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Emma Avatar

My first ‘proper’ perfume I bought (as i’m not sure britney spears midnight fantasty counts- tho even today, I can so easily distiniguish someone who is wearing this perfume) was Miss Dior Cherie.

I remember seeing one of the notes listed as ‘popcorn’ and my sweet tooth self was sold!
It is a bit too sweet for my liking now, and not cruetly free, but I remember loving the smell and cute packaging at the time – I felt so fancy.

Michelle M Avatar

I feel like the Miss Cherie of today is actually a lot less sweet than the original. It’s been through SO many reformulations since ’04 when it came out, I swear Dior does them once every 2-3 years for most of its scents.

Leigh Avatar

Lacost Touch of Pink! My older cousin wore it and she was cool so I wanted to be cool too. My mom actually had to buy it for me but it was the first real perfume I wore. (Meaning not candy scented spritz from Clair’s)

Seraphine Avatar

I remember getting a little bottle of patchouli oil when I was about 12 and my parents wouldn’t let me wear it because it smelled like dirty hippie to them. Lol! (This was around 1970.) They started giving me perfume for my birthday during my teen years. A couple of the perfumes I remember getting were Halston and YSL Rive Gauche. They were nice, but I wasn’t head-over-heels with them. But on my 18th birthday they gave me Bal à Versailles, which was my mom’s perfume and my first perfume love, and I adored it for many years. I haven’t smelled it in decades, but I have the feeling I wouldn’t like it as much anymore. I think the first grown-up perfume I ever actually bought for myself was YSL Opium in the late 70s.

kjh Avatar

Just ran out of it. I got it for myself much later. It is said that it was One of Jackie K O’s faves, presumably along with Halston. Not sure if I would repurchase, due to my age. I have the refillable one, and would not outlive it.

Mariella Avatar

Hey, anything for you, Rachel! It’s funny how having had a teenaged daughter (she’s in her 30’s now and TODAY is her birthday) who was much like me, I see my mother’s lot in a very different light!

Seraphine Avatar

I’ve been very, very curious to try Jicky. It has such an interesting history. But it’s hard to find to test out. I wonder if they have it at the Guerlain boutique in Epcot, because we’re planning to go at the end of the year…hopefully the virus will be contained and Disney will reopen by then.

Eva Avatar

Electric Youth by Debbie Gibson. Remember the song? ? It was released in 1989 and I was 9 years old at the time. I believe it was the first celebrity scent and was manufactured by Revlon..

Lesley Avatar

Actual perfume, as opposed to what they used to call “toilet water” would be Opium, back in the early 80’s. But I was buying lighter formulas, like Love’s Baby Soft, in the 60’s. In the 50’s, it was cool to wear men’s colognes. Canoe was a popular one although there was a women’s version called Ambush.

Ana Maria Avatar

I thought “toilet water” (aka eau de toilette) was a term only used in my country (I’m Romanian) as a bad translation from the french word. In Romanian `toilette` (dressing yourself) and bathroom (toilet) are the same word; but hey… the process of `washing oneself, dressing, and attending to one’s appearance` usually occurs in the bathroom, right? 😆

Rachel Avatar

Opium is made in a ‘toilet water’ edition! In fact you probably purchased the toilet water bottle instead of the parfum bottle (because its cheaper!)

Toilet water is not a derogatory name for perfumes. I think Americans think it is a bad thing or means less quality, but that is not the case. The direct translation from French to English is ‘toilet water’ but the correct term is Eau de toilette. “Toilet” in the English sense of “restroom” is called “toiletteS” in French.

But the singular “toilette” in French means something completely different. We call “la toilette” of a woman, her outfit, and sometimes her make up, when she is dressed for a special event. So “Eau de Toilette” actually means “water to be used before going out”.

High end brands such as Chanel and Guerlain, most of their perfumes that we buy are actually the ‘toilet water’ or EdT version instead of the ‘parfum’ version. This amounts to basically the amount of perfumers alcohol in the bottler.

Ana Maria Avatar

I bought Pur Blanca from Avon, some of my high school colleagues were always bringing the Avon brochures at school, we were browsing them during breaks (and sometimes classes) and smelling the pages. 😆
I assume I liked the freesia and heliotrope notes; because I hate ylang-ylang and I’m not a fan of roses.

Genevieve Avatar

Same here Ana Maria! I can remember in Year 9, some of my friends bringing the Avon catalogues to school (a Catholic girls school in Melbourne) and feverishly reading them – in class as well! I love their hand creams, talcs and soaps. It was the highlight of the week to have a new catalogue.

xamyx Avatar

The very first bottle of perfume that I actually owned, aside from what I nabbed from my mom, and wasn’t from the drugstore, was Lou Lou by Cacharel, in 1987-88. I’d read that it was inspired by Louise Brooks, so I had to try it, and I fell in love immediately. To this day, it has been my signature scent ever since.

