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?

Happy Birthday, Daughter!

Charlie poses with Harvey and Holly to wish Daughter a happy birthday.

Can you spot the joins?

freezing frisbee

Brrr, it's cold this morning. There's a thin veneer of ice on our pond. I know because I've been outside to hang out washing and play frisbee. It's sunny but still, so hanging out the washing is more for the sake of my housewifely spirit than in any hope of it drying.

Holly and I will go walk soon, all wrapped up and Michelin-man-like. Holly won't be wrapped up of course; she doesn't keep still long enough to feel the cold. My hat will serve a dual purpose: keeping my head warm and hiding my hair.

As I was working at home today I decided to let my freshly-washed hair dry naturally. Not one of my better ideas. Hedge and backwards are words that spring to mind.

Have you noticed how often the phrase, 'not one of my better ideas,' crops up on my blog? I wonder if I have ever had a 'better idea'.

... I have been thinking for 5 minutes and cannot remember one.

P.S. I had mistyped working as wortking; Spellchecker asked if I meant to say, 'wort king'. I'm sorry to disappoint Spellchecker but we don't get a lot of wort kings around here.

P.P.S. Do you remember the new dog bed we bought for Harvey for Christmas? The one he couldn't get on? Well, Charlie likes it. I found her stretched out on it, the sun shining in on her, next to the radiator. She was one happy pussycat. Which is unusual for her, little grumpyguts.