Searching for the Signature Scent

Starting out to find a new scent to replace Miss Dior was an interesting and fun experience. Miss Dior was launched in 1957. Come to think of it, so was I. This put me in the 'mature but not old' age ranks. It was time to find something new, something from this century.

The search was interesting because the human nose can discern maybe 4 or 5 different scents before getting totally confused and muddled. Sniffing coffee beans (many fragrance counters keep them on hand) resets the sense of smell, but after too many I started to get a headache. So every time I would buy toothpaste or whatever at Shoppers Drug Mart I would wander over to the fragrance section and spray two or 3 samples on my wrists. A couple more scents would be sprayed on little paper blotters.

One of the cosmeticians at Shoppers' (Nancy) is actually an acquaintance of mine. We both went to adult's ice skating for a couple of years when my daughter was starting school. Nancy has been a great help, giving me samples of this and that to try at home, which made the search simpler.

The fun part was the hunt itself. There was a staggering number of fragrances to choose from, with new ones being introduced constantly. Which scent would win me over and replace Miss Dior? How many fragrances would I have to try before I found The One?

Starting out, one scent I really liked was Dolce & Gabbana's Light Blue, which was a popular scent of choice at work. Unfortunately, it didn't like me - the scent disappeared almost as fast as I put it on. Light Blue was relegated to the 'like it but can't wear it' list.

Around that time my daughter was given Vera Wang's Princess for Christmas. It's a lovely scent, and naturally I tried it on but something was amiss. I liked it, but realized that the vanilla-laden scent was too young for me. This caught me by surprise, but then again, I had been wearing Miss Dior since 1984 and that was 25 years ago. I'd aged as well: I was separated, living in a cosy little house with my daughter and cat. I had returned to the job market after being a stay at home mom, so new experiences and many life changes were the norm.

It was definitely time for "something completely different".

Gran Whit

Something from the past: Elsie Amy Davies Whitaker, better known as Gran Whit, was a great-grandmother of mine who passed away at the age of 100 in 1988. Why do I mention her? She represents my earliest known recollection of a distinct scent long forgotten.

Tabu by Dana - that was the only scent Gran ever wore, and she wore it liberally. When I was a young girl, she used to give me the perfume bottles when they were empty so I could play at 'making' perfume. I used to love looking at the pretty sapphire-blue teardrop shaped bottles with the exotic-sounding name...Tabu.

A year ago while shopping in Walmart, I came upon a not-bad selection of fragrances in the Cosmetics section. Some luxe brands were tucked away in glass cases, while the less pricey brands were on store shelves. I picked up a miniature bottle of Juicy Couture perfume priced at $9.33. This was one scent I had put on my "like" list during my search for the new Signature Scent.

Then I looked down at the bottom shelf, and there was a small box of Tabu by Dana. I picked it up, looked around, opened the box, unscrewed the lid and took a whiff.

In an instant I pictured Gran at Christmas - this vision of a 5 foot tall barrel-chested Yorkshire-born matron, reeking of Tabu, saying the Yorkshire toast in her loud, shrill voice: "Here's tiv us, all on us, me and all..." My grandmother would always roll her eyes to the ceiling during the toast and I used to struggle not to laugh. It was hard to tell which was funnier: Gran's booming, high-pitched voice, or the faces my grandmother would make at her mother-in-law.

I closed the bottle and the box and put it back on the shelf. The beautiful blue bottle was no more, replaced by a plain round glass atomizer. I was kicking myself for getting rid of the bottles Gran gave me until I saw the show Hoarders on A&E. So, I'll just keep my memories where they are, and no, I wouldn't buy Tabu anyway. It's in the "nope" section of the Signature Scent list because it belongs to Gran, not me.

"Here's tiv us...."

Hello, Bonjour!

Ever since I was a girl of about 6, I have had a love of perfumes and fine fragrances. Certain scents are engraved in my memory; just a whiff of something sweet can trigger specific memories of people or events - good, bad or in-between.

When I was about 8, I can recall trying to make my own perfume: I got a small glass jar with a glass lid, combined some water, baby powder, a few selections of my mother's colognes, and gave it a good shake. This milky-looking substance with a questionable 'scent' was then launched for sale. With a girlfriend in tow, I went to Mrs. Abbott's house next store and offered the eau de toilette for 25 cents. "Sorry dear, I just spent all my money on groceries," Mrs Abbot lied. Other neighbours had similar refusals.

My blog will be a combination of (1) Past and present events, and which scents triggered memories of those events, and (2) My 2-year search for a new "signature" scent, a daunting task of combing through a huge selection of fragrances at The Bay, Sears and Shoppers Drug Mart to replace the signature scent I'd used for over 20 years, Miss Dior. I erroneously thought it had been discontinued with the introduction of Miss Dior Cherie, but have since found out it is available online and in limited supply at The Bay before Christmas.

But by then I had found the "new one".

Which one did I pick? Stay tuned.