The Fragrance Foundation UK

‘My earliest scent memory is the smell of hospitals and disinfectant; I had to be rushed to hospital for my appendicitis when I was 4 and this is my earliest memory. Surprisingly as I considered it a pleasant one, since then I find the smell of hospitals oddly satisfying. My childhood was also spent close to the sea so the smell of salt, sea and suntan lotion is embedded in my DNA and any fragrance inspired by these scents makes me happy. When I first arrived in London, it was a rainy December day and I was really impressed by how the air smelled different after it stopped. I love the smell of open green spaces and how all gardens bloom in spring. I learned to love roses very much in the last 8 years!’

‘My earliest and fondest scent memory is bergamot. I grew up in Haiti with bergamot trees near my bedroom window and could smell them at night. We also used the zest in porridges and after a long day of cooking in the kitchen to neutralize and perfume the room. Bergamot is often used in chypre fragrance formulations. J’adore!!’

‘Gardenias, they remind me of childhood summers spent in the heat. I recall staying in a house with a beautifully planted garden and running through it with my sister as it was so fragrant! We also seemed to spend a lot of time looking for lizards who generally raced away from us and any that didn’t we would just stare at. So, the smell of gardenias always makes me think of happy times’

‘My favourite scent memory is bottega venetta, i have always smelt it on my mum now that i am married and 1000s miles away from her and can only meet her once a year the fragrance reminds me of her, her scent and her strength’

“My strongest memory of oriental fragrance is my Mother being given a tiny bottle of Obsession perfume in a velvet pouch for her birthday when I was five. I remember the rich, exotic smell being unlike anything I have ever smelled begore and it remains my favourite perfume. I’m sad it’s quite hard to get now, as I think it’s a classic”

‘The smell of violets still takes me straight back to the launch of Guerlain’s INSOLENCE. With a tag line of “For the woman who never needs to apologise,” it was always destined to be a success’

 ‘Obsession by Calvin Klein reminds me of the 90’s and my time as a teenager!’

‘My scent memory would have to be my first perfume my partner at the time bought me from Jo Malone London which is Oud and bergamot in the intense range, fond memories as it’s hard picking a scent for someone you don’t know that well, he did well as I still love it now’

“My earliest scent memory is the smell of rhubarb crumble. When I was very young my parents decided to relocate from a busy city to a small village in wales. We had a small rhubarb patch in the Garden, so my mother would make rhubarb crumble whenever she had the opportunity. The sweet scent flowing through kitchen whilst it was cooling down is something i could never forget.”