Perfumes ( and aftershaves ) from our youth.

I remember the smell of bay rum, which my first boss used to put on his hair. At that time, 16 years old, I remember my mum used 4711. I loved 'Charlie', and boots used to make a soap with grainy bits in it with a lovely smell, but can't recall what it's name was now. I then went on to Estee Lauder 'Youth Dew' and Chanel. And do you remember Brut... lordy, that was a sickening smell.

It was Aquamanda for me.

Kiku in a short stubby little yellow bottle. Wore it for years. And Estee Lauder Youth Dew of course!

I remember Apple Blossom, Aqua Manda (and Aqua Citris). Mum used to wear L'aimant which is lovely and holds its own with more expensive types.
We loved those sets of very tiny bottles of perfume from Woolies - Muguet, etc. We thought they were very sophisticated!
Elder brother wore Old Spice - Dad thought such things were a bit 'soft' for men, he was very much of the 'old school'.

I always wore Elizabeth Arden Blue Grass and still do! The problem is that after all this time I can't smell it at all. I have tried hard to find a light 'clean' perfume as an alternative but they always smell awful on me.

L'Aimant is like mock Chanel No 5 and is a pretty good imitation of Chanel No 5 . I think that it smells like jasmine. It retains its scent on the skin very well .

I wish that Chypre ,by Coty I think ,was still available.

Kadinsky - Cachet for me too
My Mum wore Californian Poppy and I remember buying a teeny tiny bottle of it for 2/6 from the local chemist for her when I was a child. That was a weeks pocket money.
My Dad wore Old Spice too, but so does my DH!
Bf's (boyfriends) wore Polo, very fashionable at the time so they smelt the same!.

I remember one called Courant around 1973

Charlie

mum always had aqua manda we always knew what to buy at xmas
does anyone remember ponds cold cream in the little white jars it was so refreshing and did my skin good

I can remember using Black Rose? by Goya, and an older cousin giving me some Evening in Paris which she had got fed up with, which I loved. I then experimented with a lot of Avon perfumes but can't remember the names. Some of them came in a small pot in cream form as opposed to the liquid varieties.

I remember ponds yes.
I remember quite a few of the perfumes mentioned here actually, it’s amazing how smells can take you right back.

Definitely "Youth Dew" it was THE perfume of the day for dancing round your handbag aged 15/16 the boys wore Brut. Sometimes I have a quick spray of YD at the perfume counter, just to evoke those times. Definitely Aqua Manda very '60s, or mid century as they like to say these days, along with Biba and Mary Quant make up, heavy fringe, pale lipstick eyeliner and the painting of spider leg like eyelashes under our under lashes. Can't wait to revisit some of that at Mary Quant's exhibition at the V&A fairly soon.

Oh and oil of Patchouli for festivals and concerts, a bit foul quite honestly I think "Rive Gauche" was pretty popular in our more sophisticated later teens

Anyone else remember the distinctive yellow packaging of Faberge Kiku which I think was aimed at younger girls and women?

Lentheric Tweed was another one I remember wearing. I'm still drawn to fragrances with bergamot top notes, probably why I like Earl Grey tea.

Another favourite note is ylang-ylang. I don't often wear perfume now but when I do I still like Gloria Vanderbilt with its gorgeous swan inlaid bottle. That was introduced in 1982.

I used Aquamanda too. Also Boots used to sell a shampoo in a little tube/bottle, I think it was called Dopp. It was the best thing for my fine straight hair. ?

I go further back with Californian Poppy and Evening in Paris. Then I remember dad bought me one called Endearing, all lovely perfumes in their day.

An old auntie used to give me small bottles of Goya perfumes too which were lovely-----Lily of the Valley being my favourite at the time.

In later years I too had Kiku, Aqua Manda and Apple Blossom.
Brother used Kouros which smelled lovely.

TerriBull I still sometimes use a tiny bit of patchouli but mix it with different Molton Brown body lotions so there's just a hint of it to remind me of music festivals.

I used to adore Je Reviens, and would still buy it if I ever saw it for sale.
I remember a granny liking L'Aimant by Coty.

In early/mid teens I loved Hartnell's In Love, took some of the hand cream or similar to school, and found that our biology teacher was violently allergic to the smell! Streaming eyes, sneezing, etc.
Being horrible 14 or 15 year olds, my friends and I found this highly amusing.

Going OT here,but my other abiding memory of said teacher, was at a session where she would answer any anonymous biology-related questions.

Someone asked a question about contraception.
Teacher stood in front of the class and said very sternly,
'This is something no NICE GIRL needs to know about until she's married!'
(This was mid 1960s)

I used to love L’air du Temp by Nina Ricci.
L’aimant was also a favourite.

I'm still very much a perfume boffin to this day and must have had a fair amount of different ones over the years, so much so that I can pretty well name a perfume if someone passes by and I get a whiff of it.

I remember my mother and I trying Occur from the Avon lady. It smelled good on her but foul on both of us. That was when I first realised that scents react differently on different skins. I see that was released in 1963. This site says it smells animalic. It certainly did on the two of us!

www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Avon/Occur--2308.html

Witzend. You can still buy Worth Je Reviens.

www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Worth/Je-Reviens-5130.html

bit.ly/2GapqYb

Brut! I remember loving the smell of it on an older boyfriend when I was 19 or 20. Seemed so sophisticated then!

Roll on 10 years or so, and we were living in the Middle East with a dog who had a penchant for rolling in vile dead things on the nearby beach.
Once he found a dead turtle - the stench was unbelievable.
After several baths which didn't shift it, in desperation I bought some Brut shampoo and washed him in that - reasoning that one overpowering stink might mask the other.
It did help just a bit.

My DM was given a bottle of Nina Ricci’s Capricci. She only liked using Yardley’s Lavender, so I used the Capricci! Beautiful scent and one of my favourites - all discontinued

Sortilege by Le Galion, also lovely, also discontinued.