HER PERFUME

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXII, Issue 4310, 29 August 1921, Page 1

HER PERFUME

(By Hester Howlett). Not one woman in a hundred displays the same good taste in her choice of a perfume as she does in the ordering of her clothes, or in the arrangement of her home. Yet this adjunct to the feminine toilet expresses her personality far more subtly than does either of these. I know a most handsome woman of thirty-five. Hers is the beauty of complete maturity; the lines of her fully developed figure, the stately poise of her head, are reminiscent of a statue of Juno. And the perfume that she uses is—-wood-violet!

Could anything be more incongruous?

Such a woman should use attar of roses, with its’ suggestion of dignity, passion, and experience. She "would then convey an impression of absolute correctness.

The shy little flower of spring, the violet, is for the ingenui alone, for it tells of the sweetness and freshness of youth, and whispers of the promise of greater things in store. It speaks of budding life. <The dark-eyed Oriental type should never decorate her dressing-table with a dainty bottle labelled “Extract of Wallflower.”

For she suggests the mystery and elusiveness of the long, dreamy days and silent, desert nights.

The “synthetic” scents , are for her. , Those perfumes that z no trace of resemblance to any known flower, but rather waft haunting odours of spice and sandalwood. The sturdy, rosy-faced country girl, her whole mien speaking of wind-swept moors and briar-tangled lanes, may use/only such clean, straight-forward scents as clover, or the wholesome, old-fashioned. wallflower. For brogues -and Harris tweed may not be marred by any hint of cities or pavements.

Jasmin, only found in rustic hamlets, clinging round the doorways of old-world cottages, puts the finishing touch to the peaceful, restful woman whose presence is such balm to those around her.

Shyly alluring, it is quite irresistible, like the woman it so perfectly represents. . The odour of the hyacinth is unlike any other. The dainty bells resemble delicate porcelain, and demand the most gentle usage. It is a flower that speaks of witsfulness. Only one type of girl can use it with success. She is elfin, spirituelle, with nymph-like form. Her eyes ask questions, and her mouth is a rosebud. Scores of women use lavenderwater; only one in a hundred has any right to do so. That is the sweet-faced, white-haired old lady who sits placidly knitting by the fireside.

For the sweetest of all flowersbreathes of the serenity and peace of autumn, with" no z regrets for ’the summer that has passed.

The perfume of a blossom is its soul. A woman should endeavour to mingle it with hers.