First one is Chloé eau de parfum: This is how I wish my girlhood smelled like: innocent and naive and angelic and knows no malice. a world before being interested in being perceived by men, just carefree and sweet and soft. a young rose, gentle, powdery and almost rose-watery. dries down with a bit of honey suckle.
This scent brings me back to my frequent trips to a gift store near my house when i was 13, which had spools over spools of gift ribbons. I’d rotate the carousel rack with scientific precision, hypnotised by the shades of pastel pinks. I didn’t grow up going to museums, but what those pastel pinks did to me is probably why people go to museums for an emotional experience. i grew my ribbon collection and life was softer around the edges.
Second layer is L’Occitane Neroli and Orchidée: There’s something about neroli that smells like a WOMAN. This is a classic white flower scent, with a whiff of nectar that feels like a cinematic cut of being on the backseat of a Vespa, with your dress being caught by the sticky summer wind. It dries down like brown sugar on my skin. A restrained sweetness, not saccharine. It’s elegant, romantic, self-assured. If this scent was a movie character, she would be Madame Gina from Porco Rosso.
I imagine our little Chloe girl has grown up and finished her master’s degree and is earning her own money. She’s got her life together. She buys herself a bouquet of tulips and sets it at the sunniest part of her living room. She’s intelligent, but never let go of her lightheartedness. She listens to Chet Baker and dreams of summering in Ischia or somewhere in the Peloponnese.
When layered together, we have the sweet innocence of girlhood to the refinement of self-assured adulthood. They’re an olfactory journey from the naivety I wish I had, to the quiet sophistication I wish to embody. And I’m just a girl with an office job.