Do you remember the very first fragrance you fell in love with? Or when it was that you first sprayed perfume on yourself and went “oh my goodness, why haven’t I used this before??” I can’t remember how old I was when I first tried perfume on myself but I was certainly much older than most when I started wearing perfume regularly. I only started using perfume daily when I hit my mid 20s.

Back in school, my classmates and most of the girls in school would be drowning in CK One. There was such much CK One in the air that I didn’t even feel like I needed to wear perfume at all because I would come home smelling like I had that fragrance on all day. To be honest, I really disliked that fragrance, which was why even with peer pressure, I never succumbed to it. In fact, the very first fragrance I fell in love with was a perfume that belonged to my mother.

It was Elizabeth Arden’s Fifth Avenue.

There was a sort of tradition at home with my parents and perfumes. Each time my dad went on business trips, he would always buy my mum a perfume. My dad’s not particularly keen on any particular perfume; he’d get whatever’s the latest and greatest (at least, as promoted by the sales assistants at the duty free shops) for Mum. I didn’t like most of what he chose for Mum back then because the Chanels, YSLs and Diors were too strong for my young nose. Elizabeth Arden’s Fifth Avenue, however, was different.

It was light. It was refreshing. The bottle was sophisticated. Oh it was simply beautiful! Most importantly, it smelled nothing like CK One. In the mornings before school, I’d sneak into my parents’ bedroom, do a very quick spray of the perfume on my wrists and dashed out. I never did more than one spray and it usually amounted to just a tiny drop because I didn’t want Mum to know I was stealing her perfume. 😛

As I grew older, I discovered other perfumes and soon stopped nicking Mum’s Fifth Avenue. Still, I never forgot how lovely that perfume was and how I fell in love with it. When I moved to Australia in 2008, I discovered that Chemist Warehouse still stocked Elizabeth Arden’s Fifth Avenue and I couldn’t believe my luck when I picked it up for just $20.

I wasn’t crushing on any boy when I discovered this perfume. There wasn’t any major events in my life back then when I fell in love with Fifth Avenue. But I shall always remember it as the very first grown-up perfume I ever loved and whenever I have this on, it brings me back to my rather awkward but still incredibly happy high school days of bad hair, bad skin and good friends.

What about you? Do you remember the first fragrance you fell in love with? How old were you back then when you discovered that very perfume?