What was that smell?

Image by Julie70 via Flickr

My grandmother had a blue glass bottle of perfume with a little silver label perfume that I just loved and I can’t remember the name of the perfume so I can’t even look it up to see if they still make it. It was a soft, flowery smell. I wanted to get some for my Mom for her birthday. Any clues what it might be.? Signed, V. L.
　
　
Mimi Says: Samm isn’t going to remember this because there were no Pterodactyls in the sky when she was a child like in my own youth. Let’s see, it was from your grandmother’s era and you are old enough to make a sentimental connection for your mother’s gift, so I’m guessing you might be at least 20. Your grandmother’s perfume might have been a fragrance popular before and during World War II and one of the most popular in that era was Evening In Paris (Soir de Paris). It was created in the late 1920’s and was manufactured until 1969 by company named Bourjois. In 1992, a new company bought the rights and “reformulated” the perfume, so what you can get now is not the exact same fragrance that your mother will remember. The original formulation had these qualities according to a perfume specialist at Frangrantcia: The top notes are fruity fresh, featured with bergamot, apricot and peach, green notes and violet. The floral heart is composed of rose Damascena, jasmine, heliotrope, ylang-ylang, lily-of-the-valley and orris. The base includes amber, musk, sandalwood and vanilla. The new formulation has these qualities: Head-notes are bergamot and violet, the heart is very flowery with lilac, rose, jasmine, clover and linden blossom. The dry down is composed of vetiver and vanilla.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a really good fragrance and though the new bottles are blue glass, they are not the original bullet shaped with the tassle or the elegant oval that adorned my own mothers dressing table. The power of scent memory is something we must all bow down to. One whiff of a scent that we have attached to a moment in our memory bank, and up comes the memory in Technicolor complete with the tune playing on the radio. You can purchase the “new” formulation through many websites including The Vermont Country Store. You can also buy the beautiful vintage bottles on the internet. Here’s a thought- buy the original bottle and fill it with the new formula for your mother. Wrap it up in a small box with a blue velvet bow. She’ll love it!