For my mom’s birthday this year, I bought her the perfume my grandma (her mom) used to wear, Anais Anais.
I actually sprayed some of it on me before I wrapped it up because I had forgotten the scent and was very curious.
Let me tell you, it brought my grandma back to me in such a big way that I almost started crying. I would sniff my wrist periodically throughout the day and I felt so much comfort from the scent of the past.
So then I decided to dig deeper into scents from the past and I found an article on ME TV’s website a few weeks ago about perfumes from the 70s.
Then I went down the rabbit hole even further and found beauty products from the 80s.
Remember last week when I said that clicking on that external link was worth it? This week is even better.
It’s funny how a scent can take you away to a different time. Music does that for me as well. I will hear a song from 1986 and I am immediately in the car learning how to drive, or getting ready for a school dance, or getting a spiral perm at the local hair salon.
Here are some of the perfumes I have worn throughout my life and maybe you remember some of them too.
Smelled like celery.
Sweet Honesty by Avon
Remember the Avon Lady? Back in the day, for those who don’t know, before essential oils or leggings or Rodan and Fields, there was Avon and every town had an “Avon Lady” who would drop off books full of fun things like perfume, candles, cheap purses, etc. that you could order and she would then drop off your purchases a couple of weeks later. Sweet Honesty was one of many different scents they offered.
A moment of confession- in the mid-90s, I sold Avon for a year. I was working full time and wanted to make some fun money, so I signed up. I did pretty well at first because I would sell to my co-workers, family, and friends. But the new Avon Lady in the family feeling died off pretty quick when it was realized I needed to sell a ton of product to actually make a profit.
Also, I needed to stop buying stuff for myself so I could make money. I think we see a pattern here of how I am not meant to ever be in sales.
Side note, I wish there was such thing as smelling perfume through the internet because wouldn’t that be a fun trip down memory lane?
Windsong by Prince Matchabelli
PRINCE MATCHABELLI?!?!? Do you guys remember this?? So fancy for my first REAL perfume and now you can get it now for the cool price of 14 bucks at your local Wal-Mart.
By the way, this reminds of the time in 7th grade that I got chosen as Citizen of the Month and I went out to dinner that night with my family to celebrate. I can still smell myself as we pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant where I am sure I ordered a hamburger, steak fries, and a coke.
I might have to buy myself some of this again so I can relive the feeling of winning something.
If my 8th-grade experience had a smell, this would be it.
When it wasn’t this stuff. Okay, I don’t want to be able to smell perfume through the internet anymore. All I know is that one sniff of this stuff and I am immediately transported to the junior high girl’s locker room after gym class.
My mom wore this as well (we used to share perfume), and I am laughing because I don’t remember the smell at all but that box doesn’t even look appealing. Does sand even have a smell other than dead fish and urine? Also, most of the above perfumes are around the $10 mark but this one comes in at around $25, so I guess there’s something to be said of boring perfume boxes and dead fish smells.
Fancy name, cheap-ass perfume. They really should name this Early 1980’s Department Store.
Obsession by Calvin Klein
My high school boyfriend gave this to me for our first Christmas together and I was so excited to get perfume from a boy, that I wore this my entire senior year of high school even though the smell made me want to vomit a little bit.
By the way, this perfume is 92 dollars NOW.
Why?
Red Door by Elizabeth Arden
My high school boyfriend gave me this one after high school. My God, with the strong scents. I think I asked him for it though, so in his defense, it was an answer to a request. I probably needed to find another strong perfume since I doused myself with all the Obsession and was out.
Mystery perfume mist (no that’s not the name)
So there is this perfume mist I got at Kohl’s in the early 90s that I loved and to this day, wish I could find. I have looked EVERYWHERE online but can’t find it because I don’t remember the name. It was a mist, not a perfume, it had a really light scent, and it came in a pretty pastel fun plastic spray bottle. So if you can think of a perfume like that from 1990-ish, send the name my way so I can find it. Literally the best perfume I’ve ever worn and it wasn’t 92 dollars either.
