...Apicius:In 1997, I had my first job as a lawyer. I had to leave my home town for it, and I was living alone in a remote place in East Germany.It was winter, we had extreme cold, and the plain landscape was covered with snow and ice. I felt both lost and thrilled by my new experiences at the same time. At the weekends, I used to drive to the next bigger town which was about 45 minutes by car. Once, I noticed a bird of prey right next to the country road. It was a buzzard or a red kite, and he had hit a rabbit and was now sitting on his prey, his claws driven deep into the flesh in order to defend it against the car traffic. He kept sitting there for days!Somehow, this bird reflected my own situation and my mood. The plain and empty winter landscape, the snow and the cold, the icy starry nights and this bird of prey are now linked in my mind with the ozonic touch of Jesus del Pozo's "Quasar" which I happened to wear at that time. Quasar is a respectable and recommendable aquatic which most people would probably regard as a summer fragrance. For me, however, it is winter only!

...In the late sixties, Auckland, New Zealand, my Mother worked as a housemaid in an International Hotel. Occasionally guests would leave bottles because they were almost empty or occasionally they would be forgotten. There was no way of reuniting a checked out guest who was in the air by the time the cleaners came in and these perfumes were our roadkill. I was about thirteen, the only daughter in a family that struggled financially and yet I had the perfume collection of an aristocrat. It's called champagne tastes on a beer budget. And so began my love for Chanel, Ma Griffe, Shocking, Joy, and Weil de Weil to name a few. P. S. As we all know the dregs of a perfume bottle can still last quite a long time. I couldn't pronounce some of the names and today I cringe at the thought...Je Reviens for example

...I was given two generous samples by a SA at Nieman Marcus, one of these was Champaca Absolute and the other was Arabian Wood. The SA told me that her husband, tired of perfume, preferred it when she didn't wear any, but that she wore CA on her wedding day and that he loved it on her. We were in Hawaii at the time and I can imagine that it developed beautifully in a hot humid climate. When I returned home, to winter, Champaca seemed like an imposter, a wannabe and just too sweet for me.

...During my horticulture training I got a bacterial infection from breathing the horse dung used for compost making. It resulted in boils under my arm that had to be lanced. Yes, I know the smells of comfrey fertilizer and the beauty of the worm juice, the joy of Woody weedkiller and the strength of convolulous roots on my hands. Yin, Yang, I guess

...In Chandler Burr's book, 'The Emperor of Scent' he describes Luca Turin's experience of finding a grizzled Medusa of Scent in an obscure village, where she warehoused a cornucopia of vintage perfume available to only those she considered worthy. I guess we would all like to find a treasure trove, an Aladdin's Cave of riches.

...I'm with Triffid. My most loved fumes are 'skanky' Like Triffid I am used to being outdoors, in my case, in the garden. (Like Vita Sackville West I broke my nails, my back and my heart with a spade in hand) My engagement and eternity rings, beautiful as they are, have not been worn as often as those of a regular girl. I love putting the jewels on and wearing my darlings, pearls, perfume and carrots.... hang on, correction, that's carats. Tomorrow the Kiwis will race Oracle Team USA. I'm thinking 'special occasion' get out the Fracas....

...Hi everyone. “I only wear Bal a Versailles when I'm happy and when I'm sad.Sometimes I spritz it when I'm alone.When I have company I consider it obligatory.I trifle with it if I'm not in a hurry and mist it when I am, otherwise I never touch the stuff, unless I have showered

...Hermes could bring back Doblis. Nothing else would matter

...I wear Gres Cabaret and Sa Majeste layered. Strange but true

...Hermes Eau de Merveilles is a wonderful beach scent. A classy number