Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Man-musk, roses, and all that is deliciously stinky.

Today when I was out for a walk I noticed a familiar smell: vanilla-ish & lightly floral, a little thick & sweet- an odor that instantly says "Lilacs!" to me.
Even with allergies so bad lately that I am popping Zyrtec, snorting Flonase and dropping this gift from heaven into my eyes, dang nabbit I do love me the smelly stuff.

Perfume has always been a huge part of my life. I wear it nearly every day. I just like to smell like something other than just me, and on some especially hot & humid days I like to smell like something other than sweat and a musky odor distilled from my intense hatred of the weather gods.

A brief history of the olfactory goddess that is Whiskeymarie:

Once, when I was about 8, I made lilac "perfume" with my friends by smashing up some lilacs and steeping them in a glass of water. This was my signature scent for the summer of '79.

Much like any proud 12-year old in the 80's, I wore my share of the syrupy-sweet, powdery mist known as Love's Baby Soft. To this day, the smell makes me vomit a little in my mouth. I once worked with a woman who wore buckets of it to cover up a rather pungent "gaminess" that hung around her like some sort of toxic crotch cloud.
I got goosebumps of the hurling variety just now thinking about this. Ick. Ick.

Around age 13-14, I switched to a more "adult" scent. Meaning, this one was still powdery, but instead of sickeningly sweet, it was sickeningly floral: Chantilly.

I loved Chantilly. It made me feel grown-up and whatever I thought sexy was at the time, which usually meant it evoked a feeling that someday I might actually kiss a boy who was a loner and smoked his cigarettes the way James Dean did.

Did I mention that I had a little bit of a "thing" for the deceased Mr. Dean at this particular point in my life? I had a door-size poster of him over my bed. This was about the time I thought if a boy was worth having, he had to be B-A-D. God, I do still love boys with tattoos, cigarettes and a snarl. Mmmm....angry boy.

Moving on...

At age 16 I got my first real bottle of perfume: Ruffles by Oscar de la Renta, along with this for my suh-weet 16.

If this were still being made I would wear it every day.
Every. Day.

This stuff smelled amazing, despite the dumb name. I couldn't wear it without getting compliments from everyone- men, women, boys, girls, circus animals. God I miss it.

Once Ruffles was discontinued in the early '90's, I kind of turned into a perfume whore. I tried it all every which way. I guess I don't have a signature scent anymore. I like mixing it up a bit.

What you may smell on me these days:
  • Aveda for Men: this is my go-to scent for everyday wear.
  • Coco by Chanel: Sometimes during the day, usually mixed with my Aveda for men.
  • Antaeus Men's cologne by Chanel: I call this "come fuck me cologne", because it smells like the kind of sex you want to have but rarely do anymore. This is amazingly sexy and bold, I always get compliments with it, and usually get hit on by not nasty guys. Men's cologne attracts men- who knew?
  • Youth Dew Amber Nude by Estee Lauder: regular Youth Dew smells like your grandma, and not in a fresh cookies and hugs kind of way. This version, created by Tom Ford, would make your grandma blush in her knickers- it smells that dirrrty and delicious.
  • Fendi: an 80's classic. A little trashy, but it works on me. What a surprise.
  • C'est rien que du bonheur! from Agnes b.: I got a sample of this & ordered it because it was totally different than anything else I wear. It smells like what I imagine Lolita would smell like- sweet, fruity, flirty and a heady overtone of sexy sexy sexy. Plus the bottle looks like those Russian nesting dolls. C'est cute.


I like to keep a bottle of Chanel No.5 around, though I don't wear it much. It smells like Mom. So does Joy by Jean Patou and good 'ol Charlie. I love when I catch a whiff of any of these on someone else. It makes me happy.


Perfume is a strong memory trigger for me.


I have the tiniest bit of Ruffles that I keep in a cool, dark place. I drag it out every once in a while and sniff. The 80's and my teenage years come back in waves- the boy I danced with at Faces (a teen dance club) who said I smelled good, so I told him I loved him. O.k, I guess we'll call that an "awkward at best" moment, especially since I now know he's gay- oops. Dorkiness aside, It reminds me of all the fun, all the stupid things I did, all the boys, all the bitchy girls, all the parties, all the heartbreak...sigh.

I can't put on Antaeus without feeling like sex on wheelz. If I'm wearing it, I'm usually going to get in some sort of trouble involving me "eventually" coming home after an evening out and violating Mr. WM thirteen different ways.
I would tell you to buy it for your boys, but you can't get it in the U.S. anymore. And if you come looking for mine I'll go "ultimate fighting" on your ass. Don't even try.

My gal Blondie gave me the most UH-MAZING perfume for my b-day this year. It's a perfume from Aveda called "Rose Attar".
Holy shit, this is wonderful stuff. If you don't think you like roses, man are you wrong. It's a small bottle and I don't want to waste it, but I have worn this three times already, counting Saturday when I first got it. It starts out all roses, then as you wear it, it warms up and changes into this complex, soft envelope around you. It's super-limited and I will cry when it's gone. But for now, I have it and am in LOVE with it. L.O.V.E.

