Womens Thoughts

The thoughts of Sam Brightmore of Bottega, Holt, Chester.

The subject of perfume fascinates me....my olfactory sense is so acute, that a smell can trigger a memory for me almost immediately or I associate a fragrance with a person, I am sure you can all identify with that, especially the memory of someone who might no longer be in your life for whatever reason, but the smell ...makes the image of them all the more real for it...fragrance is incredibly powerful.

In a former life I was the Perfumery & Cosmetics Buyer for Liberty & during that time met Roja Dove, the famous 'nose' from Guerlain, who was just the most flamboyant & interesting man who taught me how to pick out notes in a fragrance, I adored his method of fragrance layering, which is what French women have always done, for them it is a ritual, an expression & it defines them, they would feel naked without it, he also told me to wear a fragrance to reflect my mood & he found it bizarre that British women bought one fragrance only, & wear it their entire lives!! I now, thanks to Roja's influence have so many & I wear each one to suit my frame of mind on any given day!

I am also curious as to how people buy fragrance, obviously as a buyer for a store, I was of course aware of the power of advertising & the impact this would have on sales, so it isn't always about smell, as the consumer must be absorbed by the idea almost as much. One only needs to look at the campaigns for many perfumes to see how evocative & powerful they can be, Calvin Klein certainly had a huge impact with this during my time at Liberty in the early 90's & I was very lucky to be invited to the UK launch of Escape in 1993, the success that followed was just phenomenal.

I have just finished reading a biography of Coco Chanel, and am humbled by all she achieved. She had an amazing 'nose' & consulted a leading perfumer in Grasse to create a signature fragrance to cement her brand. She despised the sickly floral fragrances that were around at that time & was quite specific in her demands for something strong but feminine, and so Chanel No.5 came to be, as it was simply the fifth sample that she chose. She designed the flacon herself & the design has remained the same since the early 30's. Many fashion houses followed suit thereafter, Jean Patou with Joy & Elsa Schiaparelli with Shocking, these all have stood the test of time, with No.5 & Joy being the 2 best selling fragrances across the world.

So the worlds of fashion & fragrance are inextricably linked & certainly at Bottega we have & are still exploring the idea of selling fragrance. I so enjoy buying perfume for myself, I rarely wait to receive it as a gift because for me it is a real treat. I discovered many little known fragrances during my research for the opening of the new department at Liberty, namely Creed & Annick Goutal & am still a huge fan of both, I wear several Goutal fragrances & have to say I prefer a more masculine scent rather than a heady floral. My latest discovery is Byredo perfumes, strangely from Sweden, but I absolutely adore their fragrance. Their names are really quirky too & I could happily wear every one of them, but I think my favourite is Wonderful Man as it absolutely does smell like a handsome, well groomed man & I just breathe it in, it is heavenly. This summer, I have also flirted with Magnolia Nobile from Aqua di Parma, which is unlike me, but I was strangely drawn to it after I received a sample in a Space NK goody bag, it is floral, but quite fresh & it's perfect for when I'm in a lighter frame of mind!

So, I would love to know how you all buy fragrance, in fact if you buy your own at all? Which are your favourites & why do you choose them, are the decisions based on smell, bottle/packaging design or does a great ad campaign draw you in?

Please let me know your thoughts & ideas?

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