Question:
Originally Posted by Taolady What a great thread! Thanks Chocolate Malted (!!! Early Alzheimer's???) for the thought, and the very well written story. (Where would we be without you romantics? The world has enough pragmatists!!)
I grew up in a slightly unusual nuclear family - my Mother (glamour personified), her Mother and my beloved Grandfather, aka Daddy, and a brisk succession of live-in housekeepers. Lotsa entertaining in a NYC townhouse and later on a home on Long Island.
First impression (I am maybe five): Little Mother (Mama) at her dressing table spraying on a cloud of something heavenly - which, as soon, as she had left, I did too!! Some spankings ensued.
What else? Mitsouko!! (Worth every minute of it!) Still in my stable!
oh gosh how glamourous, how wonderful. How lucky so early on.
--------------------------------------
Originally Posted by restlessoul Great thread and great stories!
I think I was about 17 or so and back then, Yugoslavia was an economically destroyed country, poor and demoralized. Young people felt cut out from the rest of the world, aliented, hopeless and desperate. Others had alcohol, even drugs, but I, I had my books and magazines. It was my way of escaping from the harshness of the reality.
My dad was in politics then, fighting against the regime, giving some hope to people. He went on trips to Belgrade (capital of Serbia/Yugoslavia) very often. Somehow, between protests, demonstration, his work in the Parliament, appearances on local TV stations, he would always, ALWAYS have time to buy me my favorite magazines(Cosmo and Marie Claire in english).At that time, it was so hard to find them and one could only buy them in Belgrade, not to mention that they were considered a luxury.
I think that's how I started learning about perfumes and thanks to those magazines I had hope that one day I'll have my chance!
In one of those Cosmo's I first smelled Shalimar, the first perfume I fell in love with! I thought it was the most beautiful, sexiest, the most mysterious, warmest perfume ever! Smelling it used to feel like a dream, sweet and mesmerizing. Shalimar was a symbol of luxury, beauty and good life. This perfume-strip ad was a real treasure for me. I don't know how many nights had I fallen asleep inhaling its heavenly scent. I had dream, it wasn't big, but at least I had one- someday I'll own Shalimar.
Ten years later, I received Shalimar EDP as a present. Guess from who! My dad. Oh what a wonderful story. Perfume has been good to us. I too love Shalimar but my introduction to it was a little dull. I bought it blind because it was going cheap at my local chemist. I shall think of you next time i spray that warm, sexy, hope in a bottle.

Answer:
It was my gradmother's JEAN NATE BATH SPLASH, and I was no more than 4 years old.

Answer:
Amazing, wonderful, heart wrenching stories. They all seem to reflect that kiss of new beginnings. I feel privileged to read them.
--------------------------------------
Originally Posted by musse Think I must invest in a bottle! Thanks musse i'm going to invest too. I hope i'm not disappointed. You know how disastrous it can be re-visiting old loves.

Answer:
Chanel No.5 at age 8. Still love it Also, in 8th grade..I absolutely fell in love with Calvin Klein's Obsession. I obviously didn't have the money to buy it then, so I kept going back to the department store for samples for my "mom"

Answer:
Originally Posted by tigrushka Thanks for the tip, I haven't tried it but would love to revisit this classic! Do you mean the "regular" RG EdP or is it called RG Intense? Yes, I do mean EDP. I've never tried Intense but I'd like to if I could run across some. It's always sold out. I looked again for the EDP. I thought it was 'P.Spot' no, it's 'P.Bay' but they are 'out of stock'. The only place I see it now is 'Perfume Distributors'. I know they are an odd company. As long as you dont order a tester, or what they call 'out of box'. It's just fine. Also be sure to hit 'Residential' delivery instead of 'Commercial' which is the default and takes twice as long.
When I was looking for this I found a quote on 'Perfume Posse' where someone says the Rive Gauche EDP is the only thing that resembles the original. It is hard to find.

Answer:
Years ago, Chanel no 19
More recently, Tabac Blond was the first that hit me hard, seduced me, really, in its concept, its idea, the reviews, I thought of it and its whip cracking character long before blindly purchasing it, and I rememeber the day the package arrived, I even was trying to plan what to wear when I opened the package, and in what manner I should reveal the decant to myself, .... I was overcome with ...?Lust? and desire... ripped open the package, buried my nose in it, unscrewed the top and swooned at the first whiff...fairly doused myself with it and impulsively donned my high heel black leather boots and gave my honey a Tabac Blond inspired lap dance....
Thusly so,,, a fragonista was born!
Mistress Renee

Answer:
Tuscany by Aramis blew my little teenage existence away...I was obsessed with it when it came out and my favorite aunt bought me a small bottle of it as a gift. I remember I kept the box, I used to clean it so that it didn't have any smudges on the bottle or on the silver cap.
Still a great scent after all of these years...

Answer:
Same here - Le De Givenchy. Unbelievable that Givenchy would discontinue this glorious fragrance.

Answer:
Chanel no. 5 when I was around 14. I was obsessed with Marilyn Monroe in grade 9 and read her quote about sleeping in it. I requested it for Christmas and remarkably my parents complied, which is odd in retrospect because they were never enthusiastic about my frivolity!
I really loved this perfume; in fact, if it makes sense, I think it killed my nascent love of fragrance because there was no way I could go back to Exclamation! or Escape after Chanel no. 5, but I didn't have the money to invest in better perfumes.

Answer:
Apart from being busted trying to drink perfume as a toddler, Ma Griffe at 12 or 13 (fell for the smell strip in an older cousin's Seventeen mag and my mom let me buy it shortly thereafter), followed a year or two later by Woodhue, which I still miss.