Some Silly Scents of the 70's (and some not)

I've been thinking a lot about my early scent experiences lately, they are just coming back to me full force, and I haven't thought about them properly since I've been quite involved with scent for the last few years! First was Chantilly by Houbigant, it was so "perfume"y and I was 10 years old and trying to be a woman! Then came Diorissimo, which I always had a bottle of for the next 10 years or so........ it was a gift from my Mom, probably when I was about 11, which would have made it 1968, my Swinging London period. And speaking of London, there was Yardley of course, although the scents were too "old fashioned" for me, I LOVED the Slicker lipstick -- I had the necklace/whistle version. Diorissimo was so Designery, I loved it, in that houndstooth bottle with the little ribbon. My Mom had lots of the Love stuff, it was so Mod, the packaging was great. It was the era of the hippie fragrance oils, it's when Rain came out, and I hated it! There was only a natural Jasmine Oil that I liked. I'd buy clothes at The Salt of the Earth and they reeked of Incense when I got them home. Patchouli came in then too, and people just poured it on! When I got out on my own, when I was 17 or so, my Chanel phase started, first #5, then #19 and even #22! People would give me a random gift of perfume and I'd surprise myself by taking to it (in the case of Chanel 19). Then there was Ralph, my first heavy sillage scent. I worked in an open office in NY, so the elevator opened into the room we all worked in, and the elevator door would open, and people would say, without seeing me "Hi Wendy!" That perfume entered the room before me, and left way after I did! I loved it. Somehow I got onto Givenchy III -- which I now think might have been "inspired" by Cabochard? I just bought a mini on Ebay, just to sniff my past, I'll know soon............. it was another gift, maybe for my 25th birthday? I went through bottles of the stuff! But I always had a little Private Collection Perfume for special use........Private Collection was my special occasion scent for a long time, and I just got some on Ebay! It's so interesting to smell my 22 year old self! Actually it's pretty great! Maybe I'll become addicted to it!

Comments

[Prince Barry]

You certainly brounght a smile to my face when I read about your 'heavy sillage' in the open office.

I just wouldn't dare to wear some of the stuff that I wore in my younger days..LOL. The first 'after shave' that I wore was...drum roll...BRUT! Now in my defence, I had a crush on somebody who wore it, so of course I had to wear it too. Then I let my 'Dandy' side show through and thought 'what the hell, I'll wear whatever, whenever I want'. I wore...(more revelations)...Charlie! I just know that I'm never going to live these confessions down. Luckily the internet cannot pick up my bright red blushes as I type this.

I have now moved on to more sophisticated scents, thank goodness. I hope everybody has enjoyed my little post.

Barry

[Katie]

Honestly, looking at that picture you posted - I love the case for that lipstick, too. It's kind of fun looking, actually!

I still like some Yardley stuff; I'm not too proud to 'fess up to it. I wear their English Rose now and then, and happily so.

My first scents I really wore were Laura Ashley No. 1, which was really too sweet for me, but I had nothing else. Just tons of little sample vials of it that a really kind SA at a dept. store gave me when a dermatologist sent me to a Lancome counter to pick up their (now disc.) white mud mask. And then I discovered Magie Noire. Sigh. That one is still an ongoing love affair.

The one scent I always lusted after was the Tinkerbell perfume pens my little friends all had. My mother refused to buy one for me, dismissing them as ridiculous. But to this day I still remember the scent of them, and it still smells a little like envy to me ;)

[Qwendy]

I love hearing people's perfume histories, have more people come by and leave theirs! Barry, good for you for discovering your inner Prince "Charlie" at a tender age. LT loves Charlie too! Myself, I was "above" it -- I'd be curious to sniff it now! I tried a drop of Private Collection before bed last night, and felt oh so grown up, just like I did when I was 22 -- wait a minute, I AM grown up! Katie, I'm trying to imagine Tinkerbell, and I'm getting a Hello Kitty kind of vibe? My next blog will be about Fabergé and Jean Naté! And those intense men's scents of the 60's and 70's......

[Katie]

This is the closest I could find:
http://www.toysrus.co.za/tb.html

It was mostly a muguet scent. I looked but couldn't spot any pics of the pen! And that's what I think nearly all the other girls had.

[Sally]

Boy, does that take me back! I had every Yardley product that my mother would buy for me, including a watercolor box full of eyeshadows you could paint on! I painted on lower lashes just like Twiggy did... Where did the years go? I once saw an empty - empty! bottle once full of Oh! de London for sale on eBay for, maybe, $45 - $50!..... I just bought some Yardley's English Rose and some Coty Fresh Patchouli. Separately they are ok, I guess, but together they transcend the ordinary into something exquisite.

[Victoria]

Wow! I had that exact lipstick back in the day. I couldn't believe it when I saw that case!
Very Cool!

[PK Fragrance]

The first perfume I can remember wearing was miss Dior, I noticed it one day on my mothers dressing table to I thought I would try some, I just fell in love with the talcum powder smell that it has.

[Qwendy]

I'm dying to smell the vintage Diors, because I want to experience what Victoria does when she gets a whiff, but it will be myself at 10 trying to be grown up! Someone is sending me a sample of Vintage Miss Dior as I didn't really "get" it then, it was TOO grown up for me, so I can "get" it now! Isn't it amazing what the Slicker lipstick case does to people? I wonder what today's girls will respond to when they are our age?

[Margie from Ohio in 1960's]

Oh yes I remember so many Yardley cosmetics my mother bought for me and many I didn't get because money was rather scarce. I had one of the Yardley blusher sticks but don't rember what it was called. I had the Oh de London perfume and Yardley under eye concealer as well as an eyeshadow too.I loved my nail polish by Yardley and it was a baby lilac called "Picadilly". I had a lip slicker on a key chain that I thought was so cool. The only Yardley products I use now is an occasional bar of Lavender soap because that is all I find available. I guess I envisoned myself as one of the models straight out of London exitting a red phone boothe with all my "Mod" looking makeup and chlothing as well!!

[Albert]

You have built a good websitev

[Magnolia]

When I was about 13 or 14 years old, I got my very first tube of lipstick. It was Yardleys, "Sugar Pink". I'd grow a new set of wisdom teeth to have a tube of that now.

[Qwendy]

Yes, mine was when I was 10 in 1967, and it was the white -- I swear sometimes they come up on ebay!