Crusade of Scent

                         

Michelle Ward's Crusade this month is the Scent of the Season, both current and/or past scents and to make a journal page about it.  I have a sensitive (scentsitive) nose and don't tend to enjoy many scents....I prefer unscented soy candles, or very subtle ...

but, isn't it interesting how smells, like music, have the power to transport?

 

I haven't done a Crusade challenge in a while, and there are a few more days left this month, so let's do it.  This past couple of weeks I have been cleaning and clearing out mass amounts of 'stuff'....in this process I found a bottle of perfume that I used to adore....Love's Oriental Amber Musk, I remember it made me feel exotic and dark and smokey

there is still something in the bottle....

the spray nozzle still works....

OHHHHH MANNNNN, if this was at one time a good scent, it is now soooo strong and has permeated every molecule of the air in our home.

It did though bring back a flood of memories...early '70's...a cold, crisp, snowy winter, friends...boys

what scents bring back a rush of memories to you?

Comments

[eb]

well...
this is my kind of Crusade - yes indeed!
so amazing how inspiration
ripples and rips through
the cyber world
SCENT is very big with me
an essential oil bath
almost every night
jasmine is summer
blue tansy is winter...
I know I need to go deeper here
I'll get back
after some scenting around...
how about Opium?
deep potent and dark
silky with velvet
and chocolate overtones
imagining it now
given to me years ago
from Dad - whose birthday is today...
77 - my sweet Dad...
to whom I dedicated my listen shrine
he who has always
listened
deeply
to the voice
of my heart...

well - you see
you sniffed it out
a deeper scent
a heart-listening memory
scent-driven...

xox - eb.

[Leau]

I read once that smells can trigger memories deeper than even sight or sound. Isn't that fascinating? I opened up a new box of Roastaroma tea the other day and was instantly transported back to Boulder when I was in my 20s... I, too, am very sensitive, only like very light, used to love potpourri, but alas, allergies have taken over my life. I did have an interesting "scent as art" thing today. I used my cold Jasmine tea as the water with my new watercolor pencils! Didn't really stay but it was fun while it lasted. Enjoy your evening sugar, I look forward to this whole bloglandia connection thing in the new year! Isn't it amazing? smooches

[Linda@Lime in the Coconut]

Oh, scent. I have the privledge of working with brand new babes and mamas. Scent IS where it starts, where it begs to begin. Amazing to witness, be privy to.So subtle yet powerful.

But...to bring me back to a place and time? Lemon (I think it was also a Love scent) and I do remember being enamored with Charlie...why? I dunno, loved it at the time!

[Paris Parfait]

Isn't it amazing how scent has the power to transport us to another time and place? For me, my favourite was Eau de Metal by Paco Rabanne. It reminds me of New York in my '20s; of feeling powerful, despite everything being uncertain. When I was a teen, it was L'air du Temps and Miguet des bois. Lovely contribution to the project you've created! xoxox

[michelle ward]

Stephanie - thanks for sharing your scent page with the team! Love that you took a photo of the bottle and included a scent swatch. Wow, the Love scents take me back...my fave was Rain. You can still get it - on Amazon! We all agree on the powerful role scent plays in stirring up memories. Thanks for prompting your readers to capture the evidence. Happy New Year!

[Lea]

I love this! A scent for me is Channel #5... takes me back to my teens and the girl that was a few years older than me, that was my idol... she wore it and told anyone who asked what scent she was wearing, that it was "Fleur de le Mont" so no one would duplicate her! I too no longer can tolerate strong scents, but give me the smell of baked bread anyday and I will be a kid again in my grandmother's kitchen...

[karen cole]

Are you old enough to remember English Leather???

My first boyfriend......

Happy Challah days Steph!!!

[somepinkflowers]

isn't it wonderful
how scent~~
even talking about it~~
can send our hearts and memories racing!

:-)

~~English Leather~~
indeed, karen!

my grandfather wore ~~Old Spice~~
and
that is the smell
that makes him appear
to me now,
just
like
that!

ohohohoh

i just remembered
----> ~~High Karate~~

was that bad or what?
i cannot remember
and
you, steph, are too young!

[Cath]

We all used to have Musk body spray at high school - I like the smell of it to this day. The high school kids wear vanilla now - always smells like they've been baking to me LOL. Your page is so colourful, I love it. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[julie thornton]

Its a lovely page!

[rochambeau]

Like you Steph,
Your memory about the perfume is interesting.
It perked a memory for me too. There was a perfume I liked in high school Eau de Love. Do you remember?
I am SENSITIVE to smell. Bad smells can make me leave any place I am. Bad smells can make me cry. Good smells can put me in heaven. I like clean smelling things. I realize WE ALL interpret smells differently. One man's heaven, another man's hell. If they change the smell in my shampoo, I will smell EVERY bottle of shampoo. This is time consuming, it can take hours, but it is worth it!.

Happy New Year Friend!
Wishing you and your family peace,
health, happiness!!!
So HAPPY we got to meet in "real life"
love,
Constance

[hedwig]

Scents indeed can bring back memories. One of my oldest memories is in kindergarten and the smell is a combination of lavender and a cleaning product (which i only know the name of in Dutch: vloeibare driehoek...) and of ?? an ingredient i just don't know. And sometimes it comes to me, and i become 4 again.
Happy 2009, Hedwig

[carlene]

OMG I loved the Love's scents! Haven't smelled any of them in a long time, but remember that they were STRONG...gives me a headache just thinking about it, lol!

[Gillian]

Smells do indeed transport us! Cells have memory. They love to wake up and reminisce like the rest of our selves. They help us remember the forgotten.
"love's baby soft" and one little pink bottle of "Xia Xiang" was my favourite. I loved "Emeraude" and one they don't make anymore that I just adored called "Perry Ellis".
Too bad! ;(
Today I just love Sensuous by Estee Lauder. And Jil Sander No.4.
Oh and Oscar de La Renta will always smell like my grandmother.
xoxo!