Stopped in the street.............

[Twirl58]

I love hearing about the simple days of perfume, late 70's -early 80's. I can't remember any perfume I used back then having no staying power. Perhaps it's because my skin was so much younger then and held fragrance better. Nobody wore crazy expensive stuff as a rule, yes you could get your Chanel's etc which were worn on very special occassions. Poshest my mum ever got was Rive Gauche, but generally used Just Musk or Aqua Manda. On a daily basis for most it was Charlie, Yardley Chique, Smitty, Babe, impulse body spray & various Avon creations for the young 'uns and of course L'aimant, Panache, L'air du temps for the slightly more discerning. Some of them though could've done with out such staying power...Tweed, Avon Timeless...euccch...but if you loved them they were jolly good value for money. People spend a small fortune on fragrance nowadays, and like I say, a lot of them don't last five minutes on the skin!

Oh I used to love Lentheric Tramp as a teenager. Managed to get a bottle a few years ago and it just wasn't the same. I guess our tastes change with advancing years
I worked in Boots when I left school and was frequently given samples of new perfumes. One of these was Cachet by Cacharel, it was supposed to be different on everyone because it reacted to individuals chemistry. I swiped the little plastic wand across my throat, being young and none the wiser, within a few minutes I looked like a slashers victim as I had an angry red welt across my throat. Don't know what that said about my skin chemistry

 

[merryone]

Oh I used to love Lentheric Tramp as a teenager. Managed to get a bottle a few years ago and it just wasn't the same. I guess our tastes change with advancing years
I worked in Boots when I left school and was frequently given samples of new perfumes. One of these was by Cacharel, it was supposed to be different on everyone because it reacted to individuals chemistry. I swiped the little plastic wand across my throat, being young and none the wiser, within a few minutes I looked like a slashers victim as I had an angry red welt across my throat. Don't know what that said about my skin chemistry

That'll be Cachet...I remember the advertising campaign and my mate Jane had a bottle for christmas, and I tried it and it didn't smell any different on her than on me. It was ok if I remember but nothing wow! TRAMP!!! Omg..I remember that...I think the word tramp had a far more romantic image back in the 70's..nowadays you'd think "down and out" or "person of low morals"!

 

[Twirl58]

That'll be Cachet...I remember the advertising campaign and my mate Jane had a bottle for christmas, and I tried it and it didn't smell any different on her than on me. It was ok if I remember but nothing wow!

Oops, I Googled and edited before your reply

 

[Twirl58]

I managed to get Charlie Blue at our local chemist a while back at a bargain price. I swear that I could have killed any flies within a 2 metre radius it was that vile. Even my younger grandson asked what the smell was when I got in the car

 

[Vienna]

Several years ago I bought a bottle of Tova perfume and hated it. I put it in the staff room at work and usually anything left in the staff room disappeared straight away but that bottle of Tova was still there when I retired. The bottle was less full so it looked like people had sprayed it, tested it and hated it, so they`d left the bottle where it was. Obviously even the lighter fingered colleagues had standards lol.

 

[Clothescloth]

Poison was very popular in the 80’s. I was working in a large branch of Boots, and pregnant. Everyone wore it! The ladies cloakrooms were drowned in a mist of it, and the shop floors stank of it, as everyone ( staff and customers) were constantly spraying the testers. I remember going out for a meal one evening, and the waitress must have bathed in it. The smell made me quite ill!

 

[Mazza]

According to Google the blue one was Imprévu, packaging looks familiar but not the name. Heaven Scent was Helena Rubenstein. I used to love Revlon Intimate until I was told that Indians used it to lay out their dead, not sure about that.

Of course it was! I don’t think we had Imprévu.

I bought one of those “wardrobes” of Tova perfumes. I thought they were all disgusting I’m afraid! Into the bin....

 

[merryone]

Several years ago I bought a bottle of Tova perfume and hated it. I put it in the staff room at work and usually anything left in the staff room disappeared straight away but that bottle of Tova was still there when I retired. The bottle was less full so it looked like people had sprayed it, tested it and hated it, so they`d left the bottle where it was. Obviously even the lighter fingered colleagues had standards lol.

Me too, I bought Tova signature some years ago, why? I don't know - the clues were there. Elegant but embalmed old lady in her 80's, stuck in the 1980's -It was always gonna smell like embalming fluid! Having (thankfully) never smelled embalming fluid, one can only imagine, but in truth I'd liken it to flyspray!
I also went for her mind body and spirit? fragrance, and it was slightly "younger" but still pretty damn rank. At work at the moment a couple of ladies have been harping on about an extremely expensive perfume called "Portrait of a lady" and to me, the name sends out similar warning signs, but apparantely it's amazing. One of them wore it in to work to demonstrate how wonderul it is. I honestly thought it was rank and to me it smelled like an old church. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the scent of an old church - in an old church that is - not on a person!

