Today we have an amazing giveaway courtesy to Diana. She is giving away a bottle of Frédéric Malle Carnal Flower (30ml, sprayed a few times only, box included). Diana says, “I bought it last fall at a Frédéric Malle shop in Paris. I tried it a few times, and wanted to like it, but it is a bit too strong for me..”
Diana can ship anywhere in the continental USA.
Disclaimer: Bois de Jasmin is not responsible for leaks or damage during transit or for lost packages.
Please answer all of the questions below to be entered into the draw. I will create two groups and randomly draw one winner from each.
1. One thing that has always interested Diana is the mysterious interplay between scent and memory.
Is there a fragrance that evokes in your readers a particularly intense or nostalgic memory of a long-ago experience?
2. May I contact you via email to notify you of your win and share your email with Diana?
The contest is now closed. The winner is KatieAnn. I will contact you via email shortly.
I would like to thank our entire Bois de Jasmin community for your generosity and kindness, whether it means giveaways like this, advice or comments.
102 Comments
Iris: 1. The scent of Chypre Mousse by Oriza Legrand always takes me straight back to a lakeside cabin my family would vacation at when I was growing up: moss, rocks, and a cool, misty smell that seemed to open up my lungs.
2. I give consent to notify me and share my email. August 3, 2022 at 7:43am
eva g: 1. I was given a scarf that belonged to my grandmother about 40 years ago. It smelled like Elizabeth Arden face cream and I loved wearing the scarf, partly for that reason. Sadly, the scarf has lost its scent and I don’t believe the cream is to be found..
2. yes August 3, 2022 at 9:06am
Paige: When I was sixteen I was lucky enough to be able to go on an unexpected trip to New York City, my favorite place in the world. It was August and the heat and humidity were stifling. That summer the garbage collectors were on strike and towering mountains of trash lined the sidewalks, smoldering in the heatwave. I could not have been happier to be there; having the freedom to wander the city by myself (a first for me) was intoxicating. The garbage didn’t bother me. In fact, when I think of that time, I think of the scent of Shalimar Light. My mom had loaned me her precious bottle to take on the trip, and I spritzed it on every morning in the tiny hotel bathroom. For years afterwards, whenever my mom brought out her bottle of Shalimar Light, I would be immediately transported back to my sixteenth summer, during one of the worst Augusts in New York memory, filled with undiluted joy and excitement. I’m now 32. I don’t own a bottle of Shalimar Light, but I hope to someday. And when I do, I will treasure the knowledge that what I have actually attained is not just a bottle of perfume, but the ability to time travel. August 3, 2022 at 3:53pm
Paige: I forgot to add that I agree to be contacted by email and for my email to be shared with Diana! August 3, 2022 at 3:55pm
Ann: 1. The scent of Chanel 19 reminds me of my Mom’s friends when I was a kid (my mom didn’t wear perfume unless it was a special occasion). The scent brings me right back to the 70s.
2. Yes, I give consent as stated. August 3, 2022 at 9:07am
kevin menard: 1. two actually: there is a song on the radio, Ebony and Ivory that makes me smell the ocean from my days as a lifeguard. The other way, the smell of Old Spice Aftershave always makes me think of my father reading Kipling’s verse to me before bed.
2. Yes, I consent. August 3, 2022 at 9:07am
Patricia: The strongest link via perfume is with scent and memory. I have generally only flirted with new releases , never abandoning my youthful choices, usually Chanel and Nina Ricci. …..specifically Cuir de Russe. These heady scents remind me immediately of my carefree younger days banishing for awhile today’s often scary realities.
Yes.Victoria, you may contact me via email if I am lucky enough to win the Carnal Flower Diana has graciously offered. August 3, 2022 at 9:20am
Ugo: 1. Every intense and “old fashioned” rose fragrance make me think of something full of love in my childhood. Maybe it’s because my grandma wore rose water and she was so sweet with me and loved me in a way I just can’t describe.
2. Yes you can contact me via mail and share my email address with Diana. August 3, 2022 at 9:26am
Joseph: 1. This is a weird one but…when I was very small I lived in an old farmhouse in which central heating and air had been added sometime after it was built. The vents were in the floor, and during hot Mississippi summers I would lie in the floor to let the air blow in my face and hair. Something in Tubereuse Criminelle – after the opening but before the dry down- reminds me of that cold earthy smell. So nostalgic and it makes wearing TC feel special every time!
2. Yes, you may contact me via email and share my email with Diana. August 3, 2022 at 9:39am
Lainie: I love how specific and poignant this memory is – isn’t it amazing how a scent can call up a moment like that. August 3, 2022 at 11:23am
Joseph: Amazing indeed. It’s not that the perfume really smells like the air vent…just that fleeting moment before the dry down that gives me a pant of nostalgia. August 3, 2022 at 12:27pm
Michelle: 1. My earliest and fondest memory is from my mom- both my parents had immigrated to Australia from Spain back in the 70s (due to the dictatorship of Franco). Both worked hard to make a living and provide a better future. The life of an immigrant can be tough at times but also full of endless hope. Not sure how or when but my mum owned a tiny bottle of Channel perfume n 5 – she kept a cotton handkerchief in her bag with its scent. To this day, she always always always keeps a handkerchief scented in her bag for when the grandchildren need a wipe.