Exclamation by Coty
Coty was notorious for creating perfumes guaranteed to give you a migraine. Emeraude? Chloe? Aspen for Men? Lady Stetson (another one I wore)? Stetson for Men? L’Effleur (another one I wore)? The aforementioned Sand and Sable? And Exclamation.
You can buy almost all of the above at a drug store or Meijer near you which says a lot about the staying power of offensively strong perfumes.
I don’t know what shoulders are supposed to smell like, but this smelled like flowers.
White Diamonds by Elizabeth Taylor
Another strong, STRONG scent and upon further research (I work hard for you), I discovered it is Elizabeth Arden who actually made this perfume. Red doors, white diamonds…..
Something else you didn’t know about Elizabeth Arden? Her real name was Florence Nightingale Graham (I couldn’t make this up if I tried).
At one point, Elizabeth Arden (the company, not the person) was owned by the pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly (wtf?) but it’s now owned by Revlon (makes sense).
And now you know more than you ever wanted to about Elizabeth Arden.
Also, she never married.
Also, she’s buried with her sister.
Okay, now I’m done.
Once upon a time, I had a boss (Kathleen) and I was kind of in love with her from 1990-1992 because she was one of the first strong females in my field at the time and she pushed me in a good way. In stalking, I mean researching her on social media for this blog post, it turns out she is now a real estate agent which aligns well with my career path of home staging.
I sounded very much like a deranged stalker just there.
Moving on.
Oh and this was the perfume she wore, so then I asked for it for Christmas because I wanted to smell like her.
I’M NOT MAKING THIS BETTER.
Amarige by Givenchy
I found this at Marshall Field’s back in 1993 and loved how it smelled, so I bought it.
Nothing more exciting than that.
CK One by Calvin Klein
My new-to-me friend and co-worker, Rebecca, wore this when we first became friends in 1994 and I loved it, so I think she got it for me for Christmas?. It was the first co-ed colognefume that I know of and I kind of loved smelling like a guy because back then I was wearing dresses with big boxy blazers and big oxford shoes and hats.
So the co-ed perfumeogne really went with my vibe back then.
I really want this look to come back.
I bet if Kathleen was still in retail, she’d make it happen.
Sunflowers by Elizabeth Arden
Psst, this smells nothing like sunflowers.
I wore this on my first wedding day and I think maybe Rebecca bought this for me too? The scent was amazing but it will forever remind of me of my first wedding day. I mean, it was a beautiful day filled with fun stuff, but it’d be a little weird to wear it now.
Not as weird as wearing the Single White Female perfume I talked about wearing a few minutes ago, but still a bit marginally weird.
Heaven by Gap
Apparently, this is out of stock everywhere and I can’t even find it on The Gap website, which is a travesty. Now, I can only find this mist at my local Gap Outlet. I’ve worn this since 1995 and I never get sick of it. In fact, I have a travel size bottle of it in my bathroom as I type this. But now I am thinking I need to get my butt over to my outlet and buy them out of this because it is so hard to find.
Juniper Breeze by Bath and Body Works
They discontinued this for a while, so I’m not sure if it’s back or not but you can buy this on Amazon right now. So if you loved this in the 90s and are looking for it, click the link above and snatch up some. Also, it works to deter mosquitoes too. Not sure what that says about what’s in it……
Also, Cucumber Melon is back.
Happy by Clinique
Those bitches at Clinique weren’t lying when they marketed this stuff. It DID make me happy when I wore it.
Love Spell by Victoria’s Secret
Would it surprise you that I once chased a woman down inside a mall in Wisconsin in 2001 to find out what perfume (Love Spell) she was wearing? NO, IT WASNT KATHLEEN.
Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker
This was the scent I wore on my second (and final) wedding day! So many memories this perfume brings back, some amazing and some not so amazing. Like the fact that I had to wear a diaper on my wedding day.
Long story.
I know I am missing some other perfumes but this is long enough.
Tell me the story of all the perfumes you’ve worn before.
A Grace Full Life 
Love’s Baby Soft was the very first perfume I wore! I think I was in Jr High. I can’t remember all the perfumes I wore after that, but I did the Red Door one for awhile in my late teens. I also went through the Anais Anais phase. I worked at Marshall Fields and got a discount, so I’d buy perfumes (and clothes and jewelry) there. My sister wore Sand & Sable when she was in high school and it would make me and my mom gag, lol.
