A Tribute to Gloria Maria Montiel + The Essence of my Mother Giveaway

 

Nicaragua Mother with child

 My beautiful mother, second on the right (I am the baby). Photo via 1972

Her sparkly vanity mirror was full of perfume bottles, yet I can’t think of a fragrance that reminds me of my Mother. After many days of thinking, I called her and asked, “What was your favorite perfume in the 70’s? She gave me some general answers, like Chanel and Dior, “whatever was all the rage, I loved”. The conversation never got specific, and truth be told – I don’t think she remembers either. She says that when my brother came along, her rambunctious boy broke one too many bottles and ended her obsession of having the latest perfume.

 

Mother in Nicaragua

Gloria Maria riding her horse in the Hipica, Granada, Nicaragua with my sister

But maybe it was our exodus from Nicaragua in the 80’s that did away with the vanity mirror full of pretty bottles. And no, she did not stop wearing perfume when we came to Miami. In the 80’s, there might have been Paris or Giorgio on her shelf, but smelling those scents will not transport me to memories of her. And while she has a rotation of new favorites, I can’t tell you that a certain fragrance is what defines the essence of my Mother. She might not be defined by a certain fragrance; however, I have a clear picture of the remarkable woman that I’m lucky to call my Mother.

The fierce woman who showed up unannounced to the immigration building and marched to the top floor demanding to know, “Why has it taken more than 7 years to process our immigration papers?” Turns out our petition had been incorrectly filed – an honest mistake that caused our permanent residency to be delayed by almost 5 years.

The woman who walked up to the counter at the Nicaraguan airport after 4 days of failed attempts to get us on a flight and with conviction explained to them that they better let us board or else… This makes me chuckle every time. (Because if you’ve ever met her in person, you would never know that this elegant and beautiful woman would have it in her to threaten anybody.)

The woman who time and time again has STOOD UP for her rights and the rights of her children is the same one who will stop to pick up any elderly person walking the streets of Managua and give them a ride to their destination. The one who feeds 300 children and their families at her house every 23rd of December with grace and ease.

Some people might call that “random acts of kindness”. Some people might make it a point to do one here and there. Some people, like Gloria Maria, make it a lifestyle. Aside from that, she is the ultimate hostess with the mostess, and if any one of us would show up to the house with 10 friends, she would whip up appetizers and drinks as if she’d been planning a party all along.

She is the quintessential Mother and grandma – the one who for the first two months of my children’s lives took “the graveyard” shift, so that I could go back to bed and rest…the grandmother who drops anything to spend time with her grandkids.

Birthday party for my daughter photo with mom 2016

After having so much and losing it all during the war and communism of the 80’s, she has been a role model of strength, of not giving up, of succeeding, of standing for what’s right, and most importantly, of helping others…

That’s the essence of my Mother.

Her strength enveloped in softness,

Her brave attitude to tackle the unknown,

Her giving heart ….

Her essence is steady. Her effortless elegance and beauty are timeless.

There is no name, no brand that encompasses who Gloria Maria represents to her family, friends, and people she barely knows. As a perfumer, if I were to bottle her essence, I would pick:

Ingredients used in all natural perfumes

 The ingredients for Everpresent was created with my mother in mind

Neroli – small and dainty but makes its presence known

Jasmine – the “king and queen” of flowers who inspires poets and adorns brides

Litsea Cubeba – always ready to bring the fun to a party

Yuzu – sophisticated elegance

Copaiba – strong and soft, sweet but no nonsense

Marbella Perfumes Ever Present for Earth Day

Mirabella Everpresent

It’s no coincidence that these ingredients that form part of Marbella Ever Present were inspired by her essence.  At the heart of this light, airy, and fun perfume is raw beauty–the kind that makes people take notice of your quiet, but ever-present confidence and strength.

Today, I’m grateful to have her and pay tribute to my Mother whose essence is worthy of a timeless fragrance.

Guest Contributor, Helida Dodd of www.marbellaperfumes.com

Thanks to the generosity of  Helida Dodd, we have a draw for a 9.5 ml travel bottle of Ever Present for one registered reader of the USA. To be eligible please leave a comment about  Helida’s tribute to her mother. What ingredients would use to capture the essence of your mother. Draw closes 5/10/2022

Read Helida’s Earth Day Article The Scent of the Appalachian Trail here

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18 comments

  • rachelng says:

    Wow! This fragrance sounds gorgeous! What a unique take on jasmine (and I’m the biggest jasmine fan)! ❤️❤️❤️ My own mother would be spicy rose, something like Ostens Rose Oil Isparta! Happy Mother’s Day!!! ❤️❤️❤️

  • hshinkoda says:

    What a beautiful story! The notes are amazing. I love jasmine and neroli! Happy Mother’s Day to all the beautiful momo!!!
    Massachusetts, US.

  • Dubaiscents says:

    What a wonderful story about your mother, Helida! I love that you have created a scent for her that doesn’t have anything to do with her past fragrances but is the embodiment of who she is today and what she has meant to you and your family. I certainly appreciate how much effort and courage it takes to deal with immigration officials and it makes me smile to hear how your mother handled it all!
    It would be difficult to chose notes to capture the essence or my mother but, I know they would include lots of greens because she loves a green scent and perhaps a little leather to highlight her strength.
    Happy Mother’s Day! US

  • Helida’s written such a lovely tribute to her mother. What ingredients would I use to capture the essence of my mother? I can’t really imagine how these could be combined into a cohesive scent, but tobacco, vanilla, cardamom, peppermint, orris root, hops, and something very green. I am in the US

  • What a nice tribute to her mother Gloria by Helida Dodd. And the notes in Marbella Ever Present capture beautifully her spirit. Oud, rose, sandalwood, jasmine come to mind were I to design one. Marbella Ever Present seems to be a lovely perfume and it’s inspiration is equally lovely. Thanks for the review and draw. From USA.

