Growing up as a kid accompanying my dad in the car to get petrol and sticking my nose out of the window whilst he filled up the tank.
My wife proposed to me in our garden filled with sweet peas. It was such a beautiful moment. Before I “came out” as gay to my family we would send each other bouquets of flowers as a secret message to show how much we loved each other. Flowers remind me of love and strength.
The smell of white roses, my grandfather used to grow flowers in his garden and name the flowers after his grandchildren. So when ever I came home I would be able to go and smell “Alexandra” my personal rose.
Making fragrance from my mother’s rose bushes when I was a child – I had so much fun with my friends picking the petals and bottling the fragrance to sell to our family, friends, and neighbours!
My Mum and Grandma are both smokers and both use Channel no.5 perfume. I associate the combined smell of cigarette smoke and channel 5 with my childhood. Hugs from my mother or grandmother before an evening out. Or staying at grandparents, being tucked into bed by grandma and hearing the deep men’s voices lull me to sleep.
The warm, musky, powdery smell of my nanny’s neck took me to a safe comforting place when I was little. She always boasted that when she wore it people always asked her what she was wearing? Which made her feel fabulous! And she was! It was the gorgeous “Oscar” by Oscar De La Renta.
My “Madeline of Proust” is the garden of my great grandmother – a real pleasure for the senses. Lilac dropping in the stream making the air fresh while playing in the water. Playing in the sheets drying under the sun. Laying on the fresh grass feeling comfortable and the sun. Rich, refreshing, comfortable, cocooning feelings that I cherish.
The Fragrance Foundation UK 
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