Saturday, June 18, 2011

#blogjune Day 18: In which I mention perfume

I love perfume. I like reading about the history behind it, the different stories about special ones, the design of the bottles.

My first boyfriend gave me a bottle of Paris as a gift. I still like that one, but not on me! The whiff of certain perfumes can bring back interesting memories. I still associate Tommy with the early dating days with DH. My Grandmother liked 4711. An elderly friend of ours also liked it and would put it on my hanky for me, so I associate 4711 with handkerchiefs and old ladies! Only my grandma would call it "scent" rather than perfume.

When I was in Wellington for my library degree there was a perfume shop on Lambton Quay that I would go past on my way to the bus. I would spend time looking in the window at the display. I think I went in once or twice.. Never could afford anything, but sometimes would sample one.

Then once I started work on Greys Ave back in Auckland, I was dangerously close to Smith & Caughy's so that when they had their famous sale I was able to purchase a few of my desired perfumes.

Some of my favorites that I actually own are:

L'air du Temps
Ysatis
Ma Griffe

I prefer light florals and some orientals or chrypres styles.

I haven't bought perfume for years now. After I had kids, I wore it less for some reason. Now I have decided I shan't buy any new bottles until I have finished what I have.

I prefer to buy my own perfume than have it given to me. Perfume changes once it is on the skin so it is best to try before buying. What one person likes isn't always what another chooses.

I am also fond of simple essential oils such as lavender, neroli and rose.

Do you have a signature perfume? What ones do you like?

8 comments:

  1. Oh Penny. Yes. What a timely post!

    I love Obsession by Calvin Klein and have worn this perfume for about 12 years. Its my scent.

    Lately its been really hard to get. Apparently they don't make it any more. Calvin Klein make a new Obsession perfume which isn't quite the same.

    Its got the stage, that when I do find Obsession, its in a place like the "Clearance Shed". Sad for such a fab scent. My husband loves it. People who have known me for a few years associate the smell with me (in a good way I hope LOL).

    How do I find a replacement smell? Lots of perfumes give me migraines. I'm too scared to try new ones.

    I just managed to grab a new bottle, just today:- 100ml for $85 (RRP $146! score or what?). Went out tonight, and wore it. Yes, I smelt like me tonight!

    What to do, when I can no longer get hold of Obsession? Seems Calvin isn't interested in my predicament (can't think why! LOL).

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  2. Anonymous12:18 am

    Certain smells definitely evoke memories for me as well. YSL's Paris will always remind me of my final year at school, when I wore it every day, and the Jazz cologne for men was what my first crush used to wear. I smell it now and the feelings I had just rush back!

    I wore Clinique's Happy to my wedding and still wear it occasionally. Sometimes I wear Green Tea by Elizabeth Arden, but lately my favourite is Daisy by Marc Jacobs. If I am going somewhere special it's Chanel No 5.

    I keep all my perfumes in their original boxes hidden in my pyjama drawer to retain the scent. I STILL have some Paris left, and it hasn't gone off!

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  3. I like perfume as well, but only a floral scent ... I wear it every day :-) I only have one bottle at a time and usually (not always), but generally I switch to a different one when I have finished a bottle. In NZ I often got a body creme to go with the perfume and that would often last for 2 bottles of scent! But over here I find that it's way to hot to use (too greasy), so I don't bother. There's 4 perfumes that I really like - Anais Anais (Cacharel), which I wore on our wedding day! Beautiful (Estee Lauder), Boss Femme (Hugo Boss) and Pleasures (Estee Lauder) which is the one I am currently using. :-)
    I absolutely can't stand Chloe ... it brings back dreadful memories of carsickness as a child/teenager whenever we would travel with a certain person! Oh it was ghastly and it was the only perfume she used. Ghhhh Funny thing is that L bought be a bottle of that earlier this year and I had to tell him that I was very sorry, but I couldn't stand the smell and could he see if he could take it back and exchange it! :-) heheee Thankfully he could! He told me that the sales lady said it was one of their top sellers! (huh ... not for me it's not!) ;-)
    Aunty June used to wear 4711 as well! And Lavender :-)
    Just thinking that this would be a good topic for a LO for my BOM :-) what do you think? ;-)

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  4. I also stopped wearing perfume much after my children were born - too busy and no point, I think. Who wants to wear perfume when you're dealing with dirty nappies all the time? Although I suppose that's exactly when we should wear it! My hubby loves Cinnabar but I always feel it's too "heavy" - I do wear it sometimes to please him. A few years back, a friend who works for one of the top make-up houses (I can't remember which) gave me some rally nice ones - one of them is Anais-anais which is nice.

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  5. My current fave (which I am almost out of) is Blue by JLo. But I really love Tommy Girl. LOVE.

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  6. I am a perfume whore!! Yes I wrote the "w" word. I have several perfumes and I wear a different one depending on my mood. Currently I alternate between Pure, Tommy Girl and DKNY.

    I giggled at 4711 as I had a small bottle of that lol. I also giggled at Rachels comment as I used to wear chloe. I went through a CK One stage, Beautiful, Green Tea, Gucci, Ameriage was a fav for many years.

    I find my perfumes change as I do.

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  7. I looove perfume too and have decided to use what I have before buying any more :) Would you believe I also found a tube of Paris body lotion hanging around after at least 10 years! My signature scent has to be Hypnotic Poison! Also love Beyond Paradise, Love by Nina and Aura by Swarovski!

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  8. Anonymous4:09 pm

    I don't have a signature perfume but I'm very fond of anything with Ylang Ylang in it.

    Sally reacts badly to the components in most perfumes so she uses 4711 when she wishes to be perfumed, which is very occasionally.

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