Wednesday 2 March 2016

The Stinky 80s

Still on the theme of smells (Old Spice in my last post), my bloggy mate Nickie O'Hara was talking about perfumes from the 80's recently. Just Google it for a laugh; there are so many lists out there - and most of the perfumes absolutely honked. My goodness! Mind you, when you're wearing massive hair and shoulders I suppose you have to have a statement pong to go with them.

Just before the 80's (yes, I'm that old) I wore Shalimar, mainly because one of my mother's friends wore it and she was very exotic and hippy. It smells of vanilla but a thousand times more so. What was I thinking? Living in the USA now, where everything is either vanilla or cinnamon flavored, I would probably hurl if I had a whiff of Shalimar these days.

But moving on to the 80s I confess I wore patchouli, then when I got a bit more sophisticated I hit the Opium (perfume, that is), but only for evenings. Wearing something like Opium in the middle of the day would have been the olfactory equivalent of looking like this -

Oh wait, we did. (Not me in photo, btw)

During the day I remember wearing Anais Anais and never quite knowing how to pronounce it. I also wore YSL's Rive Gauche - both of which I probably wouldn't wear now, but I always wear something. For some reason, going out without a scent of some kind is almost as worrisome as not wearing ear-rings. I mean, one just feels so naked!

Ah...memories.

Other perfumes of the day included Poison, Obsession and Magie Noire, for the evening and  perhaps a light Jovan Musk, Oscar de la Renta or Girogio for day. My fave was called simply "Armani". It was quite a gentle smell, and - to my eternal sadness - they discontinued it. Oh sure, they've come back with pathetic renditions of it, like "Gio" and "Sensi" but nothing will come close to that lovely smell or that divine slim, glass bottle. Sob. 

My mother says that there's nothing quite like having four young girls in the car, ready for a night out, all wearing a combination of 80's evening scents. She must have thrown up when she finally got home and I know the care retained that heady mix for days. 

And the boys were almost as bad. Anyone remember Kouros? One of my friends at uni used to lather it on so thick we would have to announce a "Kouros alert" and open all the windows! 


Ah...those were the (stinky) days!

16 comments:

  1. So many smells... so many memories. Patchouli makes me heave but I still love the smell of Kouros!! Plus a copy of Oscar de la Renta was my first ever perfume.

    Great post - love it!!

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    1. I must admit I recently bought a small bottle of patchouli and it stinks. I have watered it down and added citrus...and made it even worse. It has to go. LOL

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  2. I remember Obsession, Poison and, of course, Musk. I'm sure we will look back on whatever we are wearing today with the same horror.

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    1. Actually..... the last two purchases I made were the new-ish Red Musk from Body Shop and the new-ish Black Poison! LOL

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  4. Ah, Obsession. Also, Ralph Lauren. And I wore some sickly-sweet thing called 'Ciara' in university as well. I also went through a Chanel No. 5 phase for a while until MrL tactfully told me it reminded him of his Granny

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    1. Never could get into Chanel Number 5 although it doesn't smell too bad on other people. For some reason when I put it on it really goes off!

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  5. I remembering LouLou by Cacharel, which was another very very strong one, Poison and Estee Lauder White Linen. My mum definitely had Shalimar and Opium.

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    1. White Linen is another one of those perfumes that smells terrible on me. Apparently, according to one sales lady at Heathrow airport, there are certain types of skin which really don't gel with certain types of perfume.

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  6. Ouch. I still wear Chanel No 5, MsCaroline! I have a sneaking suspicion that that scent and Worth's Je Reviens smell okay on me because they smelled good on my mother. We might have similar body chemistries when it comes to scents.

    I, too, always wear scent, even to bed, Toni. It's a thing.

    And I will add to your lists Halston and Charlie. I actually vanquished a high-school nemesis (male) with the latter one. He was being rather mean to me just before class one day. He then dismissed me and turned to chat with a friend. I slipped out my trusty purse-sized spray bottle of Charlie, walked up next to his desk, and said his name. When he spun around with an irritated "What?", I spritzed him. It was a very feminine scent. Class began. He sat fuming (quite literally). Without asking the bemused teacher for leave, he stormed out, headed for the little boys' room (ha!), muttering, "I can't stand this!"

    Revenge, well-executed and timely, can be so sweet!

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    1. leemikcee - I still LOVE Chanel No. 5, - my mum wears it - but I think it's definitely a body chemistry thing that makes it almost too sweet on me (hence the 'granny' comment.) I'm always smelling scents that I love and turn out not to work well with my chemistry. Sigh.

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    2. leemikcee - I still LOVE Chanel No. 5, - my mum wears it - but I think it's definitely a body chemistry thing that makes it almost too sweet on me (hence the 'granny' comment.) I'm always smelling scents that I love and turn out not to work well with my chemistry. Sigh.

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  7. I remember Chanel NO 5 and going back to my childhood...... many moons ago, I can remember my mother using Evening In Paris which came in a lovely royal blue bottle with a silver label and I thought that was the most wonderful perfume that anyone could possibly have.
    Maggie x

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  8. I wore Eau de Gucci or Eau de Givenchy. Though I was terribly sophisticated. Then I saw an exclusive perfume advertised called Antonia's Flowers, and knew I had to have it, and Husband bought it for me for our first married Christmas. I still have that bottle, though don't wear it any more - it's a bit heavily flowery.

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  9. "Thought I was terribly sophisticated" NOT "Though I was terribly sophisticated". Oh, the difference one character can make to the meaning of a sentence!

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