I still remember the first ‘perfume’ I ever wore. I was probably 9 or 10 years old and received a gift set that contained some strawberry smelling concoction that I absolutely adored. It came with a matching lip gloss; much like Bonne Bell’s Lip smackers and I saved wearing both the perfume and the lip balm for special occasions.
As a teenager, I graduated to more sophisticated fragrances like Blue Jeans (and I don’t mean the one made by Versace today), Babe Cologne, various scents by Coty and probably a few by Avon. Though this was the 70s, musk and patchouli never met my skin. Whenever I caught a whiff of those scents, I just wanted to run away.
My first real grown up perfume was Anais Anais by Cacherel. I still remember the beautiful feminine scent and bottle that reflected just how I felt at the time. Other favourites included Jean Louis Scherrer, a fresh scent with a more modern feel, and finally, Opium by Yves St Laurent.
Though I only wore fragrance for special occasions, I stopped wearing them shortly after the birth of my first daughter. A few experiences, like the trial of Elizabeth Taylor’s ‘Poison’ (which truly reeked of something poisonous on my skin) and the near fainting spell in an elevator with someone who’d clearly over spritzed made me realize that what was heavenly to my olfactory senses, was possibly atrocious to others’. That, coupled with the fact the fragrances can exacerbate conditions like asthma and allergies made me give up perfumes for good.
And it seems like I’m not alone. A recent article in the New York Times states that the consumption of fragrances is declining. “Perfume aversion seems to be tapping into a larger societal phenomenon that may have its origins in bans on cellphones and cigarettes: the idea that the collective demands of the public space trump one’s personal space.”
There are times when I do miss using a fragrance, so I’ve been doing some research lately to find out if organic and natural perfumes have less of an impact on susceptible individuals. I have a feeling that they won’t but I’ll let you know what I find out.
