i am a woman of vision

Do you remember when I talked about perfume?

Well, yesterday I sprayed some perfume on before leaving the office. My best pal in the office, an ageless gentleman named Donald who enjoys church organs, fine vintage auto-mobiles, whiskey and opera, smelt it in the air and asked about it. I told him that it was my perfume, Numero Uno, and that it was actually a man's cologne, and that I hope I hadn't sprayed too much. No! Not enough! He loved it, to the point that he asked if I'd mind if he bought some. Of course I wouldn't mind. So now, as of today, Donald and I are man-fume twins, connected for life, smelling similar, yet subtly different. 

I also had my nails done today - glittery sparkles - and Donald said "now there's a woman of vision!" Now he is listening to his recording of the Royal Wedding, again, because he loves the church organ bits. Kate and Wills are about to say "I do". 

These are not my nails. 

signature scent

We all know that some smells are incredibly evocative. My mum wore Estee Lauder's White Linen and Cinnabar in the nineties. Those scents take me back to a very specific moment in my personal history, before I became a child of divorce (weep) and when my Mum was a Country Road wearing, slightly hippyish Remuera housewife. I remember, the year of the separation, my Dad giving us $60 to buy a Mothers Day perfume. We bought her Anais Anais by Carcharel, the bottle with the flower on it. With hindsight, I see how strange that must have been for my still-very-sad Mum; being presented with a perfume you knew your ex-husband paid for, by your three slightly worried looking daughters.

Since then, there haven't been that many perfumes that stood out for me. I used to wear Allure, which, thinking back on it, was probably a bit too mature. My boyfriend smelt it on the breeze in London and called me in the middle of the night to say so. That's why we wear perfume, isn't it? 

As a slightly more grown up person, I've decided that most perfumes aren't for me. I don't like the way that major fashion labels market them, as if Chanel Number 5 is a magical gateway to luxury. I know that I like heady, spicy smells, more often found in men's perfumes than ladies. I have tried light and fresh, but they don't work on me. It's probably to do with my own conception of what a perfume should be - it should uniquely reflect your personality as well as your aspirations. I want to smell exotic, dark and warm.  

So I've chosen Numero Uno by Carthusia. It is a mens' perfume, and is rustic and herbal, intense but totally wearable. It warms on my skin and changes throughout the day. I have a feeling I'll be wearing it for a very long time.

jasmine

I'm staying in tonight, which I enjoy quite a bit, if I get past the feeling that I'm missing out on something.

Anyway, I went outside and the air was thick with the scent of jasmine flowers. So now I'm sitting on my deck and soaking it up - we don't have any growing in our garden, so perhaps the heat and humidity is making the scent from a neighbour's plant stronger? I don't know, but it is awfully nice.

Image from Antique Maps and Prints