The sweet smell of memory

Over the course of my life, I've had perfume-wearing periods and non-perfume wearing periods.  I was given a few bottles of perfume (probably eau de, actually) when I was in high school, but I don't remember any that I really liked.  They all seemed overly sweet, and I was tough young thing who played down my girly side.  When I was in college I started wearing men's cologne, which I started because it reminded me of a boy I'd loved and lost, but continuted because it seemed delightfully subversive.  I can't now remember my scents of choice, though I think there was a Calvin Klein that I liked for a while.  I was partial to deep, woody, earthy tones.  Sandalwood, tobacco, rosewood.  No sweet floral stuff for me.  Then I moved in with someone who had sensitivity to a lot of synthetically-scented products and so I went several years wearing no scent. 

We worked at Rennaissance Faire, he and I, and there he eventually turned me on to the essential oils and perfume oils that were produced by some of the small craft vendors.  I found a sweet pea oil that was great for covering up the funky body smell of wearing a corset for an entire weekend with no bath in 100+ degree weather, but it was too sweet for regular use.  Then we found this wonderful "solid" perfume maker who sold adorable little pots of wonderfully complex scents in a shea butter base.  We each found a scent that spoke to us there.  His was a rich, spicy blend that he wore in his beard for both the gloss and the scent.  Mine was sandalwood-based, with a bit of amber and some very lightly sweet high note (ylang ylang maybe?) that made me swoon.  Sensual and feminine, but not sickly sweet.  I wore that scent for a long time.  Then I stopped.  I don't remember why.  Another no-scent period followed.

Recently I've been wearing perfume again, and it seems I've grown a bit more accepting of the sweeter scents than when I was younger.  I don't have a "signature" scent, but pick from my small collection by mood.  I still prefer purfume oils over the alcohol-based sprays by far.  Most often I wear jasmine or peony oil, sometimes in combination, that I got at The Gap a couple of years ago.  They were selling small roll-on perfume oils that were meant to be worn in combination with each other.  I loved that idea, and I do love these two scents, each alone as well as together.  The peony oil is very very sweet, but some days I feel sweet.  The jasmine is much more down to earth, and mellows out the sweet peony on the days I feel sweet but more subdued.  I have a neroli orange and jasmine oil blend that is also quite sweet, but also has a spiciness that captures a sassy mood  (this one is Lisa's favorite).  I've realized that I tend to wear the sweeter scents in the summer months.  Flirty skirts, sandals and flowery perfumes seem to go together.

Now that the weather is cooling and the days are getting short, I'm reaching more often for the musky, woody scents.  Once in a while I wear Nag Champa, which I love, but many people hate - including my wife, unfortunately.  My single bottle of spray perfume is fig and brown sugar-scented, but I really only wear that around the holidays.  I have a bottle of a musky, ambery oil (Sultra Samba, it is called) that I've been wearing often recently, and this morning I dug out that old pot of sandalwoody shea butter.  I'm amazed that it hasn't gone rancid over the years I have it.  But no, it smells wonderful.  It still makes me swoon.  And it is bringing back a lot of memories, both good and bad, but memories old enough now that the bad ones don't sting the way they used to.

I wish I knew the name of the company that made this stuff.  The pot is unmarked, and I can't remember.  I recently visited the east/west import shop downtown where they used to carry it, and noticed it was no longer on display.  It may not even be made any more.  Good thing I'm a packrat...

Comments

[michelle medina]

i remember that unnamed jar, and i am glad that it has kept.

i like wearing sud de pacific's vanille abricot, or just the scent of cocoa butter on my skin. it's mousturinzing and everyone wants to eat you.

[michelle medina]

i remember that unnamed jar, and i am glad that it has kept.

i like wearing sud de pacific's vanille abricot, or just the scent of cocoa butter on my skin. it's mousturinzing and everyone wants to eat you.

[Kat]

This is a lovely post. I have an old bottle of my granmother's perfume from 20 years ago. While it's almost all gone, I can still catch some of it's soft scent, bringing back many memories of her hugs and her scent that used to fill the room.

[Madeline R]

Love this post. My "rain" essential oil still brings me back to the friend wo originally wore it and also to my honeymooon, where I started using it. I have a bottle of my mother's "Passion" and use it very ocassionally to bring her back to me.