  • roxhas1cat says:

    Your Mom sounds amazing! Lucky you. I also have a wonderful Mom who just headed home with my Dad after spending most of the weekend. I also do not have a fragrance associated with my Mom as she doesn’t have a “signature” scent. Now I like to gift her with decants of some of my stuff she loves (she brings her small bottles back for refills). I love the title “Ever Present”, I’d love to win this. I know someday…..sooner rather than later I won’t have my Mom, but she will be ever present with me. I guess notes for my Mom would be tea as she drinks it every morning, some ponderosa which grows a lot where she lives in Sisters OR (and reminds me of my beloved Los Alamos NM), orange blossom as we had that tree in the backyard and I’d add sweet peas, but I don’t know if they are fragrant). Thanks for the lovely Mother’s Day read. Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mom’s out there. USA

  • Mother’s teach us so much. When my son was diagnosed with autism I drew much of my strength and determination from the type of woman my mother was. How she was a woman of faith but also of action. Even when she was sick with Alzheimer’s my mother p, knowing things were getting bad, never once complained. She did what she always did, she stood with head held high and kept right on keeping on. In maryland.

  • punchflower says:

    What a lovely tribute! And hell yeah for all the strong immigrant mothers out there! My own wore the everyday classic, Jean Nate, and I smile everything I see a splash bottle, or catch the scent. From US.

  • A great tribute! I would go with lemon trees and flowers of all types for my mom! NV, US

  • Regis Monkton says:

    I can like floral fragrances, and this fragrance seems like it is floral. I’m truly interested to try it. I think that it’s interesting that Helida chose to make an original fragrance and not one which would be based on what her mom used to wear. I might use mint, different floral ingredients, citrus, and incense to make a fragrance for all mothers. I live in the U.S.A.

  • foreverscents says:

    How lovely that Helida paid tribute to the essence of her mother with a lovely fragrance. I loved reading about her mother’s spirit, her gumption. When I think of my mother, I think of 1970s fragrances like Jontue, Enjoli, and Charlie.

  • What beautiful stories about your mother! Her strength in standing up for her family is so touching. If I only choose one ingredient, I think Jasmine might be a great one to capture my mother. I am from the USA and would love to try Marbella Ever Present through the giveaway drawings!

  • joetelegram says:

    Happy (belated) Mother’s Day! I hope all of the mothers on here had a special day. I know I did and celebrated the incredible women in my life.

    Gloria Maria sounds amazing. Thank you, Helida, for sharing. The kindness that she is able to show people seems to say, “this isn’t what she did”, so much as, “this is who she was”. A woman of character and integrity. A person of valor.

    It’s amazing to see the ingredients that typify your mother, the queen who inspires others, is fun, funny, steady, giving, elegant, make their way into “Mirabella Everpresent”.

    If I were to think of ingredients that would capture my mother’s essence: honeysuckle, pecan, lemon, jasmine, anise, and orange.

    Joseph O’Brien–Roseburg, Oregon (USA)
    Instagram: @joetelegram

  • I really like how Helida recreated the essence of her mom in Ever Present. I appreciated the thought and process that went into this fragrance. The story behind Ever Present really gives the fragrance life.
    If I had to create a fragrance to capture my mom essence it would have hibiscus, because she likes them, rose because she liked them and would also have Nigerian ingredients as well.
    Maryland, US.

  • Michael Prince says:

    I loved reading how this fragrance was inspired by Helida’s tribute to her mother. A worthy and timeless fragrance that transports back to the 70s to her childhood in Nicaragua. If I had to create a fragrance for my mother it would have notes of Rose, Jasmine, and Iris. She is a big floral lover. I am from the USA.

  • I loved seeing the family photos! Some say this is a Cancerian trait, and for me that definitely holds true. My mother loves gourmands, with her favorite notes being almond and anise, so I would create some kind of a node to baking perfume in her honor. I am from New England.

  • sephrenia300 says:

    Wonderful review Helida! I love how Helida’s tribute to her mother focuses on her strength and her determination in standing up for her rights, while also highlighting her nurturing side by showing how more often than not she was also standing up for those she cared about. To me that is the quintessential essence of motherhood – a fierceness and a softness combined that many a man often mistakenly thinks a contradiction.

    The ingredients I would use to capture the essence of my mother are rose, cedar, tuberose, and soft musks. Rose as it is her favorite scent and flower to grow, cedar because she loves cedarwood chests to store clothes and linens in, tuberose since the scent I most associate with her wearing growing up was the classic White Shoulders, and soft musks because she always makes me feel warm and comforted.

  • wallygator88 says:

    What a beautiful review. I’m pretty touched by the notes that we re chosen because it sounds so right for Helia’s MOther.

    For my mother, I would choose
    1. agarwood/oud for her presence the respect that she commands
    2. sandalwood for the comfort that she brings everyone
    3. rose because she loves them and loves looking beautiful when time permits
    4. kaffir lime for her zest for life.

    Cheers from WI, USA