2. I’m happy for you to contact me
And thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity to read all the lovely memories ❤️ August 6, 2022 at 3:00am
Sara: 1. The scent of Hermes terre reminds me of snooping in my baba’s leather briefcase. It was old and contained his grades from when he was a student and I was so curious.
2. Yes, thank you for the generous gift. August 3, 2022 at 9:39am
Johaboha: I used to wear one perfume for a certain period of time and then move on. I kept the bottles with whatever is left of the fragrances and when I smell them I’m transported to that exact period of my life. The most evocative for me is Blumarine Bellissima, because I wore it when I was studying in Paris and it was a very happy and carefree time. It’s a pretty soft aquatic floral with a ginger accent. Nowadays my collection is bigger and I don’t have such strong associations anymore. I can’t participate in the draw. August 3, 2022 at 9:48am
Elizabeth Elliott: 1. Recently I had a scent memory when I got an inexplicable flash of Lauren by Ralph Lauren. It was a perfume I wore in college in the 80s. I tried purchasing a vintage bottle on ebay once and to my disappointment it was stale. I don’t know why I smelled it but it was like a perfume ghost that haunted me!
2. I can by contacted by email, thank you for the offer! August 3, 2022 at 9:53am
Tami: Not that long ago, I found my bottle of Lauren and it smelled basically the same—if a bit more faint. It reminds me of that late-80s period and all the roses and dusty colors I wore 🙂 I’m sorry yours was stale! August 3, 2022 at 5:41pm
Elizabeth: Wow, you’re lucky to still have the bottle! Lauren is so 80s, in a tailored way, if that makes sense. August 3, 2022 at 6:26pm
Tami: I know exactly what you’re saying! 🙂 Classic, a little soft, a little romantic, and understated—hemmed in, in a lovely way. August 4, 2022 at 10:40am
Kathy Gierer: 1. The smell of Tatiana reminds me of an Easter Sunday when I was a teenager. I had a little mini bottle of it. The smell brings back a beautiful Spring day full of hope.
2. Yes August 3, 2022 at 7:36pm
Emily: 1. The scent of lilacs always takes me back to my childhood in Ohio, when my dad planted a lilac bush under my bedroom window so I could smell the flowers just by leaning outside.
2. Yes! August 3, 2022 at 9:58am
Laura: 1. My first time abroad (I’m from the U.S.) was a trip to Spain when I was 17. There were beautiful orange trees everywhere and I’d happened to carry with me a body lotion with a sort of spiced orange fragrance. Spiced orange still immediately transports me to that feeling of awe and wonder of seeing a new place so different from anywhere I’d known before. It’s a smell that makes me want to jump on a plane and travel the world.
2. Yes! August 3, 2022 at 9:59am
Shirley: 1. Lipstick Rose by Frederic Malle – This reminds me of the makeup my mom used to wear. I remember very vividly I’d be playing in her room every time she was putting on makeup. I loved watching her put on makeup. My earliest memory was about 4 years old. She had this vintage wooden vanity that she kept her lipstick and perfumes on. I was never tall enough to reach even if I tiptoed. I’d start jumping on her bed to be able to look at the vanity. The bottles of perfumes were so beautiful. Sometimes she’d let me hold and play with them. I’d beg her to put lipstick on me every time. The powdery smell of her lipstick always reminds me of her kisses and cuddles. It feels so nurturing and comforting. I never like how it tasted when it was on my lips but I wanted to look just like her. She’s the most beautiful woman in the world.
2. Yes! August 3, 2022 at 11:16am
Brooke: 1. 2 memories – poking around my grandmother’s toiletries and smelling one her favorite perfumes: Jovan’s Island Gardenia; spending much time in her back yard in upstate NY smelling the lilacs growing on her trees every June, and being treated to the wonderful aroma of her lilies of the valley growing in the shade of her large pine tree in the spring, next to her rock grotto/pond. These scents are evocative of happy, carefree times in my youth when wasted time outside was of no consequence.
2. Yes, you may contact me and share my email with Diana. August 3, 2022 at 10:06am
Carol Melancon: 1. Back in the ‘70s, my next door neighbor in the Florida Keys was a horticulturist at Fairchild Tropical Gardens. Her yard was a jungle paradise of exotic plants. On certain nights the scent of sandalwood would waft over to my house, literally stopping me in my tracks, it smelled so good. Whenever I smell sandalwood, it takes me back to my high school days.
2. Yes August 3, 2022 at 10:18am
Jamie Metzgar: 1) In 1998, I was traveling around Venezuela by myself and had jasmine tea for the first time. The scent of it still takes me right back there, sipping it on a balcony overlooking Pampatar. (Scent memories are incredibly powerful for me so this is just one of many…)
2) Yes! August 3, 2022 at 10:45am
Janet Powers: My momma wore Coty L’Origan. She died in 1999 but I have a small vintage bottle that of course brings her to me. Bittersweet. Yes, you may use my email. Kind of you both to offer this. August 3, 2022 at 10:45am
Radha: 1. Remember those old GAP fragrances? Dream, Heaven, Om, Grass (!), etc. They make me think of long afternoons wandering the mall and all the pre-digital tech things we used to do. They were also more complex then they had to be for the market they were for!