 

[llloyd]

I love hearing about the simple days of perfume, late 70's -early 80's. I can't remember any perfume I used back then having no staying power. Perhaps it's because my skin was so much younger then and held fragrance better. Nobody wore crazy expensive stuff as a rule, yes you could get your Chanel's etc which were worn on very special occassions. Poshest my mum ever got was Rive Gauche, but generally used Just Musk or Aqua Manda. On a daily basis for most it was Charlie, Yardley Chique, Smitty, Babe, impulse body spray & various Avon creations for the young 'uns and of course L'aimant, Panache, L'air du temps for the slightly more discerning. Some of them though could've done with out such staying power...Tweed, Avon Timeless...euccch...but if you loved them they were jolly good value for money. People spend a small fortune on fragrance nowadays, and like I say, a lot of them don't last five minutes on the skin!

Goodness you took me back, Avon Timeless, I loved the body lotion. Tweed too, read this & could recall the smell.

 

[Vienna]

On a serious note I did once have to speak to a member of my team about her over indulgence with perfume. She was obsessed with Obsession and she`d arrive at work having bathed in the stuff, then she`d spray it again several times during the day and wherever she went within the building you could smell nothing but her perfume. She really went OTT with it.
The problem was she shared a rather small office with 2 other people and one of them was asthmatic and he said he had to move his desk right next to a window which for safety reasons would only open a max of 2 inches and that he also had to leave the office regularly because he really felt ill from the smell.
He wasn`t the only person who complained because part of her job was to do one on one interviews with our residents and the interview rooms were even smaller than the office she worked in and regularly I had residents complaining they didn`t want to be interviewed by her because they always left the room with a headache.
Talking to her in my role as Manager was as difficult as once having to talk to another staff member about his poor personal hygiene and how it was affecting others.

 

[Twirl58]

On a serious note I did once have to speak to a member of my team about her over indulgence with perfume. She was obsessed with Obsession and she`d arrive at work having bathed in the stuff, then she`d spray it again several times during the day and wherever she went within the building you could smell nothing but her perfume. She really went OTT with it.
The problem was she shared a rather small office with 2 other people and one of them was asthmatic and he said he had to move his desk right next to a window which for safety reasons would only open a max of 2 inches and that he also had to leave the office regularly because he really felt ill from the smell.
He wasn`t the only person who complained because part of her job was to do one on one interviews with our residents and the interview rooms were even smaller than the office she worked in and regularly I had residents complaining they didn`t want to be interviewed by her because they always left the room with a headache.
Talking to her in my role as Manager was as difficult as once having to talk to another staff member about his poor personal hygiene and how it was affecting others.

I worked in a department store and one of my colleagues loved Giorgio G. She would spray the tester liberally when she arrived on the shop floor with frequent top ups during the day. I worked all day Fridays with her and every Friday I had such a migraine. The problem was that she was under the impression that she had healing hands and would proceed to massage my temples

 

[Clothescloth]

Avon Topaz. Cream perfume came in a little yellow jar with a glass ‘jewel ‘ in the lid. The height of sophistication for a teenager in the 60’s!!

 

[Twilight]

I love hearing about the simple days of perfume, late 70's -early 80's. I can't remember any perfume I used back then having no staying power. Perhaps it's because my skin was so much younger then and held fragrance better. Nobody wore crazy expensive stuff as a rule, yes you could get your Chanel's etc which were worn on very special occassions. Poshest my mum ever got was Rive Gauche, but generally used Just Musk or Aqua Manda. On a daily basis for most it was Charlie, Yardley Chique, Smitty, Babe, impulse body spray & various Avon creations for the young 'uns and of course L'aimant, Panache, L'air du temps for the slightly more discerning. Some of them though could've done with out such staying power...Tweed, Avon Timeless...euccch...but if you loved them they were jolly good value for money. People spend a small fortune on fragrance nowadays, and like I say, a lot of them don't last five minutes on the skin!

I buy Aqua Manda from eBay, love it. Last week I discovered Eden Perfumes from Brighton, their reviews are amazing & I spent ages reading the descriptions & bought three perfumes 'blind'. I just wish M&S would bring back Per Una Original.

