I just got on eBay and bought up a bunch of fragrances that remind me of my childhood, early teen years and the start of a new life with my partner, Kurt. They say that our sense of smell is the most raw, real and uncensored sense we have; it brings back memories in a flood with very little editing from our brains. It can remind you of people, places and times gone by with one little whiff.
I think of all my senses, I value my sense of smell most of all for that very reason.
I remember falling in love with Bath and Body Works in seventh grade, specifically the pumice scrubs in Sun Ripened Raspberry and Seaspray. Those products in those fragrances remind me of middle school, a slightly chaotic time. I learned about Bath and Body Works by sharing Sun Ripened Raspberry lotion in the girls' locker room after gym class. I'd never felt something that divine, and I've been hooked on that store ever since.
The smell of B&BW Liquid Talc in Freesia reminds me of the moment I heard my favorite auntie had passed away. I bought some at the mall with my parents, and we came home and received a phone call that she had gone Home; I still can't smell that stuff without a pinprick of sadness and hearing my mother wailing in the living room.
I bought "Limelight" and "Strawberry Lemonade" shower gel and lotion online, which reminds me of my carefree days playing with my friends Jennifer and Stephanie, who always smelled of it. They're twin sisters, and teachers now. It's so strange to think back on when we were just tumbling around in gym class to the Macarena on the radio.
Kirsten smelled like B&BW Honeysuckle. I bought her some for her birthday and she went nuts with it. She also smelled like Clinique's oily skin formula soap. Kiki's mother used Clinique and nothing but, so that's how I remember her.
Heidi, my other hetero-lifemate, smells like Biolage shampoo and conditioner. I smell it every time I hug her and have just associated that smell with her since we met in second grade. She could go for days without bathing and still smell so damned good. (I should probably hate her for that, but I can't.)
Best of all, there's Kurt, my dear Kurt, who always smells like brown sugar and good, new leather. It's so strong or I'm so into it that I can smell it even as he's coming down the stairs to kiss me hello when he comes home from work. He wears Homme Sport by Chanel, which is almost as divine as his natural scent. Still, nothing's better than when he's just waking up, me curled around his back and smelling the scent of his slightly messy hair. That's my favorite fragrance in the world.
I also bought a house oil fragrance called "Pink Hyacinth," which is the fragrance that reminds me of my first apartment with Kurt. I burned that oil to rid it of the old smell when we first moved in, so I associate the beginning of my new life with that fragrance.
My college days were filled with the fragrance of Back To Basics Green Tea shampoo and conditioner and Bath and Body Works Crystal Blue Waters. I showered sometimes twice a day, for stress relief, and my dorm always smelled of Lysol Crisp Linen disinfectant spray.
Right now, I'm burning a "Dancing Waters" candle, also from B&BW, which just makes my house smell, as I call it, "cleanly lived in." I'm not partial to it right now, but maybe in five years, I'll be fondly remembering sitting at my computer in my duplex with my family, smelling that candle.
So... now that my little tirade is over, I ask you... what are your favorite fragrances and what do they remind you of?
silly
creative
warm and fuzzy
thoughtful
crushed