Christy doesn’t know the name of the perfumer who developed her favorite fragrance, and she’s not geeky about notes and structure. She’s heard Chanel No. 5 is nice, but it’s never crossed her path. At the same time, she loves perfume and makeup, and she’s loaded with style. I couldn’t wait to talk with her about her perfume collection.
When I caught up with Christy, it was late Sunday night, and she was ironing school uniforms for her daughters. Christy is a single mom in Georgia with three girls between the ages of two and nine, plus a full-time job. Not surprisingly, she lives on a budget. She’s more likely to buy perfume at the mall than toss down her credit card for the latest $400 niche bottle.
Christy says there wasn’t a lot of perfume in her life before high school. Her mother had allergies, and Christy was the only girl of four kids — in fact, the only girl among seven or eight cousins — so no sisterly bottles to sample. Her first bottle of perfume cost two dollars, and she picked it up while waiting in line at Walmart. It was an Impulse brand — you know, the “if you like that, you’ll like this” type — called “Midnight Something,” Christy says. “Fortunately, my taste moved on.”
Today, she has about 12 bottles of perfume, and her favorite fragrance is Lace, a perfume from the Charming Charlie boutique’s house line she bought at Peachtree Corners. Christy describes it as “summery, soft” and “like a bottle of wine in a perfume bottle.” She also loves the Ed Hardy line, and has all but two from the line. “I would probably die if I could meet him.” She likes the extremes of the packaging — Villain has a mermaid etched on the bottle — and they smell “amazing.” Love Kills Slowly is one of her favorites.
The Victoria’s Secret Pink line makes up a good portion of her fragrance collection, too, including Sweet & Flirty, Fresh & Clean (with glitter), and Sweet & Fluffy which her two-year-old girl loves. Which brings us to another reason she wears fragrance. “The girls watch me get ready for work. I want them to take pride in how they dress and put themselves together.” She lets them spritz themselves lightly with perfume on Wednesdays, which is Professional Day at the school her two oldest daughters attend.
Christy’s favorite season is winter, around Christmas, when she can snuggle up at home with a blanket and read (reading is something else she likes her daughters to see her doing), so it’s not surprising that her dream perfume would be based on a warm sandalwood and vanilla “with a hint of lemon, like a lemon drop.” Her favorites smells in general include vanilla extract and cinnamon.
One of the things she values most about fragrance is that “it doesn’t have a particular demographic.” You can be any gender or age, rich or poor, or any race or ethnicity and wear the same fragrance. "It’s something we share," she says, something that unites us. I couldn’t agree more.
Oh, how I loved this post, Angela….modesty, humility and integrity all wrapped up in one individual with a beautiful perfume collection. I like the sound of her dream perfume too
and it just goes to show that you don’t really need or need to spend a lot of money to enjoy perfume, right?
Yes, exactly! A good lesson.
I felt the same way talking with her! She has a bit of sass, too, that didn’t come out much in my post, but that I admire.
That was fun! Brought back some memories for me seeing the Pink and Marc Jacobs bottles. I’m eyeing those makeup brushes that are in the background.
Christy’s a big fan of makeup–I bet they’re good brushes.
Hi! The makeup brushes are the oval set I got for a sweet deal on AmPrime. Between the kids and makeup. It’s a wonder how I have anything left in the budget for amazing scents. Yet. The collection is growing!!
Hi Angela, my apologies for an off-topic comment, but I thought you might be curious that the idea of cuddlefluffs that was born thanks to your post from 2 weeks ago found its continuation on my blog.
Ha ha! I’ll have to check it out–thanks!
I love it that Christy’s kids get to watch her prepare for work, and that perfume is a part of that! And that’s a pretty vignette photo, too.
I know! Isn’t that nice? I hate to think of the example I’d set, since my biggest beauty secret is that if you don’t do dishes, you don’t get dishpan hands.
That’s hysterical. Little Secret. The dishwasher keeps those dish pans hands to a minimum!!!
I love that too. Way to go, Christy!
I second that!
Thank you Tiffanie!!
Isn’t it sweet? I imagine the little girls lined up, storing up images of mommy’s lipstick and perfume….
That is my life everyday. Sometimes I let them play in the makeup on the weekends. They can’t sit still with excitement!!
Wonderful collection and a great post on how and why to wear perfume!!I share a love for the Ed Hardy perfumes with Christy!And the bottles are awesome,yes yes yes!
I clearly need to get to the store and try a few of the Ed Hardys!
Ed Hardy has to be the most modest yet sassy line I’ve come across!! So creative yet simple. My fave hands down!!
