My First Five Perfumes
December 22nd, 2006
Today Marina from Perfume-Smellin’ Things and myself are waxing slightly nostalgic. We’re talking about our first five fragrances. According to her, I have a “dark, aquatic past” (oxymoron, anyone?), and, while I can’t help but agree, I will proudly say I have no regrets. I was very much a child of the 90s, completely falling for the ozone/marine trend. Below, in chronological order, are my very first five fragrances that I owned (purchased with my own hard-earned money).
Davidoff Cool Water - ozone, pineapple, melon, black currant, water lily, hawthorne, lily of the valley, jasmine, vetiver, sandal, peach, blackberry. The best oceanic floral of the 90s. Cool Water was my very first, dearly beloved perfume. I was doing student teaching at the time at the school I attended, and Cool Water was found worthy to spend my first paycheck on. It was a grown-up perfume to make a serious impression on my students (which I’m afraid failed to happen). I adored it beyond belief, and, even though I could not wear it today, I still love the fragrance.
Elizabeth Arden Sunflowers - lemon, rosewood, orange blossom, mandarin, cyclamen, rose, jasmine, orris, cedar, musk, amber, moss. Sunflowers won my heart while I was spending two summer months in England back in 1997. I couldn’t afford it right away, so I’d often frequent the Essex department stores just to steal a spritz or two. Upon my return home, once again, my first paycheck was spent on a bottle of Sunflowers. Working hard through my last year of college, Sunflowers brought to mind the sunny (meant in a figurative sense here) days of England.
Carolina Herrera 212 - bergamot, mandarin, orange blossom, gardenia, lily, sandalwood, musk. My first encounter with 212 was in a magazine strip - it was love at first sniff. The ad had a picture of New York and some cool model, from what I can remember, and the scent was the epitome of all things urban. I wanted to be urban, and I wanted to travel, and 212 made me feel very functionally chic, so I got a bottle almost immediately. When I wore it, I often pictured myself dressed up in some business suit and high heels and walking through busy streets of a foreign city (I was never to become a teacher).
Hugo Boss Hugo Woman - melon, papaya, cyclamen, apple, jasmine, lily, orris, sandalwood, benzoin, vanilla. I used to love everything by Hugo Boss - it appealed to my practical, minimalist soul. Hugo Woman was acquired in 1998 immediately before my trip to Sweden (that I paid for myself, right out of college). The scent exuded independence and freedom, in a modern, stylish kind of way. Hugo Ina Woman was very businesslike, with a certain romantic flair about it.
Oh! de Moschino - peach, apricot, bergamot, violet, rose, orris, jasmine, heliotrope, cedar, sandalwood, vanilla, amber. I clearly remember the day Oh! De Moschino was purchased. I was strolling along the streets of Riga, looking for last minute things to buy before my trip to the USA, and, to commemorate the occasion as well as embed it in my memory, I was also looking for new perfume. Oh! De Moschino struck a chord with me, with its bright fruity and floral notes and a sweet, powdery drydown. It was the beginning of a new era in my life, a very happy time, and this fragrance fit it perfectly.
Looking at this list and my favorites today, I can’t help but be amused at how greatly my taste has changed. The biggest difference, however, is the fact that today I determine what to wear, regardless of trends and/or other influences, and that’s quite an accomplishment, wouldn’t you say?
What were your first five perfumes?
Entry Filed under: Perfume Reviews
36 Comments Add your own
1. Marina | December 22nd, 2006 at 12:16 am
I can’t belieeeeve it!
I can’t believe that everything I have ever hated is amongst your first five scents 
I can’t believe L’eau d’Issay is not on the list. And I can’t believe we are such scent-twins now. How did that happen?
2. tmp00 | December 22nd, 2006 at 1:09 am
I hate to admit (Marina, don’t read further) I had a bit of a flirt with Cool Water. Someone I had a mad pash for wore this and it smelled wonderful on him. Once in a while I will still sniff it, even though on me it smells of tin-foil and regret…
3. dinazad | December 22nd, 2006 at 3:07 am
Tom, I know the feeling…. I wear Cacharel pour l’homme because somebody I liked wore it and I couldn’t get enough hugs and cuddles from him - just so I could smell him! He’s history, but I still love Cacharel and often present it to somebody, it’s sooooo sexy, both on men and women! Everybody should get a chance to smell that good!