2. Yes August 3, 2022 at 10:45am
Deborah (Annie) Oney: Diana, what a lovely offering! Thank you for the chance. Whenever I am a little down, or need a hug . . . I wear F.Malle’s LipStick Rose, which makes me feel my Grandmother is in the room and all is well again! It’s magic!
Yes, I give my consent. Many thanks.
Annie August 3, 2022 at 10:51am
SnowyOwl: 1. In 1992 I was 21 and went to Greece for seven months (I am from the US) to meet and visit with my relatives from my father’s side. The warmth and kindness they offered me have stayed in my heart as havethe memories of walking in the cooled down evenings smelling jasmine that wafts around you.
2. Yes I consent to being contacted by email August 3, 2022 at 10:56am
Snowyowl: Actually I realize I did the math wrong and I was 23! And I recently got Theodoros Kalotinis ‘Jasmine of Athens’ perfume with jasmine and tiare and it brings me back. August 3, 2022 at 11:58am
Gabriela: 1. The smell of jasmine always brings back memories of my parents street smell as well as a park I go to every summer.
2. Yes, you may contact me as well as share my email with Diana. Thank you both for this lovely giveaway. August 3, 2022 at 10:59am
Nubia Roque: As a 15 year-old newly arrived in Los Angeles from El Salvador, I was told to pick a fragrance suited for my teenage life, I disregarded most offerings until I came face-to-face with Lanvin’s Arpege…..the original 1927 formula! I knew then that ordinary existence can be enhanced with the alchemy of white florals and wood…:
I never looked back.
Of course you have my permission to share my email and name. Thank you for considering me.
Nubia August 3, 2022 at 11:07am
Marianne: Oh Nubia, the original Arpege was my first luxe perfume too! I’d sit up in bed at night, my sisters sleeping quietly in the same bedroom, and open the magic vial to release a mist of pure divine perfection. We had just lost everything our family possessed in a bushfire but had all survived the ordeal; we were given shelter by a kindly woman; Arpege brought in a new beginning. August 10, 2022 at 7:28am
Nubia Roque: As a 15 year-old newly arrived in Los Angeles from El Salvador, I was told to pick a fragrance suited for my teenage life, I disregarded most offerings until I came face-to-face with Lanvin’s Arpege…..the original 1927 formula! I knew then that ordinary existence can be enhanced with the alchemy of white florals and wood…:
I never looked back.
Of course you have my permission to share my email and name. Thank you for considering me. August 3, 2022 at 11:08am
Nubia Roque: As a 15 year-old newly arrived in Los Angeles from El Salvador, I was told to pick a fragrance suited for my teenage life, I disregarded most offerings until I came face-to-face with Lanvin’s Arpege…..the original 1927 formula! I knew then that ordinary existence can be enhanced with the alchemy of white florals and wood…:
I never looked back.
Of course you have my permission to share my email and name. Thank you for considering me August 3, 2022 at 11:10am
a.: thank you, diana and victoria, for this incredibly generous giveaway!
1. the mysterious interplay between scent and memory — i’m so fascinated by this, too! i recently tested out serge lutens’ fleurs d’oranger, and it took me back to a memory of a particularly stressful day in HS. long story, but my guidance counselor basically said — you need a break, take a friend, i’ll give you both a pass, get out of here and go somewhere relaxing (! what a wonderful counselor). it was a hot june day, so we went to a local park. it had part of an old orange orchard on its grounds, and we ran to the blossoming trees, drawn by their scent, and instinctively plopped down on the ground — no picnic blanket needed — in their shade, inhaling the scent of the trees and the blossoms, but also of the grass and the dirt, and of the sun on the dirt and the grass and the trees and blossoms… it is SUCH a specific memory, and fleurs d’oranger evoked it. (and so i shall be buying a bottle!)
2. yes, of course! thank you again! August 3, 2022 at 11:10am
Susan Jamison: YSL Paris reminds me of my mother. In the 80’s I went holiday shopping with my father to pick out perfume for her. She probably wanted Opium at the time but teenage me wanted her to smell like roses and romance. I will always have a bottle of this on my perfume table.
Yes! I would be delighted if you contact me should I win this bottle of Carnal Flower. August 3, 2022 at 11:12am
Shirley: ❤️❤️❤️ August 3, 2022 at 11:21am
Lainie: I can’t remember the name of the fragrance — I think it was from Aftelier, but I don’t see it on her past scents list. I was new to indie perfumes and this was a sample that wasn’t right for me to wear but will never forget, it conjured up such a powerful instant memory. It had a tobacco note and just one inhale sent me straight back to my younger days of being a cocktail waitress, closing up the bar after hours, the close air, cleaning up the ashtrays, tobacco and lime and tequila, no one but the bartenders and staff and the musicians packing up and everyone working and flirting and laughing. Then driving home at 3 a.m. and being the only one on the road on a cold late autumn night.
And yes, you may contact me and share my info with Diana. I love Carnal Flower and would wear it with gratitude! August 3, 2022 at 11:20am
Heidi Czerwiec: Thank you so much, Diana!