So tell me-
What's your favorite scent & why?

13 comments:

Joe said...

I love walking down the street and getting hit with a cloud of sweet-smelling pot smoke (which happens fairly often in my neighborhood.) It makes me a bit mournful that I don't get to do that anymore, but it also evokes very pleasant memories of college.

Stacey said...

Perfume triggers memories for me too. I have the best memories when I smell L'air du Temps. My mom used to wear that when I was a kid.

Believe it or not my Dad wore Old Spice and it smelled amazing on him. Now that he's not here anymore that scent really evokes strong memories.

I only wear perfume when I'm outside of work. So many people have sensitivies that I tend not to wear it even though I love it.
Hubby just got me Burberry which I'm liking a lot especially because I didn't tell him it was what I liked he picked it out himself and actually did a good job. Imagine that !?

Christa said...

i remember wearing a painful amount of love's babysoft. i was traveling with my family and some friends and the man we were with told me, "you know, christa, you should wear just a little perfume so that someone has to be really close to you to smell it."

later it was exclamation! then sunflowers, then this stuff called H20. now abercrombie flavors or that sarah jessica parker madness. or just body spray from the gap.

Whiskeymarie said...

My gal, Waffle wore exclamation! For-ever. Well into the mid-'90's. I'm pretty sure she still has the bottle in her medicine cabinet.

Worker Mommy- My dad wore Old Spice AND "Hai Karate". Seriously.
I remember thinking when I was younger that he always smelled good.

Joe- Mr. WM would agree with you on that one, me not so much. The stuff makes me slower than an 88-year old using a walker on morphine. I can count all the times I have on maybe not one, but for sure two hands.

T said...

Victoria's Secret Heavenly. I wore it on my wedding day and it is still my knockout favorite.

When we were little, Yangster & I wore "Tribe!" Holy florals. And that Debbie Gibson stuff.

Domestically Disabled Girl said...

my fave for the last few years has been romance by ralph lauren. i hate strong perfumes and this one is very lite and also smells divine. i get a lot of compliments when i wear it.

i remember wearing love's baby soft too. and then exclamation! yuck.

my man wears tommy hilfiger athletics and it smells awesome on him. i love to just bury my face in his neck and breathe it in.

Anonymous said...

My grandma used to wear Chantilly. Every day. She loved baths, and she would come out of the tub in a neck-to-ankles flannel night gown with that Chantilly wafting off of her. Amazing.

Smell is such an amazing memory trigger.

Right now, I like to stick my face into my suitcase and huff. It smells of the cleansers that the housekeepers were using in our budget hotel in Mexico. Still, it brings back all of the happy & debaucherous memories my baby sis & I were having in Mexico. I wish I could bottle that right now.

But I'm also a big fan of natural scents. Boys have always been a big fan of mine. They bury their face in the crook of my neck and swoon. "Nobody smells like you." I wish I could smell it myself, just out of curiosity.

-Mecca

ps said...

o oui. it smells amazing.

Kate said...

1. "toxic crotch cloud" may be one of the best phrases ever.

2. Armani Code is a favorite. Dave uses the men's version - his cousin once hit on him when he wore it. Powerful stuff. I like the women's, but I'm still on the hunt for a sexy fragrance that fits my personality.

Stacy said...

"Love's Baby Soft". I think I just snorted my beer. I got that as a gift pack that also had some lemon-scented somethingorother as well. My mother DETESTED it, so of course, I wore A LOT of it and often. hee!

Dad. Dad always smells good. Nowadays, he's a "Bay Rhum" kinda guy. He was a fan of "Lagerfeld" when I was growing up. A few years ago, I caught my brother wearing it and was COMPLETELY wierded out that he smelled like Dad. Ew.

As for myself (incase anyone is still listening), I'm fond of Hermes' unisex scent, Guerlain's "Jicky" when I'm going out and wanna smell like wet hot sex, and a small vial of something called "flower squeezin's" brought back from India when I want to smell delicate and pretty like the delicate flower that I am.

Sugar Kane said...

My first perfume was Exclamation! I loved the bottle. I went the Calvin & Ralph Lauren phase, with Eternity, Escape, Romance, and a few other too sweet smelling scents. The last several years I've stuck to just one. Coco Mademoiselle. I love it.

metalia said...

I'm a HUGE fan of Dolce & Gabanna's Light Blue. It's crisp, it's light, and people constantly ask me what perfume I'm wearing. My "going out" scent is Brit by Burberry. It smells like autumn to me, somehow.

Lollie said...

A walk down my life's perfume memory lane:
Love's Baby Soft
Emeraude
Obsession
Tresor
And for the last 20 years?
Sung by Alfred Sung. Hard to find, and I will cry when it is gone forever.
ps - I've read this whole page and you're hilarious. I'm coming back...and often. Thanks for the laughs.