Delores del Rio 1953 photo by Everett apped MC

Marlene Dietrich once described Dolores del Rio as “the most beautiful woman who ever set foot in Hollywood.” What could be a more fitting tribute to her than a fragrance named Drive Them Wild? When Sarah McCartney was asked to create two fragrances for the Beaumont Hotel, she used only ingredients that were available in the 1930s, when Dolores set screens alight across the world.  If Dolores were alive (her real name was María de los Dolores Asúnsolo López-Negrete), I feel certain that Sarah would have gifted her a huge bottle of Drive Them Wild, because somehow through this extraordinary fragrance, her story has been told in scent and what an olfactory poem it is.  Del Rio led a life that could merit a film of its own. The cameos would be so legendary that a biopic would look far-fetched and would feature appearances from the likes of Elvis Presley, Elsa Schiaparelli, Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Sophia Loren and Omar Sharif to name but a few.  Del Rio had modernity and a single mindedness that was extraordinary for its time.  Today’s glass ceilings were made of solid marble in the 1930s yet still she succeeded in smashing them to smithereens and blazing a trail for those that followed.

Maria Candeleira was the first Mexican Film to win Best Picture at Cannes and Starred Dolores Del Rio 1944

Her dazzling beauty, singing voice and charming accent made her a “female Valentino” and she danced for Busby Berkeley, starred in the first Mexican film to win at Cannes, and inspired this incomparable compliment from artist Diego Rivera: “The most beautiful, the most gorgeous of the west, east, north and south. I’m in love with her as are 40 million Mexicans and 120 million Americans who can’t be wrong.”

 

Mexican Orange Blossom via King &co

When creating a fragrance for such an inspirational woman, Sarah McCartney made the perfect choice of flower with Mexican Orange Blossom, also known as Choisya Ternata.  Epitomising del Rio’s stamina and self-sufficiency, Mexican Orange Blossom needs very little help from anyone else in order to flourish and can grow in near-barren conditions. If that’s a not a metaphor for a woman who dumped Orson Welles, turned down at least two directors who promised her the moon and produced major motion pictures when many women still didn’t have the right to vote, then I don’t know what is.

Dolores Del Rio apped by Michelyn via the fashionspot

4160Tuesdays Drive Them Wild, like Dolores del Rio herself is breathtakingly beautiful. It makes you want to switch the world off for a few precious moments whilst you marvel at it. The bold, bright orange citrus almost makes you wince, as if eating a ripe grapefruit before you’ve even had your coffee.  Its soaring zestiness was the only scent that sustained me as I melted in this year’s heatwave (red hair, freckles, pink face). You know it’s the sign of a good fragrance when you start sniffing the air and thinking “someone in here smells nice” and realizing that you are The Someone. The citrus, unlike a lot of citrus, sticks around instead of doing a disappearing act.

Dolores del Rio’s home in Coyoacan

In fact, it may have disappeared but there was so much orange blossom crowding in and blotting out the lava-like summer temperatures that I didn’t notice it slip away. Orange blossom is so symbolically linked with love and romance that it’s not hard to imagine leading lady Dolores with clouds of it in her hair, plucked from the gardens of her Mexican Quintana. A kind hearted sweetness emerges in the form of a gentle vanilla breeze as the sun goes down. Longevity lasts from breakfast croissants to midnight cocktails.

via tumblr

Without this extraordinary woman, the Mexican film industry might never have had its golden age, Latina stars might not have the recognition they deserve, female film producers might not have had any shoulders to stand on and many, many hapless men would not have known the agony and ecstasy of hopeless, foolish, infatuation with this extraordinary icon.  4160sTuesdays Drive them Wild is an exceptional  olfactory tribute to Dolores de Rio.

Notes: Blood orange, red mandarin, osmanthus and orange blossom dance around a chypre heart, with vanilla, tonka and cocoa absolutes spiced with black pepper.

Disclaimer: Many thanks to Sarah McCartney for giving me a bottle of Drive Them Wild for my consideration. Opinions are my own.

Samantha Scriven, Guest Contributor and Author of I scent you a day

Co –art direction: Michelyn and Samantha

Drive Them Wild. Photo by 4160Tuesdays

Thanks to the generosity of Sarah McCartney, we have a draw for a 50ml bottle of  4160Tuesdays Drive Them Wild eau de parfum for one registered reader in EU, USA or Canada. You must register here or your comment will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what you enjoyed most about Samantha’s review of 4160Tuesdays Drive Them Wild, if you have favourite 4160Tuesdays fragrance, and where you live. Draw closes January 23, 2020

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