So what about perfume? What could I possibly write about that may be of interest to the fellow fragrance lover or just curious reader? I realize that there are amazing perfume bloggers out there and I am not to be positioned even near the feet of these daily authors. However, the one constant love that I have had since I was little has been perfume and anything that omits a desirable and even interesting scent. I remembered when I was very little, my mom displayed an array of various perfume bottles on her dresser on a mirror plate. I remember opening bottles and saying to myself "this is mommy's smell." Of course I wanted to smell like mommy and finding later on that I dumped a half bottle of Emeraude on her dresser as well as myself, in order to smell like mom was not the ideal anointing ritual to perfume. Her other fragrances such as Nina Ricci, White Shoulders, Blue Grass and Joy were later placed on a higher dresser, out of my little reach and for weeks, even months, the house smelled like mom and Emeraude.
My Christmas stocking was so stuffed with goodies that it broke off the mantle hook. Candies, earrings, hair barrettes filled the velour vessel of good tidings. As I fished through the hearty treasure of good-girl gifts, I noticed a little tube that resembled lip balm among the stash. The outside was decorated with gingerbread men and candy canes. I instantly lifted the red cap and applied the solid, waxy and greasy product to my lips. The immediate fragrant and bitter taste caused myself to hurl the stick across the room. I remember telling my mom that the "lipstick" tasted bad and I needed to wash my mouth. My mom gathered the stick from across the room, continued to wipe my mouth with tissue and then gently applied the stick's waxy substance to my wrist. "smell Michelle, its perfume."
My next door neighbor when I was about six was an Avon Representative. I remember a table in her garage was always filled with beauty and bath products, constantly being filled and given away. Here name was Jane and I remember asking what was in some of those bottles on the table. She showed me one bottle that looked like Little Bo Peep. She took the top of the bottle top off, revealing the cap that led the way to the fragrant liquid inside. I wanted one and asked Jane if I could have one. Jane told me to ask my mom first and if she said no, then she will see what she could do for me to have one.
The next couple of weekends, I helped Jane pack her bags full of the fragrant goodies and other treats that were displayed in her little books (catalogs). This was my way of earning my own Little Bo Peep decanter of perfume. Later one evening, Jane came over and gave my my mom one of her filled bags of Avon goodies. Not only was there a bottle of the Little Bo Peep, but there were other lovely smelling items in there as well. Mom apparently did a little shopping though Jane's little books and ordered a big bottle of bubble bath, skin cream, a perfume called Topaze and a little orange cat pin with white polk-a-dots. I asked her who this was for and she said "for you so you can always have perfume with you."
The little orange cat pin revealed solid perfume when the plate of its face was lifted up. I wore this cat pin, everyday for a year. The thought of such a cute little critter containing secret perfume just for me, was such a delight. I wore this pin on my coat, then transferred this pin onto my school uniform jumper once I took my coat off and even wore this pin on my weekend play clothes. I never left the house without it, well...until I lost the pin.
A little over a year passed and I remember I was in a state of panic when I could not find my cat pin. I think I was about six or seven years of age when I experienced my first heavy loss of losing such an item. At the time I could not remember if I had the pin on the whole entire time when I was out playing or if I had taken it off right before dinner and had forgotten where I have placed it. The sweet smell of the fragrant glace' was still on my wrists, reminding me that this may be the last time that I smell this sweet scent, never to see the little orange and white dotted cat container pin ever again.
(stayed tuned next week to see what happened...for simple reasons being that I need to go to bed right now since its past 12 midnight)
