Mundane Musings

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 131, 24 August 1927, Page 4

Mundane Musings

Sense About Scents

It is, I think, the moment to which we look forward all through our dress-ing-—the moment when, having looked to see that every invisible hairpin is living up to its name, and the peach silk seams of our stockings are behaving nicely—we lift the stopper from a clouded glass bottle and apply that touch of perfume to our person which is to leave a memory, good or bad, behind us. Do you know that your' character, your walk in life, your very social status, can be told by the perfume you affect? There have always been fashions in perfumes, and not the least of these concerns the manner of applying it. Our mothers took a nice clean hanky and applied the mouth of the scent bottle vigorously to it; you still see dear old country ladies behaving this way with the lavender water. Then came the scent-spray, and the handkerchief was neglected for hair and arms and necks, A little wasteful this method seems to us now, unless we are simply out to cure that headachy, after-the-office feeling, when scent spraying is the most refreshing amusement in the world. Another fad was to put a drop or two behind each ear, until this method became demode. Now* we scent our *finger-tii:>s only. A charming fashion that positively calls for kisses; kisses on the hand, I mean, that always surprise and delight one so during a thrilling holiday. And how delightful this must be for those with whom we dance —well-eared-for and scented finger-tips resting upon a broadcloth shoulder! There are scents, of course, that are smart, and others that are very definitely out of fashion, but I like best the plan of mixing your own and thus acquiring a personality perfume that no one can copy. I have found that the two best mixers are any good make of jasmin or cliypre. You mix them with a scent that is a little less pronounced, a “thinner” variety, if you know what I mean, and thus get a wonderful individual result. Remember that English scents are much cheaper than French ones and not nearly so “done.” The English makes are rarely recognised. For myself I like best the expensive perfumes put up by the great French dressmakers. They are perfect, but. of course, only the “best people” can afford them, so you are labelled at once. Still, one could economise in powders and soaps and bath salts and make up for it that way. Take one great dressmaker’s “Gardenia,” or “Dans le nuit” —oh! or that mystery scent, “Narcisse noire,” which no woman will admit to using because she is so afraid it will become known—all of them breathe the very essence of up-to-date romance, with a soupcon of Michael Arlen thrown in!