My first perfume.....cannot pinpoint an exact first. I recall having some Avon fragrances, Sweet Honesty was one. Hawaiian White Ginger was another. Oh, and Love's Baby Soft. Growing up in the seventies, what else would you expect? Bottles of Coty's Muguet De Bois and Helena Rubinstien's Heaven Scent graced my white French Provincial vanity I had when I was ten or eleven. Around the same time I remember sneaking spritzes from my mother's bottles of Enjoli, Cie, Tatania, and the both of us splashing on the Jean Nate in the summer. Few years later I fell in love with Jovan Musk. The oily one in the dabber bottle. Wore that through most of my teenage years. I always got compliments on it from my boyfriends, it was my signature scent at the time. One boy (he was 19-I was 16) said I smelled like oranges, I was wearing Jovan at the time. Hmmm.
When I was around 17 or 18 I became friends with a guy slightly older than me who worked in one of the large department stores downtown. He was gay and loved perfume. Actually, he loved anything expensive, luxury type items. He was from the same working class background as myself and he was stealing anything he could get his hands on at the store. No jewelry or anything uber expensive, just perfumes, small trinkets like fancy clocks, pens, and such. Not that that makes it ok, stealing is wrong. Yes, he later got arrested and fired or visa versa. Accepting stolen goods is not something I'm proud of, I'm a little (just a little) older and wiser now. He gave me several bottles of Calvin Klein's Obsession in cologne form and Giorgio-pure parfum in small glass bottles, and one bottle of Anais Anais by Cacharel. His boyfriend got a bottle of Coco, very new and expensive at the time. My mother and I wore the Obsession and Giorgio, I was stingy with the Anais Anais and kept it to myself.
When the Giorgio ran out I bought her a new bottle of it-unfortunately I couldn't afford the parfum and got the EDT or toilette. She kept Giorgio in her collection until her death. Back then I quickly tired of the Obsession, good God, it was EVERYWHERE at the time. In 1986 my friends and I went (a sneaky trip, my parents had no idea I had left the state) to New York. Me, my boyfriend at the time (my first love) and my gay friend. We were in Grand Central Station just sightseeing and I smelled Obsession on someone. That did it, the whole world was wearing it and I stopped. The following Christmas I asked for Chanel no.5, my mother had a bottle and I liked it and wanted to be sophisticated or something. My father got it for me, a long black square container with a spray. I don't recall if it was cologne or toilette, probably cologne. I didn't even know that it was refillable, I remember throwing it out when it was empty.
Next, in my late teens/early twenties, since I was rebellious and still involved in the subculture-punk rock and all, I was sort of anti-perfume. I still wore musk and not just Jovan, I loved Black or Dark Musk from Spiritual Sky, I also wore their Sandalwood and Frangapani. In a witchcraft type store I bought little bottles of patchouli and mango oil, single bottles of each no idea who made them. I think there was a Sandalwood one, too. The mango oil? Me and my girlfriend asked the shopkeeper if they had any perfume that would make someone fall in love with you. Me and her were always plotting ways to get men, boyfriends. The shopkeeper got annoyed with us and our questions and said, "If you two keep asking questions like that I'm going to ask you to leave. What you're asking about is voodoo and we don't do that here." She went on to suggest the mango oil, she said that's what women used to attract men before commercial perfumes were available, sweet and fruity scents. I liked the mango oil, I'd dab it on, then dab the patchouli on top. More was applied to my scarfs, one was a fuchsia colored scarf with coins dangling on both ends, something a belly dancer would wear, the other was a orange rust color with a gold design all over it. All this was worn over a black motorcycle jacket, a biker jacket. Fancy schmancy. And I still dress unusual.
Part II tomorrow or when I get the chance.
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