1. Two scents: CB’s I Hate Perfume Black March reminds me of the woods & creek where I used to behind my childhood home. And Charles of the Ritz is my mom “smelling fancy” if she was going out.
2. Yes, you can definitely contact me if my name is drawn! August 3, 2022 at 11:23am
Madaris: 1. The scent of Beyond Paradise by Estee Lauder evokes joyful memories of a time I reflect upon as the best in my life. In the 1990’s, my children were young and happy, and I was content with my career.
2. You may contact me by email and share. August 3, 2022 at 12:33pm
Camille Dulaney: I remember my grandmother’s pink, green, and ivory bedroom. Her musical jewelry box, the talcum powder she used to fend off the southern humidity, her bottle of Evening in Paris — everything organized just so on her vanity table. Under the open windows flourished her prize gardenias, filling the shadowy room with their opulence. The tiniest whiff of Carnal Flower takes me back to that room.
Yes, you may contact me as well as share my email. August 3, 2022 at 11:45am
Basia: The smell of wild rose shrubs, sometimes called the sakura, Japanese or rugosa rose shrub, takes me back to my most cherished memories of childhood. My grandma was an avid gardener and when we visited her home as little kids every summer, her home being in the peaceful Polish countryside, she had this huge wild rose bush growing against the wooden picket fence around her garden. I stood by it many times just to smell the blooming hot pink flowers. I trace back my love for fragrance to that rose shrub. She is still alive, and she still has a wild rose shrub in her garden, which is still in the same small town in SE Poland. The garden looks more updated in how it is laid out, but I love that she still grows those old fashioned plants that she’s been growing all of her life. Question 2-yes. August 3, 2022 at 11:53am
Mridula: Tubereuse Criminelle was the first niche fragrance I purchased. I didn’t know why I chose that one after sampling so many other beauties at the Perfume Shop in Portland and choosing and carrying a sample of it in my chest pocket all that rainy day before returning to the shop for it… till many years later I landed back in my childhood home in Delhi and smelled tuberose and followed the scent to a flower seller. I knew with certainty that I had stored away the smell and come back to it. Ive always felt chosen by the scent of tuberose.
Yes please contact me if I am lucky enough to be chosen, and do share my email with Diana.
Thank you so much both of you. August 3, 2022 at 12:10pm
Amy: 1. The fragrance of daphnes evokes my childhood – my great-grandmother grew them, and my mom had a plant from her collection in our front yard. They’re prone to just up and dying for no reason, so I’ve had no luck yet with growing my own, but someday I will succeed! The delicate floral, citrusy scent is lovely.
2. Yes! August 3, 2022 at 12:12pm
Alexandra: 1. The scent of Guerlain’s Shalimar reminds me of my paternal grandmother. She was an incredibly elegant woman who always had her clothes pressed and nails painted, but had a very naughty sense of fun and joyfulness. She also made amazing trifles with lashings of sherry. I didn’t know that she wore Shalimar but the first time I smelled it, I instantly recognized it and knew it had been her perfume. It was as though she was suddenly in the room with me, years after her death. Also, the scent of Persil non bio and Mennen deodorant is my dad. He always smells clean and comforting.
A. Yes, of course! August 3, 2022 at 12:20pm
Ricardo: The smell of touberose is the longest scent embebed in my offatory memory. I still remember the touberose flowers at my grand parents porch. I am 66 years old and I still remember! The scent was present within all rooms. August 3, 2022 at 12:21pm
Adam: 1. I smelled Grey Flannel at a gift store as a young teenager, maybe the year it was released, and remembered it being seductive and unlike anything I’d smelled before. Decades later, I’ve embarked on a journey to rediscover its scent, but nothing of new or even vintage GF smells the same. To complicate things, in my unrelenting quest, I lost my scent memory of it!
So I suppose the smell of Grey Flannel reminds me of how elusive scent and memory can sometimes be, and that nostalgia only gets you so far in life. (Though it hasn’t stopped me from searching.)
2. Yes, you may contact me and share. August 3, 2022 at 12:24pm
Halston Bruce: 1. I originally bought the Le Labo deodorant when visiting a lover in LA years ago. I had a series of heartbreaks where I felt like I fell for unavailable men and women who only gave me their part time attention and affection sometimes under the guise of non-monogamy or who overpromised and underdelivered in the emotional availability department (LA lover included). I had never purchased luxury deodorant before and bought myself the gift as an act of self love after a sexy but emotionally empty weekend. The scent is absolutely intoxicating once it mixes with my pheromones. I still purchase the product because it reminds me of the incredible bad bitch that I am, and that I do deserve the finest, even in my armpits of all places. I get an unintentional waft of it every once in a while when wearing it, and it always brings me back to a moment when I finally knew my own self worth and decided to love myself.
2. yes please! August 3, 2022 at 12:28pm
Toni Navarro: I will always associated L’ Air du Temps with my grandmother. She wore a few different scents but this one in particular never fails to bring memories of her immediately to mind. I only have to smell the empty bottle and she is right there. Interestingly, it was mentioned in the movie The Silence of Lambs and so sometimes I think of both my grandmother and Clarice Starling. August 3, 2022 at 12:44pm
Toni: Oh, and yes, you may contact me should I win. Thank you for the offer. —Toni August 9, 2022 at 9:02am
Hollis Sherman: How wonderful!