My daughter just got her own “proper” perfume this past Christmas. She’s always enjoyed fragrance, and is willing to try anything, but when she tried Lancome La Vie est Belle, the way her face lit up brought me back to the time I’d found “the one” when I was about her age…

Seraphine Avatar

So interesting! I’m a huge Louise Brooks fan, but I’ve never heard of Cacharel’s Lou Lou. I just read the review on Now Smell This, and I’m not sure I would like it for myself, which I guess is a good thing because it sounds like it’s hard to find here.

Stephanie Avatar

The first real perfume I bought for myself was Fendi. I don’t remember if there was a name to it or not. I do remember the bottle with the black top. I still prefer those spicy notes after all these years.

Denise S. Avatar

Avon Sweet Honesty or Love’s Baby Soft were my first perfume loves. My grandfather’s girlfriend brought me a bottle of “Ciara” perfume for my birthday . I was beyond thrilled. I’ve loved beauty products since I was a little girl.

Rachel Avatar

I know you expect me to write a lot here, but I’ll keep it simple. I’m NOT including those Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret body sprays most of us bought as teens in the 90’s. The first time I bought a legit perfume with money I earned and saved up for, well I bought four as a matter of fact:

Guerlain – Samsara, Mitsouku, Champs Elysees, Jardins de Bagatelle

I still love and wear Guerlain and have a fondness for the house because it was the ladies in Guerlain who taught me how to choose, properly test out, and wear a perfume.

However I received Estee Lauder’s Pleasures as a gift from just about everyone in the late 90’s. I still hate it.

brendacr1 Avatar

Osar de la Renta. My boss told us we wouldn’t be able to afford the perfume she was wearing, so we went out at lunch and I bought a bottle for myself. I wore it for a long time before I started trying others. Now I have quite the collection.

Gilad Avatar

Drugstore buys as a teen – Love, of Love’s Baby Soft also made a lemon cologne that I’d buy for my mother (and for me to borrow). Also, Charlie by Revlon – I think it was a really well made scent – anyone today would be amazed to find that quality in a drugstore. I loved and shared my mom’s Aliage by Estee Lauder, which is still made, I still wear, and is still very good despite inevitable reformulations. Hooray for the few survivors.
The first ‘real’ (read expensive) perfume just for me was in my late 20s as a birthday present to myself. Choosing it was a total immersion – in a perfume shop in downtown SF – the first perfume-only store I’d seen, mostly European imports, w/ an expert, opinionated French owner. I took my time, smelled tons of scents I’d never seen anywhere else, consulted the owner and finally chose Eau de Givenchy. Adored it. Wore it to every slightly special occasion for decades, re-bought many times over, despite all the other perfumes I came to know and love over the years. I have one (vintage) bottle left, and it still makes me happy. Every single time.

MaryGrace Howard Avatar

Flower by Kenzo. For some weird reason my first honest-to-goodness perfumes purchased at department stores were all heavy on the powdery notes. As soon as I finished the bottle, I never repurchased.

Pauline Avatar

Mine was Arpege. I loved it on a friend and we were heading overseas for our first overseas trip, so I bought it when we got to Paris.

Rachel R. Avatar

I think it Love’s Baby Soft in the late 70s or early 80s. Did I think the ads were creepy AF? Yes. Did I want it because I rarely got to have what the other girls had? Yes. I bought it, and I thought it smelled nice. I loved it. Of course, if I’d been a few years older, I would have boycotted it for the pedo ads, but I didn’t realize how wrong that creepiness was, because everyone else treated it as though it were fine.

Seraphine Avatar

So true about Love’s Baby Soft. I remember it being popular when I was in school. I think it started the absolute hatred I have of baby powder scent in general. I just did a google search for the LBS ads and omg, they’re so much worse than I remember!!!

Pamela Avatar

Oh my, my, my! OK, back in ’87 I begged my mom (from whom I inherited my love of perfume) for a bottle of Chantilly perfume. She gave me some cash and I went to CVS to make it mine! I don’t even remember what it smelled like but my thirteen year old self was feeling like a diva.

Eileen Avatar

The first eau de parfum that I bought for myself was L’Interdit. It was created by Hubert de Givenchy in the 1950’s for Audrey Hepburn. It has since then undergone a few reformulations which are nice but lack the sophistication of the original.

Nikki Avatar

I have a distinct weakness for celebrity fragrances-as long as they fit my preferred scent profile of floral/fruity/gourmand-so my answer falls into that category.
First one ever? Probably Spirit for Women from the short-lived fragrance line Antonio Banderas had during my early teen years. It was peony/freesia/plum/berry/sandalwood and came with a free pink pleather wristlet purse. I enjoyed both pieces then, but the purse got ruined when some burgundy nail polish spilled on it and the perfume doesn’t smell like much of anything now.
First one bought without any GWP enticement? I’m guessing Ed Hardy Hearts & Daggers. It was very popular at the time-2009-10. According to Fragrantica, it’s blood orange/apple/mango/jasmine, and it still seems to have full potency after 11 years!

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