Perfume Pilgrim

Encens et Bubblegum by Etat Libre dOrange is a highly unusual combination. Available from Les Senteurs I gravitate to this and wear it for fun. It brings a smile to my face every time I smell my wrist. A reminder of the child within who still loves sweets and the bukhoor or frankincense I burn regularly to purify our home. You can’t help but feel slightly adolescent wearing this and yet it seems to be flying out the shop door. This range of scent is rather risque and not the kind I would give my mother, but if I removed the lable it might just pass censorship…

I like the idea of a sweet scent emanating from my mouth. I also like the sillage of someone  else chewing gum and have enjoyed the Kanebo rose gum to perfume my own body. This gum has geraniol amongst other odourants that is supposed to not only perfume la bouche but also the body for a couple of hours.

Like Prince Charles, I also use the Rose mouthwash by Floris, except I hear he buys it in extra large bottles and a box full at a time. This leaves a fresh sweet, rosy taste in the mouth. But take care to dilute it, because it is quite strong. Another favourite is the Jasmine Toothpaste by the Italian company Marvis, a little hard to find in London though.

Thanks to Angela from The Sycamore Boutique & Scent Shop for kindly letting me know about Chowards scented gum and Violet mints. I was finally able to locate some of these violet scented sweets to add to my collection at the Cyber Candy store in Convent Garden.  They also sell Candy Perfume in several flavours including strawberry and Sour Apple. These are a scented spray perfume sweet. They are marketed under the Hello Kitty licence and smell delicious. I can’t imagine spraying them on my neck, but they are sure to sweeten the breath.

I can’t talk about perfumed sweets without mentioning the Musk lifesavers which I grew up with as a child in Australia. They can be purchased at the Australia Shop in Covent Garden. I can smell someone eating these a mile off! I gave a packet to my next door neighbour and I can smell her the musk sillage in the lift after she has used it! Most people I know hate them, but they really do taste the closest to perfume I could imagine. Another childhood favourite from living in Finland are the Fazer Violet Pastilles, which are perfumed hard licorice sweets. (See the Nibbling Violets entry below for more violet sweets.)

Bubble gum lipgloss and lipbalms, perfumed and scented are also available by America’s original Dubble Bubble Bubble Gum. Though they smell good enough to eat, they are made of paraffin oil and Petrolatum, so not exactly for eating. But if your mad for that kind of scent, this is yet another way to smell sweet.

As Valentines Day is coming up shortly, here is a  Violet card for you courtesy of David Drummond Vintage Performing Arts store on Cecil Court, London.