In the wakeful wee small hours of the morning, what should I begin pondering but perfumes, aromas, smells, whiffs of fragrance lingering in the air, or on skin, hair, fabrics. As my teenage years approached, I was pleased when Auntie Glad presented me with Tweed toiletries, my first brush with perfumes. Before, there had been only carbolic, Wrights Coal Tar or sometimes Pears or Cussons soaps that left their trademark smells on my person.
Then, further into my teens, this same Auntie and my cousin Peg, kept me supplied with fragrances of their choosing - Lily if the Valley, Rose , Lavender and eventually, the one I liked best for many years - Elizabeth Arden's Blue Grass. During my college days this was the smell that announced 'jinksy woz 'ere!'. I bought a tiny bottle a few weeks ago, after many years of eschewing any kind if fragrance at all, and found it somewhat overpowering until it's worn off a little. These days, Johnson's shower creme has enough perfume for me. On the whole, I prefer an absence of smell!
Chanel No.5 was my eventual grown up choice, closely followed by Hermès Calèche, or Madame Rochas, and Panache when the funds were running low. So next time you stand before a row of perfume bottles, you could see if you can find one that will say to you 'Hm.. jinksy might be here!'
I dinnae wear any of the manly things of this nature; can't stand them, really. Mum's got quite a few tho' and I think Lilly of the Valley was once a favourite of hers...
ReplyDeletejinksy - it's intriguing to think back to the many perfumes that i associate with people i have known. i have only to get a slight hint of the perfume and my mind fills in all the other blanks. i remember carbolic and pears very well!!! steven
ReplyDeleteMama wore Evening in Paris...and kept lavender sachet in the chest of drawers.
ReplyDeleteSmells can take you right back. So can music. The two senses that can provoke all sorts of memories.
ReplyDeleteNuts in May
We must be very similar, Jinksy. I started out on Tweed, then moved to Blue Grass - and then we parted ways as I moved on to Je Reviens and L'Air du Temps. Now I am back with Elizabeth Arden Fifth Avenue (bought because that is where I was when I bought it, more than for the smell!)
ReplyDeleteMaggie May is right - smells can take you right back - if I smell Tweed now (it is such a distinctive smell isn't it?) I am back in Beatties store in Wolverhampton, they used to keep my supplied in the old days.
My son, Ted, lives in a small village in rural West Africa where none of the villagers wears perfume of any sort. They have no electricity, no plumbing even. Bathing is perfunctory. He's taught soap-making. (He's in the Peace Corps.) But the lessons in soap making haven't really caught on. He's come to feel that humans don't smell bad.
ReplyDeleteTed says, "Humans smell human."
His comment has opened my mind a bit... and made me significantly less fond of artificial scents generally, particularly the ones that are manufactured from petrochemicals in plants in New Jersey or wherever they concoct them.
I usually choose "unscented" these days when shopping.
I've always loved Lily of the Valley, Lavender, and Rose...especially Rose...if I wear any fragrance at all now, which is rare, I choose a light mist of Rose. ;^) If the cologne or perfume seems a bit too much, I like a lavender hand cream at night and a rose hand cream in the day.
ReplyDelete;^)
LOL, won't work for me, I can't smell anything any longer, sometimes I can tell the air has a difference about it, but can't tell what might be causing it.
ReplyDeleteI've worn Charlie Spray for years. About 25 years ago, Abe came home from a store and mention the young check out girl smelled so good, she lived several houses down, so the next time I went to the store I asked what fragrance she was wearing, she said Charlie Spray, so I went next door to the Drug Store in the cosmetic department where they have sample bottles and gave myself a squirt on the wrist, went home waved my wrist under his nose and said well. He said well what, I said do you like the smell, he said should I, I said this is what the young girl was wearing and he said well it must smell different on an old woman, then a young one, so just for darn meanest I bought a bottle and have been wearing it every since. Actually, I have people come up to me in stores and places and say you smell so good, what is are you wearing. I say Charlie Spray cologne. Even though I can't smell it, guess others with a good nose can.
Happy Valentines Day, hope one of your family buys you a bottle of your best fragrance.
Hi Jinksy, I wouldn't be looking for you at a cosmetic counter because I use all fragrance free products. But I will always look for you in the books I read (Did Jinksy read this?) or poems (I bet Jinksy would have written this differently) and I am learning about your sense of humor the more I visit your blog.
ReplyDeleteTechnoBabe - an email direct could answer all those questions! You'll find me on the profile page...
ReplyDeleteI'm an odourless kind of guy too -- on my good days anyway. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you have this in England... but since I was a kid my mom has been wearing Tabu perfume. It sure does take me back!
