I am a true lover of fragrance. Have been forever. In the 1960’s my signature scent was Ambush. I can remember this being very popular starting in junior high school. The main notes here were lavender, lemon, bergamot, sandalwood, and vanilla. From there I moved on to Shalimar where I remained faithful into adulthood. That was truly a signature scent for me. For those of you not familiar with Shalimar it is a powdery amber scent with notes of bergamot, iris and vanilla. I guess my body chemistry responded best to these notes. There were occasional flirtations with other popular scents such as Opium, Chloe, Tova Signature and others that were good for short runs.

There are fragrances that evoke memories. While on Oceania cruises I became acquainted with Bulgari au the Blue and would wear that for all our cruises and for a while after to keep the wonderful memories alive!

A favorite fragrance in early 2000 was Donna Karan’s Cashmere. This scent is powdery with notes of bergamot, suede, lily of the valley, sandalwood and amber. Tom loved this scent on me so that became my favorite too. We both loved fragrance. My favorite of his is Dior Homme. I have a bottle of it and when I’m really missing him, I spray the scent and I can imagine that he is nearby.

I also love to layer a fragrance. When I can, I get shower gel and body cream to layer the scent. Philosophy makes great scents for the shower, body creams and sometimes a fragrance to go with it. I have favorites in this line too-Mandarin Mimosa, Fresh Cream, and Lavender. For holiday gifts I order assortment sets to break up and give as gifts. In the 2024 Christmas assortment was a scent that I had never seen. It is Pistachio Dreams. I kept this one for myself and now I am obsessed with the scent. The shower gel was all they had so I had to hunt for other products. I have recently found them! The fragrance is from Le Monde Gourmand and it is called Pistachio Brulee (ordered from Nordstrom). The scent is a combination of vanilla notes and salty hints of pistachio! I love it!! Then I had to find a body cream and found it at Bath and Body Works. It is Pistachio Glaze. The notes are pistachio creme, almond blossom and whipped vanilla! It smells delicious!! While searching for pistachio I came across a new try me set from Donna Karan Cashmere at Nordstom which included a Cashmere and Wild Fig scent. I also happen to like fig scented products and found a body cream to be worn with this. It is from Bath and Body works called Guilty as Fig! What a lucky break. I seem to have zeroed in on trending scents!!

Now I am all set to start a new season. Will have to decide which scent will come along on my next trip and then it can evoke new memories for me.