Perfumes I Have Known

I can still remember how excited I was the first time I received 'perfume' for xmas at Grandma Ridnour's. I was eight or nine and the eau de toilette was 'Apple Blossom'. The little bottles of toilet water (as we called it) came in two fragrances. I think the other one was lilac, but Apple Blossom was my favourite. I felt so grown up when we got ready to go anywhere and I had my own perfume to put on.

By the time I started high school I had graduated to 'Blue Waltz' and 'Ben Hur'. I wanted to wear 'Evening In Paris' just because of the name, but it was more expensive. Then I was able to smell it and didn't like the odor even if I could have afforded it.

Avon fragrances were what I wore in my 20's - 'Somewhere' and 'Topaze' were two I liked. When I received a bottle of Coty's 'Imprevu' as a xmas gift, I thought I'd hit the big time as far as perfumes went. Houbigant's 'Chantilly' was my favourite throughout my 30's. I also liked 'Coty Musk Oil'.

When I was 37 I made a mis-step into the more expensive perfumes - I bought a set of Worth's 'Je Reviens' strictly because of its name, translated to "I Will Return". I could not wear it. Many perfumes affect me that way. I try them on my wrist at the perfume counter then have to locate a restroom so I can wash them off.

By the time I was in my 40's and the kids were mostly raised and I had a little more money to spend on myself, I was finally able to purchase what I thought of as "good" perfumes. 'Liz' by Liz Claiborne was what I wore for a long time - and Calvin Klein's 'Obsession'. I would wear 'Liz' during the day and 'Obsession' at night.

In my 50's & 60's I moved on to Clinique's 'Happy' and 'Aromatics Elixir'. I wore Estee Lauder's 'Pleasures' for awhile, but am now on my second bottle of her Eau de Parfum Spray 'Pleasures Delight'.

I know how a person spends money says something about them. I feel so much "richer" wearing an expensive perfume than I ever would wearing a designer dress. i.e., I will spend money on scents but not on clothes. What does that say about me? And what of my choices in scents? What stories do they tell through the years?