Scent and memory are so layered, as a new memory is created and associated with each wearing! For me, it is Halston. I wore it as a high school senior in the late ‘70’s, because I had smelled it on my mentor, and she was so sophisticated and modern. I later years, when I wore it I was reminded of going to a wedding with my parents, and even having an argument with my mother. Now when I wear it, I associate it with LA in 1984 – shopping at Beverly Center with my mom and aunt (who, by the way, was wearing Fracas!).
So, to bring it full circle, a memory of Halston now leads me to think of tuberose (only because of Aunt Ruth wearing Fracas), which leads to Carnal Flower!
Yes, you may absolutely contact me. August 3, 2022 at 1:11pm
Renee: I have a dear friend who passed away several years ago. She always wore Amazing Grace and whenever I smell it I am immediately reminded of her.
Yes, you can contact me by email. August 3, 2022 at 1:31pm
Adva: 1. I start college at 2007 and my dad came to fix my apartment and make her ready for my use. It had a distinct smell of the garden out side that no one groom, and some old apartment smell maybe some cedar wood with vanilla. Few month later my dad died unexpectedly, and ever since this scent of wood, vanilla and green garden bring me some happiness.
2. Of course. August 3, 2022 at 2:11pm
Janet: 1. The scent of Chanel Misia EDT reminds me of my beautiful grandmother and her face creams, lipsticks, powders, perfumes: Private Collection, Tabu, Vanderbilt, White Linen. And how she found beauty and joy in books, fashion, flowers, life.
2. Yes, you may contact me.
And thank you! August 3, 2022 at 2:12pm
Krista: 1. Coty Airspun face powder is, for me, the scent of my mother and my grandmother, bending down to kiss me. Both mother and grandmother are gone, but I keep a vintage box of this powder and open it when I miss them.
2. Yes, you may contact me and share my email. August 3, 2022 at 2:37pm
Suemi Kim: What a wonderful giveaway! Were I to be the lucky winner, please email me.
Oh, I have so many memories that are tied to very specific scents. The oldest is the scent of Mitsuko that would immediately waft up and hit me head on whenever an older lady from church would open up her handbag to give me a piece of hard candy (usually a peppermint). I remember a bottle of Dior (can’t pin down exactly what) sitting on my mom’s dresser and smelling something divine in secret when I would spray and she wasn’t looking. There was a French teacher in high school who wore L’air Du Temps which I loved so much that I begged my parents to buy me a bottle of the toilette from Macy’s for my birthday. It was the start of my love affair with all things olfactory.
I happened upon a sample towelette of Weill’s Antelope the other day, and it was a surreal experience like in the movies when a character is instantly transported through time and space to a moment in their life that they can’t quite pinpoint. So hauntingly familiar yet vague. August 3, 2022 at 3:02pm
Laura Iris: I was twelve when I traveled abroad for the first time. My father and his girlfriend had a holiday apartment in Spain, close to Torremolinos. She was a strong, a bit dangerous and very kind woman, I loved her. I have vivid memories from that trip but the most magical thing was the smell of the night: the warm darkness and all the blooming flowers. The parfume that she was wearing was completely intoxicating. The year was 1988 but I’m still not sure which fragrance it was. When I smelled Hiram Green’s Moon Bloom some years ago all those memories came rushing back. I think that magical perfume must have been heavy on tuberose, my favorite note nowadays. Only a year after the trip I bought my first parfume!
Yes, you can contact me and share! August 3, 2022 at 3:48pm
Lainie: Love this! I want to be that kind of woman in that kind of place. August 10, 2022 at 8:41pm
Laura Iris: Thank you! I really adored her and by wearing fragrances I sometimes get the feeling of being her – so self confident and amazing! August 10, 2022 at 9:34pm
Claudia D.: Thank you for the giveaway!
1. There are many, but my most prominent scent memory comes from the fragrance Heaven Sent, a small bottle of which my sister and I each received one Christmas in the 1970s. For many years after, one whiff of that perfume took me right back to that Christmas. Eventually it was reformulated into a shadow of its former self (I know this because my sister, having the same scent memory as I, purchased a new bottle). I managed to find a vintage bottle, and that’s probably as close as I’ll get to having that fragrance in my life.
2. Yes, absolutely! August 3, 2022 at 3:52pm
Keri Destito: Shalimar reminds me of my mom.. this was her signature scent. I can still recall the large round bottle with the gold triangular shaped cap. I thought it was a “old lady” smell but I’d sneak into her room and take a sniff as often as I could! I kept one of her empty bottles and have it to this day! Amazing!! August 3, 2022 at 3:53pm
Roxann: Chanel Gardenia Perfume. Takes me back to going to my Grandparent’s house as they had gardenia’s growing right next to the steps to the front door. Also orange blossom as I had an orange tree in my backyard. Thanks for the chance. Yes you can share my email for contact. August 3, 2022 at 4:18pm
Ruth: I love reading all these associations! And it helps me realize how many, many I have. The scent of Coty lipstick, doublemint gum, and leather in my grandmother’s purse as she let me play with it while we rode together in the back seat of the car (guys in front, ladies in back).
