My life in perfume

I love smells. Of roses and lilacs and bluebells. Of bread and welshcakes cooking. Of memories. Memories of people or places, times or things. And I love to smell good.


Blue Grass by Elizabeth Arden was my first perfume of choice. Introduced to it by my mum - and for some reason I associate it with my godmother too - I loved its light floral scent. Aqua Manda, another floral but on an altogether different note, came next seeing me through university. Inevitably Charlie - the 'perfume for the modern young woman' - took me through my working days.

I would have preferred Je Reviens - another of my mum's favourites - but Charlie was in my price range. And somewhere along the line I flirted with Estee Lauder's Youth Dew as worn by the elegantly glamorous woman I babysat for and longed to emulate but which was totally inappropriate for a young innocent such as I.

Another Lauder perfume, Beautiful, graced my wrists for a few years but these days, always on my birthday and Christmas lists you'll find Chanel No. 5. Their Allure is a good night-time perfume but for daily wear I stick with No. 5. At least until I run out.

The only problem with No. 5 is that I can only smell it on me when I'm washing dishes. And, I suspect, nobody else can smell it on me unless they get very close. Which raises the question: for whom do we wear perfume?

I like it when I'm in a shop and I get a sniff of something lovely as someone passes by (although my 'oh you smell nice' comments are greeted with a variety of not always positive responses) although some are just too over-powering and chemical. 

Husband rarely notices when I wear perfume but I will sometimes sniff my wrist just to inhale the scent for my own pleasure. So I guess I wear it for me. 


Whoops, I nearly forgot to mention those heady university days when I wore Brut - because, hey, this was the 70s and we weren't bound by gender specifics. And doing a little bit of research for this post I discover that my favourites are all old: No. 5 1921, Je Reviens 1932, Blue Grass 1934 and even Youth Dew 1953. I also discovered that Blue Grass, which I thought was no longer made because I can't find it in airport duty-free shops is still available. Looks like my Christmas list is about to become longer.

So what do you wear and for whom do you wear it?

What Marilyn Monroe and I have in common

My #100happydays photo for today is this:

I found the soap when I was having a cull of my clothes' drawers. My mother gave it to me for one of her last Christmases, probably about 1970. She apologised for not being able to afford to buy me the perfume; this was the best she could manage.

At that time - I was 18 - I didn't appreciate Chanel. I was more into Aqua Manda and Charlie (and they were cheap! Comparatively.) But I said thank you and, rather than waste it by actually using it, I popped it in my knicker drawer so it would scent my clothes. (Do people still do that today? Young people I mean, not those of us who grew up with these habits passed on from our mothers.) I don't think it ever actually made my clothes smell nice. I suppose taking it out of the box might have helped ... Anyway, I still have it and, as I say, I came across it today.

On the right is the bottle of Chanel No. 5 that Husband gave me last Christmas. It's unopened still because Uncle John also gave me a bottle, remembering that I'd said it was my favourite. And it is but unfortunately I don't think it can be smelled on me. Do you know what I mean? It's only when my hands and wrists get warm, for example if they're in hot water, that the perfume seems to be released so that I can smell it. Maybe others do smell it on me but when I ask Husband he can't. (Not that that necessarily should be considered too seriously.)

But I love it and knowing I'm wearing it makes me happy even if no-one else can smell it!