Perfume...sigh

Love this article so much. It is an interview with a perfumer about the process of creating a perfume, and it was such a fun read!

I have a weird love of perfumes. It's more of a vicarious love, though. I am pretty loyal to the few scents I own. But I adore reading descriptions of perfumes on websites and trying to imagine what they smell like. Anthropologie always has great scent descriptions for the perfumes they carry.

The first perfume I fell in love with was Auric Blends' roll on perfumes. I still have my original bottle, which has become my signature: One Love. It's such a lovely scent, and seems to linger so nicely on my skin. It's sweet without being cloying; the base is a deep vanilla. I just adore it and don't tend to stray.

Heaven help me if they ever discontinue One Love!

I also had a love affair with Gap Scent Editions. I remember being in a huge Gap and standing in front of the display sniffing all the different perfumes, which were meant to be blended. I remember the one blend I loved was Sueded Musk with Silk Yuzu. I never bought the fragrance and it was one of those purchases I regretted never making. Years later, I thought of the scents and managed to track down the rollerball of Silk Yuzu on Ebay. It is pretty weak; the fruity, citrusy scent fades quickly. But I enjoy it all the same!

Gotta love the packaging; the perfume has a little cloth pouch
with a button closure that then sits in a little box

I then saw this article on the Wall Street Journal about orange blossom perfumes. It's an idea I had toyed with idly from time to time; wearing orange blossoms as perfume on my wedding day.

Beautiful photo by F. Martin Ramin for the Wall Street Journal,
styling by Anne Cardenas

As I did my wedding research (nerd alert), I discovered that it was tradition in the early 20th century for brides to wear orange blossoms on their wedding day. Orange blossoms represent fertility because the orange trees flower year-round. Hooray for wedding research!

Even when orange blossoms weren't available, wax flowers were created and made into headdresses. Queen Victoria started the trend (just like she started the whole white dress thing).

So, at first I was looking into vintage pieces. But, once the venue was decided, I knew that a wax headdress in August might not work. I wouldn't want to ruin a vintage treasure! So then, my next thought was that I could nod to this tradition with perfume. If I find something based on orange blossoms, it would be a fun nod to the idea.

My first stop was to get Pacifica's Nerola Orange Blossom solid perfume.

The verdict? It was surprisingly bitter. I expected more citrusy sweetness, or at least a vaguely citrusy floral. I think it would have to be mixed with a more obvious orange for me to really fall for it. Perhaps the Tuscan Blood Orange perfume by the same company?

I ended up just wearing my signature scent. It's the most me, orange blossoms be damned! I felt beautiful that day no matter what details were left by the wayside.