...a friend of mine looked at me with a sour face one day and sneered, "You smell like an old lady." My Chanel No. 5 had turned on me — and it was making my friends think I stunk. I went home, showered, and put the bottle back in the box, never to spritz it on again. I'd steal a sniff here and there, enjoy it for a moment, but I would never actually wear it. The last thing I wanted was for anyone to think I smelled like a grandma, right?
As I got older, I started noticing the telltale signs of an "old-lady perfume." They'd usually have basenotes of sandalwood or tobacco — two scents I love to this day. Citrus was never on the radar, unless it was bergamot. But, the biggest indicators of these types of fragrances were the looks of disgust they tended to garner from people in my age group.
Anyone who grew up between the late '80s and '90s can attest to the fact that the perfume industry underwent a seismic shift. These scents took on sweeter, food-based qualities, and teenagers everywhere were scrambling to pick up the latest tangerine-grapefruit body mists. Suddenly, the bottles our grandmothers adored — the ones filled with classic notes, like rosewood and patchouli — were labeled "old-lady perfumes." Juicy fruits, creamy vanilla, and sweet desserts were the notes the cool kids were wearing, so my beloved, classic scents got the shaft.
But, I was not swayed, and I conducted my nose-wrinkling love affair of old-lady perfumes in secret, clandestinely sniffing bottles here and there and loving them, but never throwing down the cash to buy them.