The Scent of a Woman

As I was waiting for my newly manicured nails to dry at the nail salon recently, I happened to stumble across the September 2011 edition of Town & Country. As I browsed through its’ pages, I fell in love with a specific article titled ‘Scents of Time’, featuring classic scents that young girls eventually graduate to as they mature and become young women – sophisticated aromas like the Guerlain Shalimar Parfum or the Jicky Parfum, scents that our mothers and grandmothers sought after - and still do. I had never heard of these lovely fragrances before but I immediately visited my local Saks Fifth Avenue store to see what rendered such a reputation...and such a price!


The Guerlian Shalimar Parfum and Jicky were certainly mature scents that I would be much too intimated to wear. At 26, I haven't lived a full enough life to be deemed privileged enough to wear something so powerful...and so feminine.

What attracted me to the Town & Country article, and specifically the Guerlian line, was the granddaughter of Thiery Wasser, the creater of Shalimar Parfum. In her young twenties, she too, felt intimated wearing such sophisticated scents that real women have sported for over 85 years.

It occurred to me that many perfume lines, such as Chanel and Guerlian, that have been deemed sophisticated enough for real women such as our mothers and grandmothers to wear, are left with a current generation of women who want the classic scent, but without the intimidation. At 26, I want a fragrance that people will take me seriously in but with an alchemy that makes me feel young and beautiful...and leaves me some room to grow!

And that's exactly what Thiery Wasser's granddaughter convinced him to create! Just as Chanel created Coco and Coco Mademoiselle for the younger woman, Guerlian finally launched their younger generation fragrance (and with a more affordable price tag, mind you!): Shalimar Parfum Initial...the first step to becoming a real women.


Maybe one day, I'll feel mature enough to sport Guerlian's Shalimar. But until then, we're taking it one mature step at a time!

This article got me thinking about my obsession with perfume and my small collection of scents from regions throughout the world (and my local mall). My first perfume was Tommy Girl by Tommy Hilfiger, a scent all the young girls were wearing in my middle school. I graduated to more sophisticated scents like Chloe, Prada and most recently, Jo Malone’s Nectarine Blossom & Honey. However, lately, the Shalimar Parfum Initial seems to be perfectly fitting. I found a scent that captures the elements of my personality, and evokes a certain mystery of the woman I've yet to become.

What was your first perfume? I’d love to know how your taste has evolved over the years! Would you invest in a classic scent such as the Guerlain Shalimar Parfum? What scent defines you as a woman?

(My collection of perfumes!)