To ask what was your first perfume and what memories it evokes?

[SmashingBIouse]

I've recently gone down a bit of a nostalgia rabbit hole, possibly because I'm turning 50 this year and I'm feeling a bit reflective. In a fit of said nostalgia I ordered a bottle of Body Shop White Musk which arrived yesterday. It was the first perfume I ever bought with money from my Saturday job in 1986 and oh my god the sucker punch of memories I was hit with when I opened the bottle! I'm 14 again and have huge hair and I tell everyone that the Smiths are my favourite band but really I prefer A-ha. I still live in my home town and I have ugly glasses and I'm starting my GSCE coursework. I'm in love with Jesse in the sixth form because he reads poetry and has a quiff but he would never notice me and anyway he's going out with one of the cool drama club girls who has a bob and smokes. She probably wears some dead exotic French perfume though, not White Musk.

I wore WM for several years and it brings back so many memories, including my first gig (obscure rock band nobody remembers)/kiss (not Jesse sadly)/drink (Taboo mixed with lemonade).

Who wants to join me on an olfactory trip down memory lane?!

(By the way White Musk is still lovely and I plan to wear it regularly!)

Chloe Narcisse and Exclamation. From The Body Shop it was always Dewberry for me.

Followed by Kiku. Those were the days!

Tresor by Lancome. My mum loved Lancome and I remember being given a bottle of that. Loved it

I've still got a bottle of Kiku that my gran had just before she died. It's lovely.

Paris. I was 3!

Laura Ashley No 1 bought for me in 1980 by my friends mum on my first trip to London from Ireland .I was 15 years old and can still remember that day .I felt so grown up.It is still probably my all time favourite perfume.

Another vote for Exclamation, reminds me of being primary school age and nicking a spritz of it from my older sister’s room. I’ve a feeling I’d find the smell too ‘chemical-ly’ now. Great bottle design though!

It’s amazing how scents can trigger a specific memory so easily. My DH is in his 30s and to this day his mum can’t be around CK Eternity, as it used to trigger her morning sickness when she was pregnant with him.

Mine was Le Jardin by Max Factor. I also liked Anais Anais. Le Jardin went out of production I think though from time to time I managed to find some end of line stock online, though not for many years now. It was quite cheap so accessible for teens I suppose.

AA I think is still available but when I've tried it in more recent years it seems a bit too sweet and sickly.

My signature perfume for many years has been Estee Lauder Beautiful. I love the flowery ones!

My first proper designer one was D&G the clear bottle with red top ( as opposite as Light Blue) I was 23 yrs old and it cost me my half of my wages ( abroad)
Since that I possibly every perfum on the Earth,I’m not very loyal to scents and get bored with them easily.
When I was teen in the end of 80s we had not much to choose in the East Europe ..
I had some Deo Sprays like Impulse, these looked and smelled actually amazing at that time- we I,ported them from Germany or Austria. - not the same ones were here in UK.

@antwacky

Showing my age here....Aqua Manda was my first, I also loved Just Musk by Lentheric and Intimate by Revlon, oh and Xanandu by Faberge.

My mate loved Gingham as did most of the girls we worked with, the place stank of it.

You have saved me a major google rabbit hole antwacky I was trying to remember the perfume my mum wore and it was Aqua Amanda. I can picture the bottle on her dressing table but I don’t remember the fragrance. Thankyou😁

My favourite was Chique - found a body spray in a random shop a while back , took me right back to my teenage years .

Anais Anais reminds me of school around the time I did my O Levels.
Then I moved onto Poison and YSL Rive Gauche in 6th form/University.
I never wear perfune now though.

@honeylulu

Mine was Le Jardin by Max Factor. I also liked Anais Anais. Le Jardin went out of production I think though from time to time I managed to find some end of line stock online, though not for many years now. It was quite cheap so accessible for teens I suppose.

AA I think is still available but when I've tried it in more recent years it seems a bit too sweet and sickly.

My signature perfume for many years has been Estee Lauder Beautiful. I love the flowery ones!

Le Jardin

I used to love this too. I wanted Anaïs Anaïs because my very glamorous auntie wore it but as a teenager I couldn't afford it. LJ was marketed as an AA alternative, the packaging and whole aesthetic was similar, but it was loads cheaper. You can pick up a bottle of AA now for about £15 but it was quite expensive back then (they've gone back to the original 70s formula now too so it smells exactly like it used to).

My first 'proper' perfume was AA. I got it for Christmas when I was 16 in a gift set with a soap and body spray. I felt soooo sophisticated! I always have a bottle now.

Tribe by Coty. I loved it 😊

@Haveyoubrushedyourteethtoday

Anyone recall Ananya by body shop?

Oh, it was amazing. So wish I could get my hands on some.

My first perfume was Monsoon (in the original blue bottle).
Reminds me of underage drinking & sex. Satin shirts and hipster skirts. Also those black cord necklaces.

Also I used Exclamation in the 90s and nostalgically bought last week.

First.was Tribe. I then worked as a Saturday girl in the chemist so spent my wages on perfume I remember having Aqua Di Gio, Sunflowers, Cerutti 1881, Pack Robanne 'XS and Paris. I wore Paco Robanne until it was discontinued. Paris was my "pulling" perfume. My mum always wore Red Door but it smells like cat pee on me 😆

Styx by Coty, Kiku and Aqua Manda. Thanks for reminding me

@JaceLancs

Fidji by Guy Laroche when I was 11 or 12 Someone bought it DM and she didn’t like it so gave it to me - I felt very grown up!

That's my mum's favourite!

Mine was Ispahan from the Yves Rocher brochure...I'd buy it again in a heartbeat if they reissued it.

J Lo Glow!

My mum used to get it and I used to pinch it but then she started buying me some for Xmas.

I've not had any for a few years but my little boy carries the empty bottle round and gives it a whiff and it's adorable seeing his 2 year old self give it a sniff like he recognises it as I wore it all the time when pregnant.

I'm absolutely loving all these memories! I've been reminded of loads of perfumes I've worn and the memories attached to them. LouLou, Eden, Narcisse, Poison, Ysatis... I've worn them all and each one recalls very definite periods of time for me.

Also happy big birthday year to fellow 1972 babies!

Diorella. I loved it but they reformulated it and it’s horrible now :(

@YouokHun

Diorella. I loved it but they reformulated it and it’s horrible now :(

The name makes me think of diarrhea 🙈

@Pleaseuniverseplease I mentioned Elena upthread, it's a dead ringer for Ananya!