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You dislike the fragrance but love the memories?

post #1 of 12
7/1/08 at 9:23pm
Thread Starter 
Poison was the fragrance of choice for every second girl in my early high school years. I wasn't overly fond of it then - imagine the combination of that sillage monster, heavy handed teenagers and the tropical sun I still find it cloying and headache inducing. But every time I catch the scent on someone else I remember classrooms with long windows open to the sun and wind. I remember eating peanut butter lunches on the balcony outside the fifth form rooms with green hills rising above us, watching the boys play football in the school next door. I remember giggling and whispering secrets and sneaking in teen magazines that prim teachers would confiscate and indulgent ones pretend not to see.

I almost want to get myself a sample. Perhaps a drop on a handkerchief on the top shelf of my closet.
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post #2 of 12
7/1/08 at 10:02pm
What a romantic thread idea! For me, it's Givenchy Gentleman, stolen from my father's vanity back in the '70's. My first real girlfriend. Drinking beer and smoking cigarettes out in the countryside in the middle of the night. Jean jackets. Cool country breeze. Stars, trees, the moon. I felt like I could never love anybody else. When she fell for my best friend I was heartbroken. But I met another girl who wore Chanel No. 5 and had beauty and a heart to match. That was the beginning of the rest of my life, and many other scents.

Gentleman evokes those memories, but I rarely wear it. I tried recently, but it seemed out of place - as if from a time that can never be again.

I still have a small sample from my father's bottle, in a music box, next to the movie ticket stubs from our first date, and the ribbon from the hair of the girl who wore Chanel.
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post #3 of 12
7/1/08 at 10:10pm
Wow, you are one romantic and sentimental redneck perfumisto! :-) :-) :-)

I have some vague memories of adolescent self-discovery, wearing a fragrance called Heaven Sent. It was a happy time, but the fragrance was truly hideous.
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post #4 of 12
7/2/08 at 5:01am
In Mississippi, where I spent a good chunk of my girlhood, it seems that every girl wore White Shoulders or Jungle Gardenia. I can still smell those fragrances on summer evenings. It's like they should be there. I wore White Shoulders for years myself, and it was beautiful on me. I always got compliments. It seemed that I was always treated like a princess when I wore White Shoulders. That scent did something to boys. A while back I tracked down a vintage bottle (the new formula is awful), but it just wasn't the same. I can't wear it anymore. The fragrance was intact, but time has moved on, and that fragrance belongs in my past to another person, who isn't me. I've finally accepted that nostalgia fragrances don't work for me. I do love gardenia fragrances, but my current choice would be Tom Ford's.
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post #5 of 12
7/2/08 at 8:03am
Confession: Even if I don't wear it, myself, if I associate a perfume with a good memory, I like the perfume anyway. The situation makes it "good" for me. I still use the term coined by tinker to describe myself as a "scent whore."
I guess the same goes for odors of all kinds: sweat, cigarettes, beer, leather -- guy things. Yum. Don't want to smell like them, myself, but enjoy smelling them.
In this part of the world, few people wear fragrance. I guess I'm lucky because the most unpleasant people I have known didn't wear anything, so they didn't ruin anything for me.
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post #6 of 12
7/2/08 at 12:33pm
"I remember '65, everyone was still alive." Wilson Pickett
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post #7 of 12
7/2/08 at 12:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lilybelle View Post

but time has moved on, and that fragrance belongs in my past to another person, who isn't me. I've finally accepted that nostalgia fragrances don't work for me.

Same.
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post #8 of 12
7/3/08 at 10:25am
Goodness, I accidentally started a very similar thread only minutes ago because I hadn't spotted this one--oops! CK One is a fragrance that I connect with my teenage years (when it first came out and was on every young person's "must buy" list). It's light, citrussy, unisex quality doesn't really appeal to me anymore, but whenever I smell this I immediately think back to my first love, first kiss, evenings spent with high school friends...
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post #9 of 12
7/3/08 at 11:14am
No. I typically like the frag but dislike the memories (other way around).
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post #10 of 12
7/3/08 at 11:51am
I love this thread. It ties into the scent and memory bond in my brain that is so strong. For instance if I smell a marsh at low tide I love it because it reminds me of breezy sunny days driving in my parents old Mercedes to the seashore in New Jersey for our 2 week stay at my grandparents place on the bay. The last 4 miles were over marshland, which at low tide was quite "fragrant", and I was so excited I wanted to jump out of the car and run the rest of the way!

Obsession for Women. I never liked it, still can't wear it on myself, but became friends with someone who wore it constantly. Suddently where I had previously smelled cloying and over-wrought, I smelled nice oriental! We've drifted apart, but nice memories remain!

Sung for Women, worn by my mother. It's her signature fragrance. I dislike it, but when I smell it I'm reminded of her, and that's a good thing!

I have lots more...Shalimar (but not Shalimar light) and Chanel No. 5 to name a couple. Also, nostalgic fragrances that I thought I loved until I smelled them recently.They bring back memories but the scent does not work anymore (and there's also the reformulation issue). As someone implied..you can't go home again....
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post #11 of 12
7/8/08 at 9:11am
Opium reminds me of the first trips I took abroad. I associate it with excitement, novelty, sophistication, fun...but I would never ever wear it! Sometimes a certain smell brings me back in time much more quickly than any image.
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post #12 of 12
7/9/08 at 7:55am
Great thread!
I often sniff fragrances that remind me of my past, and have purchased a few bottles out of sentimental reasons. Unfortunately, I ended up giving them away since they somehow did not fit me anymore. Some were too girly, or just plain bad ;-)
However, just a few days ago I tried Bvlgari pour femme, which I wore some 10 years ago. It immediately took me back to the summer that I spent in Rome. It was a truly wonderful memory and the scent 'fit' me this time. So I bought it without much hesitation. I don't think I will give it away since it feels right and I have not grown out of it.
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