 

[Twilight]

Poison was very popular in the 80’s. I was working in a large branch of Boots, and pregnant. Everyone wore it! The ladies cloakrooms were drowned in a mist of it, and the shop floors stank of it, as everyone ( staff and customers) were constantly spraying the testers. I remember going out for a meal one evening, and the waitress must have bathed in it. The smell made me quite ill!

I think it was the weirdest perfume ever created.

 

[Twirl58]

Oh my aunt gave me a pot of Avon Perfect Peach for Christmas one year. It looked like a basket of peaches and was designed for children.

Avon Topaz. Cream perfume came in a little yellow jar with a glass ‘jewel ‘ in the lid. The height of sophistication for a teenager in the 60’s!!

 

[Twirl58]

Correction it was Pretty Peach.

 

[Vienna]

For everyday use and at a great price I buy the Artiscent perfumes from Superdrug. They have the leaping bunny so are cruelty free and Mr V really loves Chanel Pour Monsieur but because of the price he saves it for when we go out so he`s been using the Artiscent Cedar Blanc for everyday use and its lovely. The last time I bought the brand it was on offer at buy one get one half price. Bargain. PS At the moment they are buy one get one free.

https://www.superdrug.com/b/Artiscent

 

[China Girl]

Vienna, tell us about the reactions of the people you had to speak to about them smelling....too much perfume, poor hygiene.
This happened to some I used to work with. One girl insisted on drowning herself in Angel perfume, I was nearly sick and others also complained.
Another because she didn't seem to know what showers and baths were for. Fortunately it wasn't me that had to have 'the talk' with them, but neither could grasp what everyone was complaining about

 

[stratobuddy]

I had to have "the talk" with a male who worked for me, after my other staff complained to me.

We still remained friends outside work, and when I saw him years later (after I'd moved) he had lost 1/2 his body weight and for the first time looked "dishy".

 

[Vienna]

Vienna, tell us about the reactions of the people you had to speak to about them smelling....too much perfume, poor hygiene.
This happened to some I used to work with. One girl insisted on drowning herself in Angel perfume, I was nearly sick and others also complained.
Another because she didn't seem to know what showers and baths were for. Fortunately it wasn't me that had to have 'the talk' with them, but neither could grasp what everyone was complaining about

The young man I had to speak to about his personal hygiene was a really upsetting time for both of us. Unbeknown to the rest of us he`d been thrown out of the home he shared with his girlfriend and was sofa surfing at various friends flats or houses. He wasn`t always able to shower or wash his clothes because he felt he had to vacate their sofas as early as he could and had been too embarrassed to talk about it to any of us at work.
He couldn`t return home to his Mum because he didn`t hit it off with her partner plus she already had his sister and her baby staying there and he didn`t have the money to pay deposits on his own rented place.
I was a Manager at a male hostel so I told him he could use the resident showers anytime and he could also use the launderette for free and that I wished he`d spoken to me earlier. Because of the nature of the work we did I was able to latch into a private landlord who sometimes rented out bedsits to our better behaved clients ie not drug users or alcoholics and I spoke to him about A and explained his circumstances. The bedsits weren`t great nor in a desirable area but it meant A could have somewhere to stay until he got himself sorted. The young man in question was so grateful and it goes to show even the best of us can hit hard or difficult times and not to be too proud to ask for help.
As for the staff member who drowned herself in perfume, well she was a different kettle of fish and a stroppy cow at the best of times. I tried as kindly as I could to explain the effect she was having on people and re phrased some of the complaints I`d had from residents and omitted the expletives they`d used when talking about her and also explained how it was affecting one of her colleagues who suffered from asthma and who had no way of not being in such close proximity to her.
She didn`t like our chat one little bit and couldn`t accept how her perfume could be so offensive especially as we all worked with clients who had slept on the streets or who had poor self hygiene but as I said to her at the time, we had no excuse to offend, they sometimes had. You can`t bathe whilst living on the streets and when you`re an alcoholic or a drug user you`re not always physically or mentally able to think about hygiene.
I also tried to appeal to her snobbery by saying Obsession wasn`t a cheap perfume and had lasting power so because of its "high quality" there was no need for her to use so much or reapply it throughout the day. A complete lie on my part about the perfume being quality (it stinks) but she swallowed it.
Thankfully she did take some things on board and even though she still came into working smelling of Obsession, she at least stopped re applying it 2 or 3 times a day and the smell was nowhere near as powerful. Only a half win on my part but better than nothing and we were able to live with it.