The Search

By New Year's 2007, the search for the perfect new fragrance was well under way. One of the first perfumers I tried out was Dior. There were so many new scents from Dior on the market since I'd started wearing Miss Dior in the mid-1980''s: J'Adore, Dior Addict, Dior Addict 2, Miss Dior Cherie, and Poison to name a few.

Since one can't try too many scents on one's wrists and hands without confusing the nose to hell, I was pretty well limited to trying out about 4 scents at once, and spraying them on cards so I could remember what was what.

I started to get perfume samples while buying skin care products at Shoppers Drug Mart: Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker, A Touch of Pink, Versace, Bvlgari Jasmine, Givency's Ange ou Demon and Very Irresistible were some of the fragrances tested at home. My scent judge, my teenage daughter, would give me the thumbs up or down on a fragrance: "That smells like the inside of an old lady's closet!" was her comment on Versace. It was obviously a scent more suited for more mature females; I liked it but it apparently didn't like me.

So far the top contenders were Dior Addict 2 and Bvlgari Jasmine. The latter was particularly soft and feminine, something I could probably wear to work and not set off allergic reactions. Light floral scents have always seemed to suit me the most. Overassertive, heavy-duty scents like Dior's Hypnotic Poison made me feel almost nauseous after a while. Definitely not the type of scent I could wear now that I was (well) past the nightclub-hopping age.

But I was just getting started. The signature scent would not be from Dior, but from another famous French perfume maker, or rather, infamous.