Sandalwood takes me back to a very, very hot summer day in Seattle about 30 years ago. A friend took me with her to hear and meet an elderly yogini who was giving a talk at a Quaker meeting house. The room was very crowded (=doubly hot) but her talk was soul filling. When she was done, everyone lined up to greet her with a hug. She and her sari smelled of sandalwood, and to this day the combination of heat and sandalwood transport me back to the beauty of her gentle hug.
Yes, you may contact me! And Diana, thank you for your generosity. xo August 3, 2022 at 4:34pm
Julia: Oh how kind, Diana! I have a very clear scent memory from my childhood in Coral Gables, Florida where I grew up. This memory is the smell of extremely hot asphalt pavement after a rain. It didn’t rain a lot there like it does where I live now, in the Pacific Northwest. I don’t get the exact same smell of that super hot, sun baked asphalt hit with cool rain. When I do in travels to hot climates, it brings me straight to memories of riding my bike up and down the sidewalks happily as a young child in the french Village where I grew up.
And yes, you can contact me, thank you! Julia August 3, 2022 at 5:24pm
Julia: Oh, I just read others replys and you meant a perfume. My Mother wore Miss Dior and it is forever *her* in my scent memory bank as far as a perfume goes. August 3, 2022 at 5:29pm
Panna: 1. Neroli Portofino reminds me of my childhood in the Philippines. As babies/young kids we were splashed liberally with Spanish colognes like Nenuco, Denenes, Gotas dr Oro, etc to help us cool down. I remember carrying small bottles even into high school/university, so refreshing in the warm climate. I would share with classmates and refill them from the half-liter bottles scattered in different rooms at home. When my mother had a bespoke dressing table made for my 18th birthday, one of the drawers was made specifically tall enough to house these half-liter bottles of cologne. 😊
2. Yes. Thank you for this lovely giveaway. August 3, 2022 at 5:39pm
Tam: My grandmother always wore Shalimar. Smelling that powdery softness will bring back memories of loving hugs. I will always associate powdery scents with my grandmother., she always smelled so good.
Thank you for your consideration, you can contact me via email. August 3, 2022 at 6:37pm
Theresa: 1.Ysl Champagne reminds me of my college days. I spritz every so often to get that feeling of youthful optomism. I always remember shopping with my roomate and sniffing all the perfumes and walking away with one of those red and black bags with minis. Wish i kept it!
2. Yes & thank you Diana for the giveaway August 3, 2022 at 6:51pm
Wanda Jones: EL Youth Dew will always be in my mind as my mamas perfume. She always, always had the oil, spray, and powder. We lost her this past September due to Alzheimer’s. But when I smell my own ELYD spray I think of her. Good memories. You have my permission to contact me. Thank you!! August 3, 2022 at 7:02pm
Ana: What a kind and lovely idea to allow us to reminisce of times gone by.
For me, Miss Dior will always have a place in my heart because it was my sister’s signature scent. My sister was a petite, delicate boned, very intelligent lady with a big heart. She was earthy, passionate, compassionate, and very classy, and Miss Dior suited her personality and body chemistry, smelling wonderful on her. Though she is gone almost 3 decades now, I can still smell this scent on her wedding gown from over 40 years ago. When I open the box it is stored in, I am greeted with a whoosh of spring and memories of my lovely sister. For that main reason, I will always love this scent. It is as beautiful as she was.
Yes, I give consent, and thank you again for your kind and generous offer. August 3, 2022 at 8:38pm
Emily: I already have some Carnal Flower & adore it so don’t need to enter the giveaway, but love thinking about smell & memory.
I was a shy, bookish child & had friend who was one, too. We would hang out reading books for hours side by side in the ivy behind her house. One of the first fragrances I fell for was Andrea Maack’s Coven. That crushed ivy opener took me right back to those quietly comfortable afternoons with my old friend. August 4, 2022 at 5:45am
donna m macdonald: 1. When I was very young (15), I was invited to spend a holiday week at my friend’s parents’ seaside cottage. I was having the time of my life but was haunted by the delicate perfume worn by my friend’s great aunt, an elderly elegant woman with white hair, also a guest. At the end of my week’s stay, the aunt gifted me with her bottle of Coty’s L’Aimant. At 15, I had never seen such a beautiful tall bottle of perfume. The aunt told me that I was young and lovely and since I loved the fragrance, I should have it. I didn’t recall this until 25 years later when I found the same perfume in a friend’s cache of empty perfume bottles. When my hand reached for it and inhaled the remnants of the scent inside, I wept. Suddenly, I was in a windswept cottage by the sea where an older wiser woman at the end of her life, blessed a younger woman at the start of hers with the joy of fragrance. It was as though I was standing on the weathered porch of the old house again and 15.
2. Yes! August 4, 2022 at 9:16am
Jeanine Bright: What a lovely thread of comments! I almost don’t care if I win!
