Evocative scents. Disappointed.

I once won Clarins 'Eau Dynamisant', loved it and will treat myself to some on my birthday in Oct.

I used to love the smell of HaI Karate aftershave. I wore it as a perfume for a while, and people often asked what perfume I had on. It reminded me of Cuticura ‘medicated talcum powder’, but I have no idea what it smells of!

Another one here where Pears soap takes me back decades. I worked with a woman who had bad BO, which she tried to camouflage with Apple Blossom perfume (Helena Rubenstein?). It was the worst combination ever and even the mention of it now makes me want to retch!

My Mum loved Sunflowers by Elizabeth Arden and even specified in her end of life care plan that she wanted to wear it and she did.

Another evocative perfume is Tweed. When I was still at school I worked weekends in a gift shop. A retired lady came to work there too as she had too much time on her hands. She must have been about 70 and I was probably 15 and despite the huge gap we got on really well and she taught me so much about life in general and we had some good laughs. She was very chic and always wore Tweed. Not popular now but very occasionally I get a whiff and I think of her.

Imperial Leather reminds me instantly of Mrs, H*******'s sewing lessons, every Monday afternoon; her hands were spotlessly clean and she spent a lot of time unpicking my work. I hated her and she hated me and I still can't sew.

Imperial Leather reminds me of my Dad using it to shave with which insisted on doing in the kitchen despite having a bathroom.

DM and DGM always wore a distinctive combination of Evening in Paris perfume and Johnson's Baby Powder!! The perfume became unobtainable at some point but was 'relaunched' in the 80's/90's. Rushed out and bought it for DM but not only did it smell completely different...it no longer lingered for long... So disappointing. DD bought me 'Fragonard' back from France. It smelled gorgeous, lingered all day and people frequently commented on the 'lovely scent' I was wearing. I ordered a refill on line but it was not the same at all - ?fake. Tried all the Fragonard options when M & S brought in a range under that name but no luck there either. "Tant Pis"

Pears is another. My mother always used it.