Perfume

In one of those moments of synchronicity, I was staring at my bottles of perfume yesterday morning, musing about whether I should - shock, horror - lash out and try a NEW perfume; not half an hour later, I read mater's post about buying perfume at Merci in Paris.

Once I'd recovered from my fit of envy (why can't I be buying perfume in Paris?!), I thought a little more about perfume. A few years ago, Andrew wrote a freelance article which was about bespoke perfumes. Some (not very impressive) perfumer mixed up a few 'signature' scents for him and we amused ourselves greatly smelling them all and coming up with variously insulting names, including 'student accommodation' (heavy on the sandalwood) and 'old lady' (heavy on the rose).

Once we'd started the game, I decided I wanted to test the kids' associations with scent, so I asked them to smell several of my perfumes and tell me which smelt like 'me' to them. Unsurprisingly, it was the one I wear most, Chloe Narcisse.

For me, the smell with the most association is sandalwood. It reminds me of my mother in the 70s (she'd passed her 60s Mod phase and was right into the hippy thing, including - briefly - afro and kaftans) and when we lived in Java. Whenever I smell it - still - I expect to also hear the soft clanking of the bangles she wore.

It's been a long time since she wore sandalwood as her perfume, but I think olfactory memories are like that. Coppertone, for instance, always takes me back to the same era. Even somewhat unpleasant smells, like OFF, can trigger happy memories ...

And, of course, there's nothing quite like a whiff of Opium to bring back the 80s in all their big-haired glory.