When I smell Estee Lauder’s Youth Dew I am transported to my family home in the 70’s. It was her signature scent, and I can imagine it right now, and see her descending the stairs, wearing a beautiful, body-skimming dress, her hair perfect. She has big, beautiful earrings, and she is ready to go out with my dad. I always thought she was the most elegant woman in the world.
Of course you can use my email and share it as needed.
Thank you for the generous offer and opportunity to enjoy others’ memories! August 4, 2022 at 10:40am
Bastet: Chanel No. 5 always reminds me of my Grandmother – she rarely wore any other perfume, and her entire house smelled faintly of No. 5.
Yes, you can contact me via email if I am lucky enough to win this generous give-away (or for any other reason). Thanks! August 4, 2022 at 11:22am
Elisabetta Luciani: 1. During the hypnose therapy I went to in 1999 in order to overcome a traumatic experience, the therapist asked me to go back in time. My mind visualized a hill on a grey and rainy day and a woman (myself?) in a 1928 car.
I took it as a mind trick and I gave zero importance to the episode.
Fast forward to this spring, I sniffed Berlin Im Winter by Baruti for the first time and immediately my knees buckled: there I was, on that hill, that 1928 car, on a cold and grey day.
I had to sit down. I haven’t bought the perfume yet, it scared me.
2. Yes August 4, 2022 at 11:27am
Kimberley Evangelista: 1. When I went to college, the whole campus was red brick and boxwood hedges. Even today, 30 years later, whenever I smell boxwood I am transported back to my college days.
2. Yes, please feel free to share my contact info. Thanks! August 4, 2022 at 11:29am
Daphne Phillips: 1. I have a small bottle of vintage Emeraude to remind me of my mom, who wore it all the time in the 70s, along with a fluffy blue peignoir. Utter glamour! I also have some Emeraude powder, which smells great even though it’s new, and wear that after a bath sometimes.
2. Yes, please contact me if I am lucky enough to win! August 4, 2022 at 1:56pm
Heather O’Donnell: 1. The first scent that I remember my late mother wearing is Giorgio. When I smell it now if think of standing in her closet in my childhood home staring at the poster of a man in a leather vest, sans shirt, I believe was Tom Selleck. Her clothes emanating Giorgio.
2. You may use my email. August 4, 2022 at 3:20pm
Kim: 1. The smell of L’Occitane’s green tea perfume reminds me of a trip to Austin, Texas, as I wore it every day while visiting a friend there.
2. Yes, I consent. Thank you! August 4, 2022 at 6:40pm
Archi: 1. My mother wore Mystere by Rochas when she and my father went out to dinner or parties. The scent always reminds me of my mother in a beautiful dress and heels. I smell it less and less frequently as it has been discontinued for a while and it makes it so much more poignant when I do catch a scent.
2. Yes August 4, 2022 at 9:32pm
madtowngirl: 1. My mom wears Lancôme Miracle and if I ever smell it in a department store or on a passerby, I instantly feel like my mom is near by. Even my kids when they smell that perfume will say “it smells like nana.”🥰
2. Yes, you may contact me. Thank you for the opportunity at this giveaway! August 5, 2022 at 10:07am
Anna Egeria: My mother wore Shalimar and it’s probably my strongest scent memory.
In my teen years, I wore Jungle Garden by Tuvache and
tuberose always carries me back to my carefree glory days.
Yes, you may use my email. Thank you Diana and
Victoria. August 5, 2022 at 10:46am
Leonel Escota: My mother wore Opium so I am alway reminded of her when I smell it. She also wore Forever Krystle and it gives me same memories.
Whenever I smell Angel, I am reminded of my first love. I wore that during that time,
Yes please contact me via my email address August 5, 2022 at 2:54pm
drtvrmoi: 1. At university, my roommate broke my new bottle of YSL’s Rive Gauche in our bedroom clothes closet. I smelled like Rive Gauche for the entire sophomore year of college.
2. Yes, you may use and share my email August 5, 2022 at 6:14pm
Michelle: 1. My earliest and fondest memory is from my mom- both my parents had immigrated to Australia from Spain back in the 70s (due to the dictatorship of Franco). Both worked hard to make a living and provide a better future. The life of an immigrant can be tough at times but also full of endless hope. Not sure how or when but my mum owned a tiny bottle of Channel perfume n 5 – she kept a cotton handkerchief in her bag with its scent. To this day, she always always always keeps a handkerchief scented in her bag for when the grandchildren need a wipe.
2. I’m happy for you to contact me
And thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity to read all the lovely memories ❤️ August 6, 2022 at 3:03am
Brigitte: SSS Forest Walk takes me back to my parents’ summer cottage in the mountains where I spent every summer of my childhood. Yes you may contact me via email. August 6, 2022 at 3:40am
Brigitte: and yes to sharing my email August 6, 2022 at 3:43am
Albi: 1. The smell of lily of the valley brings back happy memories of my childhood and grandmother. There isn’t a particular perfume that comes to mind because unfortunately I don’t remember what she wore. I just know it smelled so beautiful.
