Wednesday, December 28, 2011

a search for a scent

 xxx
love,

my sister has found her scent. it's rare pearls by avon. and it is lovely and fresh, like clean sheets on a spring evening. her children will come to associate her with it and will keep a special bottle in their medicine cabinets when they get older, unscrewing the lid just to smell her.

but i'm still searching for mine. between the too spicys and too sweets. between the victoria's secret and bath and body works concoctions and the cosmetics counter vials. i haven't found it yet, and i fear time is running out. to create that lifelong relationship with a perfume takes time. wearing it to church and also to ballgames. to work and to weddings. and not growing tired or bored of it, as i tend to do.

maybe i'll never find it. maybe my children will always remember me by the clothesline, smelling of detergent and grass. maybe you'll remember the way the fire smelled that time i burnt the caramels in the kitchen. maybe my scent will be a marriage of many, many times. of cinnamon rolls and apple orchards. of sea salt and potting soil. night air and summer rain.

that's not to say i won't continue the search, because i think it a lovely notion. but while i'm looking, breathe me in deep no matter the circumstance. maybe one day we will find a way to bottle life.

22 comments:

Emily said...

finding perfume can be so hard! But its so sweet when you finally have your own scent! personally i switch between viva la juicy and victorias secret Noir. Best of luck! im sure you will find your scent, or maybe it will find you :)

Unknown said...

Beautiful! You'll find it, and if you don't, it will be a natural mixture of wonderful scents that you can be remembered by!

Lindsay said...

I agree! It's very hard to find one that fits you, in all of your elements. I'm on the same journey and hoping to find my signature soon.

Mackenzie said...

oh i so relate to this! my bff once told me "you always smell like flowers and having just played with dogs." some might have been insulted by this. but me? oh no, totally flattered. i'm pretty smitten with the solid perfumes at whole foods. they have sort of changed my life and never seem to fade :) gardenia and dogs, i'm proud to say, is my signature scent.

Kelly said...

every time i find a scent i love it winds up getting discontinued. recently i was given a bottle of dolce and gabbana light blue. it think i've found my signature scent. it's heavenly.
good luck with the search.

... said...

It's so hard to find a perfect scent! I do have one...my signature scent...maybe it could be yours too! It's Armani Code :)

Blondie's Journal said...

There are SO many wonderful scents out there...I wear one for several years and then make a calculated switch. But nothing, nothing beats the scent of Tide and Downey!!

XO,
Jane

Haley said...

you never cease to write a post that makes my heart smile :) I absolutely love the idea of having a scent/perfume that my husband and children can always associate with me. But for some reasion I've never been the perfume type...either my tastes change, or I just like the scent of my deodorant (weird right?). But my sweet husband got me some perfume that he loves as an early Christmas present :) It's Davidoff Cool Water...you can add it to your list of scents to try if you want :)

and you wrote about the scent of laundry...i just got a new fabric softener that I'm in LOVE with! It's Ultra Downy Orchid Allure...and oh my. It actually gets me excited to do laundry ;)

Amber said...

I've been searching for a scent too and have found quite a few that I like (Romance by Ralph Lauren and Coco Mademoiselle being my current faves) and use for a year or two but I always end up switching. I do remember my mother's scent though. She would wear Lauren by Ralph Lauren and the smell still makes think of her getting dolled up in front of her mirror.

erika said...

I've always wanted to do the same. (I think it's on my 101 list, even.) There's so much nostalgia in scent, so much memory.

Dee Paulino said...

Agree, I have been thinking about this for a few days. I want to find myself a new scent for the new year. I am thinking about the new vera wang princess perfume, but I am still undecided.

beka said...

i haven't found myself a perfume scent either yet.
but i think everyone associates me with coffee already, so that's fine by me.....

Southhamsdarling said...

You might not have found your own particular scent yet my friend, but all those other smells you mentioned, such as cinammon rolls and apple orchards etc., would be wonderful for your children to know you by!

gracelizabeth09 said...

I'm gonna be honest, this post made me tear a little. I love the way my mom smells <3

Janette said...

I was shopping for scents yesterday.. I like the Victoria secret line(s?) So I ended up getting one of those...Actually I got 2..cause they almost smelled identical...but one was more of a night-time-raar kind of version.. I'm a happy girl! Best of luck on finding a scent Courtney! It's harder than it seems!

Janette, the Jongleur

Michelle Schraudner said...

I still haven't found one that is perfect for me either. I think being choosy is good though, that means it will be even more special when we find the right one. :)

stephanie said...

you don't even want to know my scent. it's one of the "too sweets" but i love it! hope you find yours!!!

Niina - My Paper Chaos said...

I haven't found my scent either. But I usually use one scent for a couple of months at least, but in some ways I like it that way. When I go to a cosmetics/perfume store I go back on memory lane. "Oh, this smells like the summer when I was 16" and "this is my vacation in Florida 2008" and so on! Good luck on you scent hunt! (but apple pie, grass and detergent sounds lovely too!) :)

jackie said...

i don't think our scent has to be a specific perfume. there's probably already a million scents your lover knows you by and it will be the same for your children. as long as it's you, they don't care if it's fancy. just ask; you probably already smell perfect to him.

Holli said...

I've been wearing Clinique Happy for YEARS now. I love it and always get compliments on it :)

Contemplating Beauty said...

love and toast have some wonderful scents that could be "yours". . .also, Fig is really nice, and there is an organic oil perfume roll on with Fig, and there is also a sight called ScentSations and you can make and taylor your own scent. I have a Rose one, and a Fig one...
I have the same complications, too spicy, too sweet, ...i like a crisp, floral, medium body perfume, sounds a lot like the wine i prefer.

kate said...

this actually gave me goosebumps. what a beautiful, smell provoking, heart awakening post. the power of scent is such a blessing sometimes. i am sure you have your own little smell already without even knowing and when your house is filled with little ones i know they will all have their favorite smell that reminds them of their mama <3

i loved this so much.

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