4. Cait | December 22nd, 2006 at 4:19 am
This was a great post idea. Here are mine:
Chanel No. 5
Joy
Bluegrass
Diorissimo
Sublime
But then so many others come to mind! Calandre, Pavlova, 4711, Straw Hat, Poeme, and on and on.
5. Leopoldo | December 22nd, 2006 at 5:33 am
Here’s mine:
Blue Stratos
Obsession
Fahrenheit
Paco Rabanne pour Homme
Eau Sauvage
What a mishmash!
Where in Essex were you Ina? - that’s the county ten miles south of where I live now (and where I spent my formative years).
6. chaya ruchama | December 22nd, 2006 at 7:18 am
Inushka, my love-
What a brave, and truthful post !
Mine were :
Mitsouko
Casaque
Femme
Shalimar
Tigress
7. March | December 22nd, 2006 at 8:23 am
I loved Sunflowers! Actually, I have a mini of it still, it’s such a cheerful scent. I left my list at PST, but here it is again. I’m going to skip the early years of Love’s Baby Soft and Avon…
Tatiana (snicker)
Poison (gag)
Paris (re-smelled recently — yech!)
4711 (not sure this counts?) so I’ll add
Coco (still wonderful)
Niki de St. Phalle — wow, I need to get a bottle of this for a re-sniff, I thought it was amazing.
8. Elle | December 22nd, 2006 at 8:40 am
Hmm. Embarrassingly enough, I don’t think I’ve ever smelled Hugo Boss Ina, but I can so clearly see you in 212 in a fab suit and heels doing a fast paced model walk down Michigan Ave.
My first scents were all stolen from my mother (who didn’t wear them). I remember being 6 and shopping for scents w/ my father who would spritz my wrists w/ whatever he was picking out for my mother to see if I liked it, since he knew I’d be the one who ended up wearing it. I think we both just used her as an excuse to scent shop together. Happy bonding memories.
9. Judith | December 22nd, 2006 at 8:57 am
Wow, different times, different scents. My first scent (not really a perfume:) was Jean Nate. My mother tried to interest me in some real perfumes (Shalimar, Miss Dior), but I wasn’t ready. And later I bought
Halston
Lauren
Opium (the first perfume that ever swept me off my feet; I still wear and love it),
Eau d’Hadrien.
I think this post makes my age pretty apparent:)
10. newproducts | December 22nd, 2006 at 9:41 am
Well, I just posted this list on Marina’s blog, but here it is again:
Shalimar
Laguna
Navy
CK One
Romance
Even back then, I mostly liked orientals and florals. The odd man out is CK One, I think, which I do not like today.
And, BTW, I liked Cool Water too, when it came out.
11. Martika | December 22nd, 2006 at 10:48 am
Here are my first 3 perfumes (I was an 80s teenager!), before I became a serial perfume-addict and start buying perfumes by dozen:
Paloma Picasso
Ysatis
Poison
Oh, no, I forgot Anais Anais which was the very first perfume I ever wore, when I was 10 or 12.
12. greeneyes | December 22nd, 2006 at 10:50 am
Hi Ina!
My first five:
Bluegrass
Lauren
Anais Anais
L’Air du Temps
Rive Gauche
Oh, the 80s.
13. tmp00 | December 22nd, 2006 at 11:23 am
Well, I posted this on Marina’s blog, but I am nothing if not a post whorte….
Pierre Cardin Pour Monsieur (my first, in the early teens)
Caron Royal Bain du Champagne (now renamed “de Caron”)
Guerlain Habit Rouge (a particular favorite)
Eau Sauvage (which I really need to pick up a bottle of)
Eau d’Hadrien (my first “adult” purchase at Bergdorfs in NY)
14. SniffQ | December 22nd, 2006 at 1:52 pm
OK, get ready to remember a time before you were born. When I first became a perfume addict I was in high school. In the 60s. My first loves:
L’heure bleu
Shalimar
Farouche
Chantilly
Patchouly oil (now, now, it was a loooong time ago.)
15. Giselle | December 22nd, 2006 at 3:19 pm
An aunt gave me an opened 3 pc boxed set of Woodhue,Tigress, and Aphrodesia when I was 6 or 7, It was a treasure and my first “sniffathon”
Another aunt gave me Shalimar -an almost empty fancy little bottle in a purple velvet box at age 8.
Chanel No. 5 -age 8 or 9 another aunt gave me a half bottle.
I dabbed and decided perfume was definitely something I could never be without.