When I was dating Brian, he would douse himself in Pierre Cardin. It was so bad that my dad one time joked, “Brian must be almost here. I can smell him coming down the street!” I must’ve finally said something to him after we knew each other better, because then he stopped wearing it and changed to Polo. And didn’t bathe in it. 😉
I can’t wear perfume anymore and honestly, I can’t stand smelling it on anyone else either, as my allergies are terrible now that I’m older. Synthetic scents make me feel sick and give me a headache. So all I wear now are body sprays made with essential oils. My favorite brand is Indigo Wild Zum Mist.
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I’m the same way now which saddens me! Is it an aging thing?
Where did you get essential oil body sprays??
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Also, I adore all of your stories. I love how scents can take us back no matter how strong and nauseating they are. 😂
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I was wondering if I’d see Clinique Happy, that’s what everyone wore in high school.
I don’t often wear perfumes because asthma and allergies, but I found one from Kohl’s called Simply Vera, and I love it.
A few years ago, my husband found and bought the Estée Lauder powder my grandma always wore. It hit me so hard, too ❤️
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Omg powder, yes! My grandma used to wear scented powder. Sigh. ❤️
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You forgot Tatiana!
I love Lovely and a Philosophy perfume that’s isn’t Falling In Love. Sadly, they don’t smell the way they used to. They either changed the formulation or my body chemistry has changed.
I don’t remember the diaper story.
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Yes, Tatiana! I forgot about that one. There was another one you wore in the 90s I loved….Design maybe? Does that sound familiar?
I will tell you the diaper story again but you already know it. We are getting old and forgetting LOTS of stuff.
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What? Who’s getting old? 🙂
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LMAO. ALL OF US. 😉
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I remember trying so many of these myself.. and since I married my high school boyfriend I am not “allowed” to swap out my sunflowers for anything else. I’ve tried and he just missed me smelling like “me.” I get it as I still make him wear the same cologne he wore in high school too! My mom was the local Avon lady off and on for year (even including quite recently). I remember a few of their perfume samples but my favorites were the lipstick samples.
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Aww, that’s so sweet. ❤️
I loved the lipstick samples too!
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OMG – I cannot believe you did not mention Liz Claiborne perfume!! It is the only perfume I ever wore. I owned it in college and only wore it then. My brother has severe allergies and we weren’t allowed to wear perfume. It honestly bothered my allergies to be around perfume too, so it wasn’t a big deal to me. Besides, I had a crew cut b/c my mom cut my hair and big ass glasses and wouldn’t stand up straight because I was so freakishly tall – so I pretty much recognized that there wasn’t much perfume could do. I was a lost cause. Not a girly girl.
Was not into makeup either.
Now I HATE being around people when they wear so much perfume. I actaully get kind of verbal about it, like ‘Wow, someone is wearing too much perfume!’ cause I think people are clueless. One of the dads I babysat for showed up every day smelling like he bathed in some huge vat of perfume and it lingered for hours after he left my house. I remember some of these perfumes, but I have to say that add with the girl standing in the meadow wearing almost nothing looks like she is worried a lion is going to attack her.
Once again, I am ticked because your blog should pop up to the top of my blog roll when you post something new but that is SO NOT happening. I just realized that you posted this days ago. I hate being late to the party. Still have to come up with a few dates to see when we can meet.
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I forgot about Liz Claiborne!!!
We definitely need to figure out time to get together!
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So glad Sunflowers made the list! My friend Anna and I used to wear that scent and one sniff of it takes me back. It was a magical time in my life and I’m so glad there is a trigger for the memories. Though I’m pretty sure I’m allergic to it.
CK1 makes me want to vomit. A friend of mine wore it religiously. Every day. And he had a bad body odor that mixed with it to make a horrible combination.
Exclamation used to make me feel so fancy. I remember the feel of the bottle in my hand!
What an awesome trip down memory lane!
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Ohhhh body odor mixed with cologne is THE worst. Axe body spray gives me PTSD because it reminds me of my oldest’ middle school. I swear they must have to fumigate the hallways during summer break.