ReplyDeleteI love perfume, and always a have a bit on. I know people have strong preferences about it though.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteOnce, at work, I dropped a bottle of "Ramage" in the loos. It shattered and spread its contents over a wide arc.
ReplyDeleteOne office wag called it 'her blamage' ever afterwards.
The pong didn't shift for weeks, it had been an expensive gift.
Now, would a story round that make a post? Maybe not quite)
My 'scent' history very much mirrors yours. But my big disappointment has always been that one can't smell oneself! (Maybe that's fortunate at times!) Now I put on 'Anais Anais' for special occasions. But no-one reels about after a sniff at me, so I think I may give-up that , too, soon!
ReplyDeleteI don't feel I have completed dressing without a bit of perfume.....I love it. I also am taken back many times when I catch a whiff of the after shave my husband wore or the perfume my mother wore.....I love how each individual has their own scent, it tells me much about them really.......:-) Hugs
ReplyDeleteOoooohhhhh, Blue Grass. One of my treasured favorites, along with (like Weaver of Grass,, Je Reviens and L'Air du Temps
ReplyDeleteAll that said, these days I'm more Shalimar-y.
There's something to be said for smelling like a human (depending at least partly on one's diet, I would guess), but I like scent!
Goodness me,l'air du temps et je reviens...now that reveals the age of a woman...also lavender sachets,orchids,and lace hankies,All lovely
ReplyDeletethings.Being a woman of a certain age (old)a life without French fragrance is unthinkable .Unfortunately every type of insect in the Antipodes finds it irresistible as well.
My aunt loved cashmere bouquet soap and every time I smell it, I think of all the visits to her house and what wonderful times we had. My mom wore Evening in Paris and when she came to visit me, I would think of that smell long after she was gone. My foster mom did not wear perfume but she baked beautiful bread and the smell of homemade baked bread reminds me of the times we sat around her table and dipped the buttered bread in hot chocolate.
ReplyDeleteMy husband bought me Cachet perfume one year and it fast became my favorite. Now, I often go the Bath and Body works for some of their items but I still prefer cachet.
Nothing stirs the memory like smells and songs.
My sister in law wore Tweed, I remember, but it never did anything for me. In fact it took years to find a scent I liked. I think it's because I love the smell of jasmine, but no jasmine perfume ever smells good on me and I was so disappointed about this I couldn't see past it.
ReplyDeleteNow, I wear L'Occitane's Ruban d'Orange for 'everyday' use, and Valentino if I want something with more of a statement. And I have a little box of Jo Malone perfume sample bottles which I love - Pomegranate Noir is a favourite.
But actually, a lot of the time I don't bother wearing anything, and I have a very strong aversion to some of the perfumes I come across on other women. They literally make me choke. I particularly hate the sort that hang in the air after the wearer is long gone.
I've always loved Ma Griffe . But , in the rush to pedal off to work every morning , would never remember to dab behind my ears .So I rely on body lotion .Body Shop's Rose is nice ..... but Lush's Karma Kreme is like a cosh !!
ReplyDeleteOne by Calvin Klein for me. Although I like perfumes, I find it difficult to find other ones I like as much.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother always poisoned the air with Eau de Cologne. I remember the smell quite vividly and just the thought of it makes me a bit nauseous ;-)
Ah, we still use Pears. I love the smell.
ReplyDeleteI see that you found the guitar players too! Aren't they great? and sweet?
I use Ponds Cold Cream....and love the scent of that!
ReplyDeleteJinksy . . . just smell as sweet as you are, love . . .
ReplyDeleteHugs :-)
I seem to be in a class of my own with my choice of Diorissimo.
ReplyDeleteI noticed a marked difference when I started sharing an office with a woman a few months ago after sharing a working space with a couple of guys for a number of years.
ReplyDeleteGirls love their fragrances & they reapply a little too often for my liking. Everything in moderation please. ;)
For me, in my teenage years, it was Fabrege...Tigress, Woodhue are two names I remember. Now I don't wear any scent either. I have a lovley vanilla lotion that I use after my shower that is quite enough.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy enough with a pleasant-smelling shampoo. Back in my teens I loved Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific.. because it really did.
ReplyDeleteI used to wear YSL's Rive Gauche but really I've not worn perfume or cologne in a very long time.
Tim . . what happens is . . our olfactory sense saturates very quickly. So you soon stop detecting your own perfume/fragrance etc. So nearly everyone wears FAR TOO MUCH. If you can smell your own "Brut" etc, you stink of the stuff to the rest of us!
ReplyDeleteI think Mama also wore Lily of the Valley.
ReplyDeleteI used to buy Mrs. Rhymeswithplague a fragrance I liked very much called Toujours Moi. I bought it every year until the year she said, "Well, I know what I'm getting"...haven't bought it since. Though I would like to. I would really like to.