Memorable Fragrances

basenotes.net image of Chanel No. 5

In my earlier post, “Reaching Inspired Locations,” I commented, “music in general can be ‘an aero plane’ that elevates listeners to another world.”

Today, I want to make a similar point about fragrances.

Have you ever played with Scratch and Sniff cards and stickers?  I recall doing so in the days of my youth and remember how my mind would immediately go towards the idea of a certain object after scratching and sniffing a particular scent.

What about you?

Do you believe that fragrances, like music, have a transport-you-to-another-place-like quality?  Here are five quick examples that, for me, point to that reality:

1. Chanel No. 5 – Almost every time I encounter Coco Chanel’s most-famous fragrance, I feel the warmth of my mother’s love and remember her hugs before and after attending cocktail parties in my eastern N.C. hometown.
2. New Cans of Tennis Balls – Often when I open a brand-new can of tennis balls and catch a whiff of the “new” scent, my mind flashes to images of my twin sister and me playing matches in the summer heat on the courts of our youth.
3. Rose-scented lotions – When I smell any rose-scented otions, I often think of my maternal grandmother (she used rose-scented Olay products).
4. Honeysuckle candles – Each time I smell a honeysuckle-scented candle, I remember being about six years old and sucking honey from the flowers that grew on a honeysuckle bush in my parents’ backyard.
5. Bain de Soleil Orange Gelee Sunscreen – Talk about transportation.  Immediately after opening a tube of this sunscreen, originally developed in France in 1925 after Coco Chanel started the fashion trend of sporting sun-bronzed skin, I return to the summers of the late 1970s, a time period when the dangers of sun tanning were less well-known, and sun worshippers in my hometown also used Johnson’s Baby Oil.

So, what are some of the fragrances that bring back memories for you?   And, does fragrance or music take you farther down memory lane?