It was so much fun to write this and relive the good old days. 🙂
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Tinkerbell and Sweet Honesty (all girls starter perfumes back then)
Charlie
Jean Nate
Skin Midnight Musk (my absolute favorite. I’d still wear it today if they still made it and refuse to pay $100 for it on Ebay. They do make the Skin if you want a $13 trip down memory lane at theperfumespot.com)
Enjoli because even though I wasn’t yet at the age to bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan, I was still a woooooman…Enjoli. (You KNOW that was used as a baby name in the 80’s!)
Emeraude
White Shoulders
Malibu Musk
Jovan Musk (I still love the smell of musk. Loud and proud)
Georgio but more often its knock-off “Primo!”
Sand and Sable
I have a bottle of Tatiana in the glove box as “emergency perfume” but I’m sure it’s boiled in the sun so it probably smells like whiskey.
Windsong (I can’t seem to forget yooooou, your Windsong stays on my miiiiiind. Though the hubby and I have now made it about gas so that’s ruined.)
My Estee Lauder phase had me wearing Cinnabar, White Linen and Youth Dew.
Fred Hayman 273 (because my stepmom liked to try to buy my love on Rodeo Blvd back in the day)
I also wore Jessica McClintock on my wedding day.
I feel so boring because then I started wearing Dolce & Gabbana’s Light Blue when it launched in 2001 until 2014 when I bought Yves Delorme’s Provence which is to die for and of course, they discontinued last year and I can’t find a bottle anywhere. So I will hoard this bottle until it’s gone and go back to Light Blue.
My nose got SO sensitive when I hit 35 and got bad allergies. Almost all of the perfumes listed here would now give me a flaming headache. But the two last ones are “sniffer approved!” Thanks for the smell down memory lane!
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TINKERBELL!!!! I wore that too and cannot believe I forgot about it.
ENJOLI!!! Totally forgot about that one too!! And you’re right, I bet there are a lot of 30+ women named Enjoli. Need to research that…..
I love hearing all of these scent stories. So much fun.
Smell down memory lane…….LOVE.
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I still wear Windsong AND Sand and Sable because I love them and they make me feel pretty. For real. I also loved Vanilla Fields by Coty, and VSP by Jovan…way back when.. Oh! And I also used to wear Chantilly which smelled like old man’s cologne, and Jean-Nate which was AWFUL but you can’t tell a teenager anything… My mother liked Cinnabar, which was equally overpowering. But Sand and Sable…does not smell like fish. It smells like my honeymoon, and since I have been a married lady for 34 years? I’d say that smells pretty sweeeeet!
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Aww, now I feel bad insulting your perfume! I do love that you still wear it and honestly, if I smelled it today, it would remind me of good times.
Did I make it better? 😊
I also wore Vanilla Fields and you’re right, Jean Nate was pretty awful.
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I don’t wear perfume. Haven’t since about 1978, when it was nothing but Love’s Baby Soft. This post and those links though–like a time machine ticket. And a ticket to feeling a little old. Honestly, though, I’m glad to be past the days when I thought I just needed the right product to be pretty/desirable/somekindofenough. Though there was something kind of sweet about thinking such a thing could be found in a bottle. But not a Love’s Baby Soft bottle. That was just straight up pedophilia being peddled there. Eww.
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LMAO, you are right!!
But yes, it is so much fun to relive days and scents bring things back to me in such a strong way.
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Happy was my most coveted scent. I still think about buying some now. But the scents that most bring back memories for me are the Bath and Body scents of my high school years. Cucumber melon…Ahhh, just walking past that place at the mall makes me relive my adolescence!
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I was in my 20s when Bath and Body Works became popular, so it reminds me of some fun times too. Like when I had disposable income! 😂
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I remember these! I wore Sweet Honesty as a teen in high school. My fav that I’ve worn for years now is Beautiful by Estee Lauder. Speaking of Estee Lauder, my MIL wears it, don’t know the name of it but it smells horrible, really more of an odor than an aroma or fragrance. I’m thinking it might be White Linen.
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There’s a lot of perfumes that smell like that. 🤢
It’s so much fun to relive scents from the past!
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