It’s Mother’s Day weekend in the US, so Happy Mother’s Day to all of you who are mothers and let’s talk about our moms and perfumes.
Saturday Question #164:
Does/Did Your Mother Wear Perfume?
If yes, how similar or different are your tastes? Did you share any favorites at any point in your life?
My Answer
My mom was an opportunistic perfume wearer: whenever she had them (usually gifts), she would wear them, but I don’t remember her actively pursuing them. She liked having perfumes but didn’t love them enough to prioritize spending money on them.
When I was a child, she owned and wore Lancome Climat, Dior Miss Dior, Diorella and Dior Dior. There were a couple more, but I can’t remember the names. I liked (and still like) them all but Dior Dior. And before I started getting my own perfumes, I wasted enough of hers. Later, after I moved to the US, on my visits, I would bring her different perfumes – some that I knew she liked, some that I liked, and some that didn’t work for me any longer – and she wouldn’t refuse any of them. But then, she never asked for any of them again.
Tomorrow, I will wear Diorella in her memory.
Undina's Looking Glass 
Jean d’Albret’s Ecusson ….. light amber liquid in a bottle with a glass topper, in a box that looked like tapestry; it sat in pride of place on her dressing table. I used to sneakily dab some of this on my wrists and thought nobody would notice, but it was pretty rich and powerful (it was rather like Chanel No 5) so I reckon my crime was noticed! And in later years she wore my perfumes.
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Ecusson is beautiful!
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I’m not familiar with that perfume, but I think that this is such a cute story how you thought that you could sneak using perfume (!) :)
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Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums! Lovely perfumes. My mum wore/wears Dior Poison and YSL Opium, but the one I remember most is Estee Lauder Youth Dew.
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All these perfumes are classic!
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My mother wore Diorissimo, my most vivid scent memory of her, and Chanel 5. Later she also wore Chanel Chance. I remember she had a solid Lauder perfume, in one of those collectible compacts, a walnut maybe. She never wore it, or liked the compact I think, but as a child I was mesmerized. She always used Elizabeth Arden Blue Grass cream deodorant, and maybe talcum powder but never the perfume. My grandmother always wore Chanel 5. My favourite aunt, still alive, always wears O de Lancome.
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I wonder which perfume was in that EL compact. I know that most of them came with Beautiful, but probably there were other solid perfumes as well. I never liked any of the compacts enough to want to own them. But they were nice to look at in a store.
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A happy Mother’s Day to those celebrating today.
Undina your mum was very beautiful
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Thank you, alityke. She was indeed.
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WOW Undina, your Mum is gorgeous.
Mine wore a lot of perfumes. Some of which I gave her. The most memorable in my mind are Shalimar, Samsara, No 5, Anais Anais, Tweed and Giorgio. This is just the tip of the iceberg though.
She died way back in 2001 of leukaemia, I still miss her.
Portia xx
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I don’t think we ever stop missing our loved ones. But it’s wonderful when we have great memories connected to them and our time together. And scented memories are very strong.
My mother was very beautiful. I’m not sure if it brought her happiness but she was loved and admired by many and she enjoyed that. I should probably scan and share more of her photos.
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Yes please, many more
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Happy Mothers Day, to those who celebrate, and sending huge amounts of sympathy to those of us whose moms are no longer with us, including mine.
My mom loved a drop of fragrance. When I was ten we went to the islands of St Pierre and Miquelon, which are the french islands off the cost of Newfoundland. My mom bought Je Reviens at a store there, and she was given very generous amounts of samples. She gave me all the Arpege, and thus my signature scent was born :) I bought Je Reviens parfum last year, and it’s similar enough to the original. Smelling it brings me comfort, and I still wear Arpege-the latest version is respectful of the original. I think the original had more vetiver in the dry down. Later in life she wore lots of things – Eau de Sud, Jo Malone 154 and in the last year of her life she loved my bottle of En Avion. she had great taste. Once she put some on the tops of her feet-she said it was prime perfume real estate going to waste :)
Nice question, Undina. I know scents are so evocative, so I’m looking forward to reading what other people’s moms wore, and the memories associated with the scents. You mom was certainly beautiful. Portia, I can understand you still missing your mom, and what beautiful scents she chose!
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You have wonderful scented memories of your mom! Thank you for sharing them.
A while ago, I tried vintage Je Reviens, and it was so beautiful that I wanted to cry because they don’t make it like that any longer. I haven’t tried the latest version. So, maybe it is not bad… One day I’ll try it.
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My mother had a very small selection of perfumes on her vanity, but I rarely saw her wear them, and I certainly don’t have a scent I associate with her. Later in her life when my own love affair with scent bloomed, I would gift her candles or diffusers. One day she gently told me, I really can’t smell any of these. I don’t know if that was a more recent thing or if it had always been that way. I would have loved if she had a scent I could associate with her. Even knowing that, though, my children will not have a particular scent they can associate with me. I wear too many and am loyal to none.
