Warning:may want to translate the perfume’s name
before splashing on…
If your French is a little rusty, translate a perfume’s name before you spray it on your wrist. I learnt this at the perfume counter of Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge, where I tried Sécrétions Magnifiques by État Libre d’Orange without wondering what “magnificent secretions” might involve. Its accord of blood, milk, sweat and iodine answered the question within seconds.
That afternoon came up again when Ms Harris interviewed me for her article on perfumes that evoke memories, published in newspapers across Canada. Her piece explored fragrances made to smell like a particular time, place or experience, a subject close to my heart and, judging by your emails, to Wine Woman Song readers too. Smell has an unusually direct route to memory, which is usually a pleasure and occasionally, as I found in Knightsbridge, closer to an ambush.
Archive note: Ms Harris’s article was published in Canada at the time of writing, and the original link may no longer work.
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