The Fragrance Foundation UK

From the comforting smell of the washing powder my mother has always used, to the smell of my dogs shampoo, the majority of my scent memories link me to the comfort of home. None however compare to the smell of the pink Imperial Leather soap which my father always used when shaving in the morning – the smell takes me right back to the goodbye hug before school or the arguments about being late because he had decided to shave at the worst possible moment!

As a ‘70s child my nostalgic #ScentMemories lean towards the industrial. If I could make my own fragrance, it would have notes of salt water, oil, iron, sweat and fully-leaded petrol – the smell of a busy dock and the deck of a cargo ship. Add in some mass-market aftershave and a good tobacco note, along with a spritz of Opium, Babe or Aqua Manda perfume, and that’s the scent of my childhood – motormen and mess-girls out on shore-leave after a long watch.

PS It strikes me that my own children might become nostalgic for the antiseptic and disinfectant smells of an NHS hospital, if we don’t fight to protect them, as we never did with our merchant navy and dockworkers!

My Mum has never worn any perfume other than Anais Anais by Cacherel. It’s floral notes immediately make me feel safe.

Whenever I smell Chanel No 5, it doesn’t make me feel nostalgic or remind me of my Grandmother… but really makes me laugh! When I was aged 5 my Dad bought my Mum a tiny 7ml Chanel No 5 Pure Perfume, which she kept pride of place on her bathroom shelf. One afternoon whilst playing Polly Pocket with my cousin, we decided it would be a great idea to use the pure perfume to fill Polly’s swimming pool. As you can imagine, it didn’t go down well and I was sent straight to my room. The empty glass bottle still sits on my Mum’s shelf and whenever I see it, or smell the fragrance, I think back to Polly Pocket living a life of luxury in her pool of Chanel and can’t help but smile.

Ode to Tom Fords Purple Orchid: I was fifteen and carried a battered copy of Vogue around in my school bag. My heart belonged to the Tom Ford advertisement; all brooding men jewelled colours and perfume samples, Oh, the perfume samples. I promised myself that when I was a ‘proper’ grown, doing a ‘proper’ job, I would own a bottle. And I am, and I do. Scent of a fifteen year old’s dreams; liquorice pinwheels and vanilla musk.

Chanel No 5 was my first grown up fragrance. I was only 15 but I felt very special and confident whenever I wore it. I believe this little bottle of fragrance ignited my passion for all things beauty. This led to an interesting and challenging career and one or two beautiful adventures.

Am I French? Yes. Am I British? Yes. But what tells me my Proust madeleine? Many odours, fragrances and flavours from both countries.

On one side of the Channel, I have many memories of many spring and summer flowers such as lilac, wisterias, honeysuckle, lime tree but also the white flower called a Dama de noche, wallflower and roses from my grand-mother’s garden. It is also there that I discovered Eau Fraîche from Dior, Eau de Rochas and Eau Folle from Guy Laroche. I would smell on my grand mother the delicious perfume of Eau de Campagne from Sisley, a wonderful bloom of green and tomato leave notes.

On the British side of the Channel, Campbell tomato soup, mince pies, Digestive biscuit along with After Eight but also Elisabeth Arden’s Blue Grass handcream and the smell of Pear’s soap! Bluebell and Ostara from Penhaligon’s are my favourite english ones, as they echo my British Proust madeleine!

Newly mown grass reminds me of the perfect surface for playing football on…

Maths was never my strong point while growing up, and having a birthday that seemed to always land on a Maths exams did nothing for my loathing of the subject. So when it came to my Maths GCSE paper landing on my birthday once again, I thought there was no way I would get through it one piece! However on a boiling hot day in May, in a packed school hall somewhere in the North West of England, I somehow managed to blitz through my Maths paper – all thanks to my friend, a few seats away wearing D&G Light Blue. Whenever I smell the fragrance now – even 12 years on – it takes me back to that room! It obviously worked, I surpassed everyone’s expectations including my own, and got a B. I have a lot to thank D&G Light Blue for!