed image on the wall in the first photo is pretty, too.
I was relieved to learn Jessica prefers not to count her bottles. I’m barely into double digits, but I feel the same way.
I can’t bear to count my bottles, either. Too scary!
I did count them but immediately forgot the number.
I like the way you think.
I just love these posts about personal collections! Only thing is I don’t get why people are “afraid” of vintage. If you are patient, vintage perfume, especially the common ones (like Bellodgia), is relatively easy to find and much cheaper than the new version (not to mention way better). Jessica should look for early 80s Bellodgia in the white box with the black and gold sunburst pattern (or whatever you call it). Just checked ebay and there’s a bottle of four ounce EdT from that era for way less than $100 and two ounces for around $50. Caron is particularly easy to identify by box since they reformulated and redesigned in the mid-eighties. For Bellodgia, I particularly recommend the PdT formulation if you can find it. (Love the extrait, but that is more pricey.)
Hey, these are great tips–thanks! The insight about the Caron packaging is really helpful.
I love vintage because I’m able to take the “better to have loved and lost” attitude, but I understand why some people might not want to go there.