2. Yes August 6, 2022 at 11:46am
Jennifer: 1. Tea Rose by Perfumer’s Workshop is one of the most symbolically nostalgic fragrances for me. During my childhood, this was both my mother and grandmother’s signature perfume, and I remember, as a little girl, watching my grandmother’s daily routine of powdering her face and applying lipstick (Lancôme, which were also rose-scented) with relentless fascination. As a result, for my entire life, this vintage scent of rose has represented femininity and motherhood to me, and I can’t wear a rose perfume without thinking of the women who raised me. When my grandmother’s health faded and she passed away in hospice, I spritzed Frédéric Malle’s Une Rose for her every day to sweep away the astringent hospital smell that pervaded her room, and it always gave a little bit of brightness to her last days because it reminded her (and me) of the days when she was an independent social butterfly. Rose perfumes still aren’t very fashionable among the young today, but the powerful memories I associate with rose are indelible, and I will always wear some to think of my grandmother when I miss her, and want to feel her presence.
2. I consent to your sharing my email with Diana. August 7, 2022 at 7:41pm
Aimee L’Ondee: 1. Lilac always takes me back to vivid memories of early summer at my Grandma’s little house, where she had enormous lilac bushes. Books, swims, walks to get ice cream.
2. I consent to sharing my email.
Thanks for the giveaway! August 8, 2022 at 8:22am
Ashley: 1. Mugler Angel is forever tied to the woman who I think of as the first lover of consequence in my life. She would pour it on and turn heads when she walked into any space. She broke my heart wide open and I keep a bottle of Angel on my dresser just to wear on the very few occasions I want to remember how dire, immediate, and necessary she felt.
2. Yes of course! August 8, 2022 at 1:27pm
My1stGradeTeacher: Mrs. Hauer (née Costello) was my 1st grade teacher from ’76-’77. She was the biggest influence in my life. I’m still on a journey figuring out what her signature fragrance was (got some good leads here:). Mrs. Hauer was the 1st person who showed me love & affection, me coming from a turbulent family. Who knows, if it weren’t for this blessing in my life I may have turned out to be a psychopath. August 8, 2022 at 10:29pm
Paul Schick: 1. Mitsouko. Teacher in grade school wore it back in the 70s in CH. 2. Yes. August 9, 2022 at 10:54am
KatieAnn: 1. I lived part of my childhood in the country. The scent of lilacs and sweet hay always take me back. Estée Lauder Youth Dew reminds me of my grandmother. White Linen will always remind me of my mother.
2. Yes, you may contact me.
Thank you for the very kind and generous giveaway. August 9, 2022 at 11:08am
Theresa: Is it too late to enter this very generous giveaway? If not, thank you anyway, Diana for your kindness!!
1. I have very strong memories connected with the old fragrance BlueGrass by Elizabeth Arden which was my eldest sister’s favorite scent. She died at the age of 50, so smelling her old bottles (which I saved) makes me think of her. I remember when we bought them in the early 90s when the scent came back after being discontinued for some years. She stocked up and bought every bottle she could find!
2. Yes, by all means you may contact me! August 9, 2022 at 11:09pm
tess: Thank you, Diana, for your generous offer and for this prompt! Reading the recollections of others and the fragrances that remind them of those who loved them and those they once loved, I am struck with the scent of Nivea and the memories of my own great grandmother, whom I adored, slathering it across her face and arms every evening. She said it was the secret to never getting old and she remained radiant her entire life. Mind you that this is advice other members of my family have since tried to replicate to lesser success….
I am enjoying so much reading everyone’s thoughts. I would be glad to share my email if need be. Thanks to all for sharing their memories. August 9, 2022 at 11:50pm
Mary B: Feminite du Bois reminds me of Virginia in the United States where I am from. We used to have a cedar Christmas tree every year. My grandparents had a furniture store and sold cedar chests and the smell of cedar brings back happy memories. Yes, please share my email if I am lucky enough to win. August 9, 2022 at 11:58pm
Geoff: 1. My first fragrance purchase was Ralph Lauren Polo Green in 1981 as a freshman in high school (original release). I just got a vintage Cosmair bottle and was instantly transported back to my formative years. A brilliant perfume.
2. Yes August 10, 2022 at 2:08am
Nadja: Thank you so much for the giveaway! And it has been a pleasure to read people’s scent memories.
1) The smell, both sharp and dusty, of eucalyptus makes me instantly nostalgic for the few precious days my mom and I would skip school and head to San Francisco for the day.
2) You may contact me! August 10, 2022 at 7:17pm
Sydney R.S. Kopera: Sydney 1. Fracas. The smell of fracas will forever be my grandmothers hugs. It’s funny now that I know that it’s one of the sexiest perfumes ever made, because for me it will always smell like comfort and love.
2. You may contact me! August 10, 2022 at 7:52pm
Annie: Thank you so much for your generosity!
1. One big scent memory is of Christmas as a little girl. Even then, I was a little perfumista. My parents gave us money to purchase gifts for each one and Mom was given Ambush. She loved and wore Chanel #5, but I think it was a gift from her child that kept Ambush in the game til it was reformulated. I found mountains of it on vintage sites and she wasn’t without it. When I visit my parents’ grave, I try to remember to put a little Ambush and Old Spice there. Like the old days.
2. Yes.
I’m going to bookmark this page. Its beautiful. August 10, 2022 at 11:47pm