I took W to the park earlier today and on passing a couple of gossiping girls I caught the unmistakeable whiff of Jean Paul Gaultier La Femme.
I was instantly transported back to my sixteen year old self. Young, confident, vibrant and hopelessly in love with a wrong ‘un.
It was amazing the rush, and strength, of emotions and memories brought about by a simple quick smell of a perfume that I used to wear. It got me thinking. I guess we all relate certain smells with certain memories or feelings.
Here are some of mine…
- Chanel No. 5, my wedding day.
- Tom Ford Leather, Mr B.
- Cut grass, spring.
- Cinnamon, Christmas.
- Boiled cabbage, my Granny Peg.
- Furniture polish, my first job.
- Rive Gauche perfume, my Mum.
- Stale pipe smoke and polos, my favorite (Eng Lit) school teacher, Mr Rosewall
I am sure there are many, many more.
How about you? Which smells send you back in time? Let me know.
Amazing, isn’t it? The power of a smell to instantly transport your mind back to very specific points in time, or to make you feel a certain way. I love it.
One of mine, which I experience only rarely, is the smell of a particular plastic used in toy manufacture. It is still used in lots of new toys, but it takes me back to a birthday when I got given a Transformer toy which remained my favourite for years. Incredibly vivid.
Lovely post, and olfactory is a great word too.
That is so cool. I never had any transformers. i fear I may have missed out. Though I seem to remember ‘My little ponys’ having a pretty distinctive smell now that you mention it.
What a nice memory!
Clove cigarettes. Such a strong smell and quite rare. It reminds me of travelling the East Coast of Australia with some very funny people.