The third guest post in The Scent Series comes from Scribblings of a Brit Girl, a.k.a Sara. It’s a good one people, read on…

If there was one thing to define my family it would be our choices of scents and the memories they have created. My mother loves scent, and even to this day her dressing table has a cornucopia of well-known names littering its top, some dabbled with as a change, but the oh so familiar smells of either Channel No5 or L’Air Du Temps intermingled with cigarette smoke are ones that immediately take me back to witnessing her get ready to go out or coming back late and creeping in to check on us.

My dad’s chest of drawers also had a similar amount of aftershaves on it, and in the dead of night, in that place between awake and asleep, sometimes I think I can smell Givenchy Pour Homme Blue mixed with soil, newsprint and the smell of a hot cup of tea.

But it always astounds me that you can have two people with a shared history like that, and so many shared memories, yet such different choices in scent. My sister and I have both been lucky to be appreciative of scent in the same way as our parents, but that’s where It ends.

My sister, although younger in age, is older in spirit and her perfume choices reflect this. Her current defining scent is Armani Code for Women. Its distinctive bottle, draped in an exotic floral pattern, dark blue and with an almost hour glass shape, screams her. Orange Blossom, Vanilla, Honey, Jasmine all blended together to create ‘An unforgettable fragrance that exudes a mysterious charm’. Anyone that knows my sister would say that she’s the sort of woman that leaves an impression on you that you wouldn’t forget easily.

The other scent that she used to wear rather a lot, and again makes me think of her, is Boss Femme. Apparently representing ‘ultra feminine beauty’, this creates ‘a radiant cloud of softness … with a sophisticated and captivating aura’ that ‘lets your inner light radiate’. Now I know that it’s talking about the perfume, but seriously, it certainly tells us a lot about my beloved sibling. Not only that she prefers perfumes in the oriental floral end of the spectrum, as again it’s a similar combination of notes – tangerine, stephanotis, oriental lily and rose petals.

So, I hear you cry, what does yours truly favour? Well, I consider myself to be a bit of a fragrance floozy, and I’ve dabbled with many over the years. I think it was because I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin, I didn’t truly know who I was. I think you have to know yourself well to find the perfume to match your personality perfectly.

At this point in my life, being older and wiser, I embrace Marc Jacobs, and his two iconic brands – Daisy and Lola. Daisy is apparently ‘Radiant and enchanting … a sparkling floral bouquet – spirited and fresh, wrapped in comfort and warmth’. At its heart ‘Daisy is a floral with a vintage edge: Violet, sophisticated with a touch of whimsy…’. I like to think this would be considered a good way to sum me up.

Despite being schooled to think differently, I actually tend to prefer Eau de Toilette for its lightness compared to its more grown up and robust sister Eau de Parfum, which is what my own sister would usually plump for in a fragrance.

So, to Lola, which is probably my more often worn of the two. It’s quite a complex scent, ‘playfully alluring and irresistibly tempting … created for a free spirit’. But I think the fact its considered to have an ‘ultra feminine heart’ is what captures my nose…. its notes of (wait for it, it’s quite a list) pink peppercorn, pear d’anjou, ruby red grapefruit, peony, rose, geranium, vanilla, tonka bean and musk seem to create a floral girly scent that is somehow fresher and more grown up than the very very girly ones I favoured when I was younger.

For me, I know that anything that has peony, rose, and geranium in will always get my attentions. I think I like to see myself as a the sort of girl that has vintage down pat, and has an eclectic way of dressing and being, even if that’s not necessarily the case. My sister favours lily, jasmine, and all varying blossoms, sending out the message she’s a classic, classy, sophisticated sort…. the type of person that has a confident and striking persona.

I’ve always thought that scent has such power to create a vision of how people see you, and despite us having oodles in common, our scents will always mark the two of us out as very different indeed.

(quotes copyright of Boots.com)

Reading Sara’s wonderful words really got me thinking about my own sister’s scent selections. She’s also a fan of Daisy and, while I appreciate the fragrance on her, it’s not something I’ve ever been drawn to myself. I feel the need to peruse her perfume collection at the next available opportunity and compare {fragrance} notes.

Do you wear any of the scents mentioned here? Can you relate to this sisterly scent memory?

Loveaudrey xxx