Ooh, I see that Christy shares my love of Prada Candy! And I love that she’s teaching her girls about the good things in life – books and perfume.
Books and perfume should be at the center of everyone’s lives! (Okay, maybe not everyone’s, but it sure sounds good to me.)
I originally picked it up for the unique bottle. After catching a sniff of the actual fragrance I had to buy!!! My older daughter loves it. My middle daughter goes for the Marc Jacobs. I have to keep them out of the bathroom or they will bathe in them
What a lovely post! I loved the perspective/reminder of what is really important in life. And if Christy is interested, I would love to send her a decant of Chanel No. 5 so that it may cross her path.
You are so sweet! We’ll see if she shows up here.
Hey there. I am definitely interested!!! Angela sent some sweet smelling bottles that I have been admiring for days now. You are such a doll to offer up a bottle. I would never be able to get it without feeling a little guilty. God bless your heart!!
Hi Christy- just send me an email with your address and I will send some your way. I don’t have a bottle to send, but I can send a decant from my bottle, and I will throw in a few other things to sniff. (helenpetry at gmail)
Christy and Angela, thank you for sharing. The way we use fragrance, the difference it makes in our lives, is always fascinating and inspiring.
Christy’s girls will most certainly remember her example. When I was a child my mum was always happy to let me sit and chat with her as she was doing her hair and makeup. That’s why I must have at least a swipe of mascara and neatly combed hair before I leave the house.
Oh, that’s such a sweet story! I love it.
That was my mom too. I still watch her primp when we go to visit. And she likes to sit in my makeshift makeup studio and play in my makeup now. Oh how the tables have turned!!
Charming post. Here’s another vote for vanilla and cinnamon.
It does sound nice. (And now I’m hungry for snickerdoodles!)
I bet I’d gain a few hip pounds just by smelling it. I fill the house woth cinnamon branches starting from Thanksgiving until after New Years. I pray for a year long scent that I can use forever
I love this peek into another perfume lover’s collection and habits. Thanks so much for sharing. I also adore the idea of Perfume Wednesdays. ???? If my mom had been a perfume wearer, I would have snuck in for Perfume Thursdays and Fridays, too.
And your mom probably would have sniffed that out and pretended she didn’t know!
Loved this post! And I hope Christy does show up
i’ve always loved looking at pictures of vanities. If I were one of Chrisy’s daughters, I would be obsessed with the Victoria’s Secret with the hot pink top and Mark Jacobs Daisy bottles.
They really are. It’s so weird to see them take interest in my things. I have all brothers and male cousins so I never got to share or swipe my sisters things. They are extra careful with the bottles and I catch them sniffing them whenever they get a chance.
I love photos of vanities, too! I’m always trying to identify the perfume bottles in movies.
I do that too! I always try to recognize perfume bottles! I’d like to know what Bertie Wooster wore but I can never see his cologne bottles clearly))
Oh, good question! What would he wear? I’ll guess Guerlain Eau de Fleurs de Cedrat – simple, expensive, unisex.
I think he wore English brand. Geo F Trumper maybe?
I bet he wore a Creed!
I’ve tried freezing the frame to figure it out. What I need is some sort of CSI equipment that would let me scan old movies and fine-tune the picture!
How neat! I love how she and her girls share a love of perfumes and how she is setting a good example with reading!
I know! Isn’t that nice?
I really enjoyed reading this post! I think I saw her reply to your post on FB and I was hoping she’d follow through with you. I think her vanilla-lemon-sandalwood dream perfume sounds wonderful!
There must already be some delicious perfume like that out there…..
I will say Mona di Orio Lux comes to mind. I might have a sample I can throw in with the Chanel No. 5.
I love this story so much. I would like to share samples from my collection with Christy, including different Chanels. I do not have #5 though, but someone else already offered a sample. Christy or Angela, please, let me know.
You are so nice to think of her, behemoth!
Thank you for this post. I’m intrigued by the Charming Charlie Lace, can anybody tell me more about it?
This is a new one to me, too.
Lovely story, Angela. Christy sounds wonderful. As to her dream perfume – perhaps Shalimar? It has vanilla and lemon, not sure about sandalwood. I could share some. Not super-vintage, probably an 80s bottle.
Shalimar definitely hits the notes, although I’m picturing something softer, somehow. But, who knows? That’s the beauty of perfume–trying and discovering what it is you really like!
So true. The new Luckyscent sample pack is vanillas – some sound quite good and it’s an inexpensive way to discover new things.
That would be a good one for winter, too.