First Five that I purchased for myself:
1.Shalimar
2.Chamade
3.Emeraude
as a kid, and as an adult, It is just a blur of Chanel, Guerlain and Dior.
16. Ina | December 22nd, 2006 at 10:21 pm
Marina, L’Eau d’Issey was indeed amongst the favorites when I was already living in the U.S. Right before MUA.
17. Ina | December 22nd, 2006 at 10:22 pm
Tom, Cool Water rocks!
18. Ina | December 22nd, 2006 at 10:22 pm
Dinazad, I must say I’ve never smelled it. Must remedy that soon!
19. Ina | December 22nd, 2006 at 10:23 pm
Cait, what an elegant list! You were so much more sophisticated than me.
20. Ina | December 22nd, 2006 at 10:24 pm
Leo, I was in Basildon.
Loved every minute of it! My very first time abroad.
Eau Sauvage is so classy! I’ll own a bottle some day.
21. Ina | December 22nd, 2006 at 10:24 pm
Chaya, lovely list! Have never smelled Casaque or Tigress. Must look them up!
22. Ina | December 22nd, 2006 at 10:25 pm
March, your list is very versatile! Sunflowers is indeed a cheerful scent.
23. Ina | December 22nd, 2006 at 10:26 pm
Elle, love your bonding memories!
As for Hugo Boss, seriously, it was all in my head. 
24. Ina | December 22nd, 2006 at 10:27 pm
Judith, forget about the age! Who cares? We all share the same love for perfume.
Opium is divine in parfum.
25. Ina | December 22nd, 2006 at 10:27 pm
Newproducts, Navy and Laguna are new to me. Yay for another Cool Water lover!
26. Ina | December 22nd, 2006 at 10:28 pm
Martika, I remember smelling Anais Anais for the first time and being put off by it. My opinion of it has changed over the years. Cool list!
27. Ina | December 22nd, 2006 at 10:30 pm
Greeneyes, I keep resniffing L’Air du Temps in hopes to find its appeal but it seems to be failing me. I do think it’s a gorgeous scent. I just wish it rang with me.
28. Ina | December 22nd, 2006 at 10:30 pm
Tom, love your list! Habit Rouge and Eau Sauvage are so classy!
29. Ina | December 22nd, 2006 at 10:31 pm
SniffQ, what a sophisticated list! I bow before you.
30. Ina | December 22nd, 2006 at 10:32 pm
Giselle, I wish I had aunts like yours! Love your list, too. Awesome taste!
31. gingele | December 23rd, 2006 at 12:48 am
Hi Ina!
I love a trip down meory lane!
k de krizia
chloe
halston
cinnabar
anais anais (?)
32. Giselle | December 23rd, 2006 at 12:25 pm
Ina,
I used to HOUND my aunts for empty perfume bottles–really beg like a dog– they were cocktail drinking sequined dress wearing barflies (and very self centered) –HOWEVER my pathetic begging did pay off from time to time. Also, the moment they gave me something I had to run off with it, and stay away for many hours as they might change their minds! We lived near them only until I was 9, so all of my begging happened between the ages of 5-9. I hung around them and kissed A** big time to get those bottles. It was worth it!!!
33. evilpeony | December 25th, 2006 at 1:46 am
hi marina! merry christmas, fellow perfume addicts! my first perfume purchases are recent acquisitions that have been profoundly influenced by you guys so, I’ll just post my early childhood perfume experiences:
L’ Air du Temps
Boss by Hugo Boss
Capricci (HG!!!!!!!)
Poison (still love this as edt)
Diorissimo
marina, i remember cool water from my high school years and i still kinda like it. i’ve been sorely tempted from time to time to get a tiny bottle for posterity’s sake. i loved sunflowers on my friends, but never really interested enough to get it for myself. (what about its sister scent, pleasures?) cK one too, but i don’t think i like it much nowadays.
as for my fellow addicts, wow! some of you guys have very sophisticated lists! as a first pass, i don’t think i could have appreciated joy without a LOT of hand-holding. (incidently, joy is one of the very few white floral frags i love.)
cheers!
34. Ina | December 25th, 2006 at 9:55 pm
Amy, what a cool list! I’ll have to try Halston.
35. Ina | December 25th, 2006 at 9:56 pm
Giselle, oh, I can relate! I’d be doing the same thing in your shoes.
36. Ina | December 25th, 2006 at 9:57 pm
Evilpeony, love your list! Have never tried Capricci but am very tempted to now!
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