21.10.10

Fragrance: An Accidental Perfumier



I can't think of anything in my beauty collection that is more important to me than my perfume. Fragrance comes to define us, with long-lost and much loved relatives materialising in an instant when we catch the passing scent of their favourite perfume. The scent of lavender and white flowers reminds me instantly of my grandmother, Rive Gauche of my glamorous Mum in the 80s, Boss of my Dad, Giorgio Armani of my boyfriend, Bulgari Black of my friend Becca and Jean Paul Gaultier for men on practically every man I've ever had a crush on! I come from a long line of signature scent-wearers, and there's definitely one that I consider mine. My collection consists of four fragrances, the most beloved of which is almost empty and can't be replaced. That perfume is Marc Jacobs Blush, and I was devastated to learn earlier this year that it had been discontinued.

I always got the impression that Blush wasn't especially popular, but for me, it was my perfect fragrance. Jasmine, bergamot, freesia, orange blossom, honeysuckle and sandalwood combined to produce a scent reminiscent of a balmy night in a beautiful white flower garden. My boyfriend calls it simply 'your smell' and my friend Nadia said the start of spring to her was marked when I switched from the heavy, sensual Chanel Allure back to Blush. Living on the rations of my final bottle really isn't fun, and I've spent a summer in Diptyque's Vetyverio, and as much as I love it, it doesn't feel quite 'me'.

But last night, I made a discovery that was as suprising as it was exciting. As I'm staying at my parents' house at the moment, I don't have all of my usual products with me, so when it came to adding a moisturiser on top of my Sanctuary body oil, I reached for an unopened jar of The Sanctuary Bidadari Shimmering Body Souffle. The cream itself is thick and golden, and imparts a subtle lustre to skin, and like all their creams, it's left my skin silky smooth. What I wasn't expecting was the fragrance that enveloped my body: it was Blush! The souffle contains jasmine and ylang ylang, while the oil contains bergamot, sandalwood, more jasmine and citrus oils. I spent 10 minutes sniffing my arm to make sure I hadn't imagined it and then went to see my Mum. "What can you smell?" I asked, offering my arm. "Blush", she replied. Granted it doesn't last as long as the perfume does, but for those of us with an empty space in our hearts for a fragrance long since departed, this will go some way to filling the gap.

6 comments:

  1. I love Marc Jacob's perfumes! Lola is one of my favourites! The bottle is so pretty too! I remember smelling Blush once and it's gorgeous! I didn't know it was discontinued though? :-o Lucky you found something that smells the same! Love this post! :) x

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  2. I'm glad you enjoyed the post: I really enjoyed writing it, and of course, accidentally creating my favourite perfume!

    The Lola bottle is really cute (have you seen the Lola ring that came out recently?!) but for me, I couldn't get into it because it's not Blush - I've felt that about practically every perfume I've sniffed since!

    I'm also investigating getting a perfumier to recreate it for me, so hopefully I'll have something more than this new cocktail of moisturisers to fuel my addiction! More on that soon! x

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  3. I have never smelt blush :-(
    It would be brilliant if you could recreate the perfume though wouldn't it!

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  4. How lucky was that! I might give that Sanctuary stuff a whirl.

    I just googled it and its still on sale on a couple of websites such as, amazon.co.uk, cheapsmells.com. Maybe you should check those out? Good luck on your search.

    My signature scent is Calvin Klein Contradiction. I think they will discontinue that soon, so I have to be prepared!!! lol

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  5. Oooh no I haven't! I'm going to have to check that out! I've seen the limited edition velvet bottle though.. That was cute! And yep you should definitely get a perfumier to recreate it for you! Especially since it's like your signature scent! I still have to find mine.. I have loads I really can't pick a favourite! Haha :D

    Lipglossandleopardprint.blogspot.com

    xxx

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  6. @Bettina - I have found a guy who runs perfume courses but also has a bespoke service. He sells samples of his fragrances so I'm going to buy a couple, have a sniff, and then I can decide whether I think he's got a good nose! The process really interests me so I will be writing a full blog post if I decide to go down that route.

    @Leanne - It really was unbelievably lucky so I'm a very happy lady! Thanks for letting me know it's still on those websites :) Unfortunately, I bought one from Amazon a while back and it was a fake so I've given up hope on buying online! Make sure you stock up on Contradiction!!

    @LipglossAndLeopardPrint I think you'll love the ring: it's so adorable. As you can see, having a signature scent can be as much of as a curse as it is a blessing, so before you find yours, you get to enjoy loads of different things and don't have to worry about them being discontinued!

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