Perfume and my ridiculous sense of smell.

I have a ridiculous sense of smell. Just ask my husband. I can smell anything a mile off which is both good (when it is something yummy- like cake, and very bad when it is a stinky perfume.)

My very good friend Claire was concerned last week because a lady at the checkout said her perfume was lovely and asked what it was. Claire's question was-" Should your perfume be strong enough that people comment on it?"

Good question Claire. Should only someone who is close to you smell your fragrance , or should it be strong enough for everyone to smell? I think the answer lies quite simply with this statement. It depends on whether or not your perfume is stinky. It is as easy as that.

So what makes a stinky perfume? I think it comes down to strength, and also cost. Nothing smells cheaper than a cheap perfume. Or Red Door. Nothing smells worse then Red Door.

                            And the award for the worst perfume in the world goes to Red Door.

Smell is an amazing thing. It can be amazing, it can be awful (just like my classroom after I have had Year 8 boys in it), it can evoke a happy time, a sad time, or remind you of someone you love.  So I have created for you my list of fragrance memories.

This is the first perfume I remember. It was worn by my Great Grandma. 

This is my mums perfume. She wore this forever, and some time she does now, as my brother managed to find her a bottle in his travels. Someone else tried to copy her fragrance and wore this. It confused my senses, I felt compelled to tell them that they were not my mother and to go and wash it off.

Youth Dew- God I loved this when I was younger. For one of my birthday's when I was little my mum bought me the powder and it came with a puff and everything.I felt like a princess. I bought a bottle when I worked for Estee Lauder. I wore it once and then realised I smelt like a grandma. Or a 40 year old women who lived with her mother and their cats. And hoarded stuff.

Opium gets a mention because this reminds me of school. Anyone who went to MLC in the 80's will remember Mrs Hardy wafting into the classroom drowned in Opium. You could smell her a mile away. Seriously.

Around about the late 80's early 90's fragrance was heavy and musky. Remember how I told you about my ridiculous sense of smell? Well this makes me to get migraines from certain scents. I worked for Estee Lauder and I had to quit because the perfumes would give me a migraine. This was the worst offender.

 I had a bottle of Tresor and I loved it. I don't think it is wearable today because it is too heavy- but they have released some other versions and Tresor in Love is one of my summer fragrances. ( Yes I do have summer and winter perfumes)

Lou Lou, I never owned it but nothing said the late 80's like that blue bottle.

Ahhh Beautiful. Nothing said wedding in the 90's like Beautiful. It was marketed as the wedding fragrance and it was a given that all Brides wore it. I wore it on the day of my first wedding on 1991. Needless to say I have never worn it since.

Cliniques Aromatics Elixier gets a mention for a few different reasons. I used to work for Clinique, so I had to wear it, one of my mums friends wore it when I was little and a friend of mine also used to wear it. It was her signature scent. Everytime I smell it I still expect to see her somewhere.

White Musk. I used to work at The Body Shop. We used to sell it by the truckload. I can still smell it from 100 meters.


The Chanel family. As a rule I love Chanel. I can wear them without getting a headache, and Coco and Coco Mademoiselle are my all time favourites. (yes one is for Winter and the other is for Summer), but I have to admit I hate Chanel No 5. I think it smells like old lady. I like the bottle though...

Coco Mademoiselle for Summer

Daisy in all its incarnations remind me of my daughter Laura. It smells fresh and young and light, and the bottles are so damn cute.

My final perfume to rate a mention is Britany Spears Curious. I can't help it. I love it. It smells like chocolate and cake. I would never wear it myself, but love it when I smell it. Did you know that Britany makes a fortune from her perfumes? This is one of the weird things because she looks like she would smell of doughnuts, and yet she is a fragrance mogul (we are talking millions here). Kind of like Jessica Simpsons clothing line making her a billionaire. She has next to no dress sense but makes kazillions. Victoria Beckham must be crying into her black coffee.

So to answer your question Claire, I think people should be able to smell you (because after a while you can no longer smell your fragrance on yourself) It becomes your identity and tells people a little bit about you. So whether you drown yourself in it, layer it, walk into it, or put it on your pulse points (but not your neck because when the sun hits it, it will discolour- your skin, not the perfume) I think perfume is really important. Just no Red Door.

My fragrance collection. I also have a summer and winter Chloe , and there is also a bottle of Hello Kitty and One Direction. They are not mine. They are Indi's. We always perfume together in the mornings before school.

What's your favourite?