Sunday, January 17, 2010

Fragrance


I first fell in love with fragrance when I was a little girl. I remember being four or five years old and standing at my Grandmother's dresser touching all her bottles of perfume that she kept on a silver tray. She had five or six bottles and they looked so pretty and elegant just sitting there. I vividly remember three of the fragrances being Chanel No 5, Estee Lauder Youth Dew and Jean Patou's Joy.

Every time I would visit my Grandmother I would stand at her dresser hoping that she would come in and give me a spray of one of her perfumes. She usually did and then told me when I was old enough she would buy me my own special perfume. Unfortunately my Grandmother died when I was just seven years old so that promise never came to fruition but I did get given her perfumes when she passed. I still have them today but have never sprayed them since she died, I am sure by now they would smell utterly ghastly but because they were hers I keep them anyway.

This might give you some insight into how my love affair with perfume and fragrance began and why today it is still one of my most favourite things in the entire world.

Fragrance can transport me to another time and place. When I smell Estee Lauder Youth Dew, Chanel No 5 or Jean Patou's Joy I am a five year old little girl standing in my Grandma's bedroom. When I smell Ralph Lauren's Romance I think of my first kiss that I had with the love of my life. When I smell Stella McCartney's Stella I remember the day my youngest God Daughter was born. I love how a fragrance can remind you of people, times and places.

My sense of smell is probably the sense I most value out of all my senses, such is my love affair with fragrance. People think I am crazy but fragrance makes me happy and it is something that I could live without but wouldn't ever want to live without.

I started collecting perfume when I was around nineteen. It started off when I discovered a brand called Calvin Klein. I started wearing One, followed by Be, followed by Eternity. Then it just snowballed from there and literally all of my money was spent on perfume.

My perfume collection is pretty big. I am sure there are many people out there with far bigger collections but I currently have more than 600 bottles in mine. People often say to me "but doesn't it go off"? The answer is yes but the point is, I collect perfume for the bottles as much as the scent and I don't really care if a bottle spoils. It is still in my collection and if I love it that much I would simply go and buy myself a fresh bottle.

There are many perfumes in my collection that I no longer like and would never wear again but having them in my collection and just being able to look at them is like taking a walk down memory lane. To me being able to remember precious moments, silly moments and even sad moments by looking through a perfume collection is such a magical experience. It's something I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

I am often asked what my favourite fragrance is and that is a strangely difficult question for me to answer because it is ever changing from year to year.

Here are some of my current favourites:
Jo Malone Blue Agava and Cacao Calogne


Chanel Coco Mademoiselle EDP

Jeanne Lanvin EDP



Flowerbomb EDP By Victor & Rolf

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle EDT

3 comments:

  1. I love Shalimar (the original, not the (but we haven't) reformulated one. My Nan had it on her dresser, and I fell in love with the bottle. I have a mini that I never use, because it reminds me of her.

    I also have an MMS fragrance that I love. I won't wear it, but I love it. The notes include tobacco, honey and flowers. I love it because it brings back memories of Pop out in his chair next to the water tank, enjoying a pipe as the summer twilight closed in.

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  2. hello, pcc. You'll never believe it!!! Do you know that I have come across ur blog by mere chance!!!! I was just looking for any forums interested in fragrance and beauty, which is what i am crazy about, because unforturnately none of my acquaintance share the same passion i have for these matters and they tend to mock me if i talk much about them. they seem to be absorbed in life matters to forget about their inner and outer beauty. anyway, i came across a forum called Adore Beauty and I noticed ur posts and I really found someone who mirrors most of my feeling on the issue.

    When I read ur post here about fragrance, I could really understand what u said about linking fragrance to occasions or keeping empty or even half-full bottles just for the sake of it.

    I am so glad I have come to meet u here and I hope we would become good friends.

    I will tell u more about my fragrance madness next time :)

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  3. PCC I never knew you had a blog! It's Sapphire here. :) I love the way you write. I love this post especially and totally agree re collecting perfumes you never use. I have quite a few too. xx

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