My mother preferred her perfumes served up in lotions, creams, or bath products, and she wasn’t stingy in the use of toiletries. Mother wasn’t a snob when it came to perfumes either — she used every drop of every fragrance anyone ever gave her, whether that fragrance was by Avon or Guerlain. I use perfumes I tire of or don’t particularly like as air fresheners; my mother used such perfumes in another way — she’d pour entire bottles of scent into a tub filled with hot water and Mr. Bubble; in summer, when our house’s windows were left open, you could always tell when she was taking a soak in the tub — the scent of fragrant water and suds wafted from the bathroom window into our yard (and into neighbors’ yards too). The moment I got a whiff of L’Atelier Bohème Immortelle, I thought of my mother and her perfumed bathing extravaganzas, and I remembered, especially, the fragrances she wore when I was growing up: Guy Laroche Fidji, Chanel No. 19 and Norell.

Immortelle was created by perfumer Crystelle Darchicourt (who needs to hire a good translator for the English version of her website); it contains tangerine, bergamot, white flowers, pomegranate, amber and immortelle. In ad copy for Immortelle, L’Atelier Bohème mentions the goddess Juno (and her attendant, the peacock) and pomegranates — symbols of fertility, bounty and immortality (the immortelle flower is likewise “ageless”, refusing to wilt even after being harvested). Immortelle, the perfume, is not “immortal” — overall it’s a mild fragrance that stays close to the body, and it needs to be reapplied at least once on the days one wears it…

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