scent memory?

[rushchairman]

I tried an EDC that seems fairly popular around here for the first time today and initially didn't care for it at all. I thought it was just too flowery, perfumey and just generally feminine. However, as the frag dried down, it's scent began to play with my memory and soon I was able to identify it - it was the exact aroma of friend's house from my childhood. Both his parents were European and affluent and I happily regarded them as being sophisticated and worldly. He worked in the shipping industry and so the house was full of beautiful maritime antiquities from all over Europe and Asia. There was always classical music on in the home and the parents were rarely seen without a glass of wine. His mother smoked cigarettes while his father would draw on a pipe. Still, they were very physically fit and outdoorsy in the sense that they enjoyed sailing and hiking. After sleep overs, we would breakfast with bare feet on breads with cheese and jam and butter and even sardines, which were far too risque for me, but appealing none the less. It was an extremely cool atmosphere, made even cooler by this other-worldly aroma - which only enhanced the air of refinement. Only after all these years am I able to put a name to the aroma which came to represent sophistication-by-proxy. It is, of all things...TABAC! Is that even possible?? The guy must have worn heaps of the stuff!!! I think its link to this special time in my childhood is the only thing saving this frag's place in my rotation...

Aside from the often remarked-on 'barbershop' memories, have the ghosts of any people/places/things come rushing back to you from the dark recesses of your mind following a simple application of fragrance??

 

[Mick]

Tabac is a favorite of mine too (not THE favorite but one of them). You will notice many of my SPOTD pics are Tabac triple plays (soap, aftershave, and cologne)

 

[JFielder23]

Absolutely... a few months ago, I tried Mennen Skin Bracer for the first time. The moment I splashed it on, I was taken back to my childhood, probably about 6 or 7 years old, and I remembered watching my grandfather shave, and then when he got done he would splash on some AS, and then put a little bit on me too. It was shocking to me how quickly it took me back, and this was like a deep memory too, something I hadn't thought of in many years. I love using that stuff now.

 

[jrward2]

Not to long ago I got some Penhaligon's samples and opened all of them to smell immediately. I ended up getting a little on my fingers in the opening process and because of that the scents mixed together. The scent that was produced was identical to a perfume that one of my first girlfriends in high-school wore. It was really bizarre to me that that memory came back to me after so many years.

 

[riFph]

I've started thinking a lot about that. I have a 3 year old and another on the way and if I stick to 1 or a few scented products that's what my kids will remember later in life.

 

[rushchairman]

I've started thinking a lot about that. I have a 3 year old and another on the way and if I stick to 1 or a few scented products that's what my kids will remember later in life.

I'm the same way - trying to build a lasting aroma profile!!

 

[rushchairman]

Not to long ago I got some Penhaligon's samples and opened all of them to smell immediately. I ended up getting a little on my fingers in the opening process and because of that the scents mixed together. The scent that was produced was identical to a perfume that one of my first girlfriends in high-school wore. It was really bizarre to me that that memory came back to me after so many years.

+1. it's often said that of all our senses, our sense of smell links the closest to our memory. kind of wild when it happens!

 

[MegaBullfrog09]

Aqua Velva and Brut are the two scents my dad used to wear. They both remind me of my childhood. I used to sneak into my parents' bathroom and put some on. I remember liking the Aqua Velva more though.

 

[Dusty1]

I brought a jar of Tabac to my dad who is 60 and asked him if it is the soap his father used. He took one smell and told me no but it was the one his grandfather used (my great grandfather who passed away maybe 25 years ago). My dad doesn't always have the best memory but its funny how certain things like smells stick with you.

 

[rushchairman]

Me too! Aqua velva and cigarette fingers. My dentist also had cigarette fingers (this was the pre-glove era). I came to identify that smell as the smell of "man hands", not at all aware it was just from cigarettes

 

[Kilroy6644]

When I first tried The Veg, it seemed familiar to me, but I just chalked it up to the fact that there's a lilac bush outside the dining room of my parents' house. But over the weekend I had my sister smell it, and she said it smells like Grandpa's bathroom used to smell, and that seems to be right. I'll have to do some more experimentation.

 

[rushchairman]

When I first tried The Veg, it seemed familiar to me, but I just chalked it up to the fact that there's a lilac bush outside the dining room of my parents' house. But over the weekend I had my sister smell it, and she said it smells like Grandpa's bathroom used to smell, and that seems to be right. I'll have to do some more experimentation.

interesting! i have the same experience w/ Arko. I'm sure he didn't use Arko, but there is something about it's soapy scent that I recall lingering about his bathroom...
i wish i could go back and experiment too...

 

[ateace]

To the OP:

Since the father was a pipe smoker, perhaps the house was infused with the aroma of the actual pipe tobacco?

Just a thought.