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My aunt can’t smell perfumes (but I think she still wears them). So I know that it happens with some people.
Even though your children will not have a particular scent memory of you, I think that your love of perfume is even cooler and a better thing to remember you by.
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Thanks! I hope so! And they know I’m not good with decisions, so…
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No, my mother did not wear perfume. She was gifted some lovely Avon scents over the years but she never wore them and I wasn’t allowed to wear them either. All that glorious Topaz going to waste!
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Do you know why? Did she dislike the scent? Or the idea of wearing them? Or was she allergic?
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My mom grew up during the Great Depression and her father died at a young age, leaving her mother with 9 children and a farm to handle. They had a very tough time with very little money so I think my mother thought things like perfume were frivolous and not something anyone should be wearing. All her family had a rather Calvinist approach to life, e.g. life is not to be enjoyed. So, no perfume, no fancy food, no alcoholic beverages, no pets, just the basics.
I’m just the opposite! Bring on all the happy things!
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I did have one aunt who rebelled against the family values of severe minimalism, and she wore perfume. I adored her and always sneaked some of her perfume when we visited her. She wore Dana Tabu and My Sin. And she also had red and purple underwear, which was quite deliciously scandalous in the 1950’s. I sneaked into her drawers to touch all the lacy, satiny lovelies. I was always sticking my nose into everything. I was very curious and still am, about everything.
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Great stories! You should write if not a book then at least a blog post about all that! It’s fascinating!
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Love the photo of your mother, Undina, and Happy Mother’s Day to all!
I remember my mom wearing Sung back in the day (before reformulation) but, more importantly, she now wears tons of things since we are both able to share our love of perfumes. It is wonderful to be able to have someone who appreciates scent as much as I do and have that person be your Mom!
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I think it’s a gift to have a person who is close to you to share your passion! I’m so happy for you!
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Sung is a lovely fragrance. I used to wear it in the 80’s.
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No, no and no. Maybe there was only one question. My mom could not stand perfumes of any kind and just my luck, she had the nose of a bloodhound.
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Did she like any scented personal products or ambiance scented products? How about flowers?
It’s amazing that with such a background you develop fondness of perfume.
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My mom was allergic to perfume when I was little. She had asthma. But Jovan Musk didn’t affect her. She got a bottle for every holiday. As an adult, she switched to Alfred Sung when Jovan became watered-down, synthetic nothing. I disliked both of them on her. She wore Sung today. I wore Caron Violette Precieuse and Annick Goutal La Violette.
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I don’t think I tried any of the two you mentioned your mom wore. I wonder, does she like any of your perfumes? Or are your tastes completely different?
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Yes, she likes my perfumes. I even got her a bottle of Bellodgia. She likes the carnation. She also likes some florals from Italy. She likes more musky floral, and I am a little more eclectic.
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i remember her wearing Cinnabar and an older bottle of Ma Griffe, but she wore this not very often
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Did/do you like those scents?
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Cinnabar was okay, i preferred Opium at that time
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Your mother was extraordinarily beautiful, Undina. My mother did and does wear perfume . She’s drained hundreds and hundreds of bottles over the decades. I inherited her (and my dad’s) obsession. She loves variety so she never had a signature. But growing up I remember Estée Lauder fragrances and Chanel all over the house. She also liked Calandre. Nowadays she wears whatever bottle she retrieved while “shopping” in my basement. And she isn’t a snob. She’s equally as happy with an inexpensive body spray, like Fresh White Musk, as she is with a very expensive niche.
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Thank you, Brigitte!
Did you also inherit your perfume devouring skin from one of your parents – or is it all you? :)
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From both lol we are all over sprayers!!
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Yes, my mother wore perfume regularly. In her earlier, more conformist days, it was almost always Chanel No. 5 (https://scentsandsensibilities.co/2017/03/21/my-mothers-last-perfume/) but as she matured and became even more independent-minded in matters of style, she branched out into Estée Lauder and other hits of the 70s and 80s. I remember her wearing Norell, Youth Dew, White Linen, Opium, Paris. She got a bottle of Poison when it first launched, didn’t like it and gave it to me. She continued to wear No. 5 almost to the end of her life, but she alternated it with other fragrances.
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Looking back many decades ago, I’m not sure we had No 5 available in general. So, none of the people I knew in my childhood wore it. I’m still working on liking that perfume – even though I’d love to love it.
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Have you tried any of its “offspring”, Eau Première or L’Eau? They are definitely No. 5 but more modern. I really like both.
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I am not really sure, is the answer…I think she wore Tweed, but I can’t say so 100% – she may just have owned the talc. I bought her Byzance by Rochas but have no memory of her wearing it, and it is a mystery as to what a bottle of Opium was doing in her sponge bag at the hospital where she died. I passed it on to a recently bereaved perfumista at the weekend, for whom that exact vintage (early 90s) was strongly associated with her own mother.
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It’s interesting that you don’t remember this about your mother. I think it’s because your own perfume obsession came to life later – otherwise you would have remembered.
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