What is a father? Is it our biological male parent? Not always… The Father-child relationship is more than paternity. In this eight part series I have asked many friends-in fragrances to create an olfactive portrait of their father or father figure. Some chose to use poetry, some music, some prose. Yet, there was a marked difference between an earlier piece we did for Mother’s Day entitled Scented Memories of Our Mothers http://tinyurl.com/33uyfe ; the fragrance of our fathers seemed more about rituals and 'smells'.
CafleureBon thanks Parfumerie Generale, Soivohle Perfumes, Ajne Perfumes, Neil Morris Fragrances, Strange Invisible Perfumes, First-in-Fragrance and Ambrosia Jones of Perfume of Nature for their generosity in giving away full size bottles of fragrances that are a perfect Father’s day gift for your dad, pere, papi, abba, apa, pai or papa. Be sure to leave a comment about your own scented memory on site to be eligible to win this Parfumerie Generale 'Coze" 1.7 oz EDP
“My father was his own and only tester when he was working on a composition, so my mother and I had to tell him our impressions about his multiple trials.
The most significant for me was the "Eau d'Hermès" the only one he wore on a regular base since I was very young. He used to put it on his hair and the combination was really magnificent.
After my teen age years, it was the "Eau Sauvage" which became his recognizable signature and now, even after so many years and so many people wearing this fragrance, it still reminds me of him”. – Michel Roudnitska, Perfumer, Founder of Arts-et-Parfums
“Growing up on a farm in rural Pennsylvania left little to the imagination, especially when it came to fragrances for men. But once a year we would receive a large box from our cousins in Germany. It was filled with chocolates, books, stationary and perfume. That splash of good notes being 4711. The very first scent I remember my grandfather wearing was the citrus splash of 4711. As I got older I would realize my mom used it to deodorize both myself and my brother’s hair when we came in from playing baseball before dinner”- Pierce Mattie, CEO Pierce Mattie Public Relations
Photo: courtesy of Mario T Gomez
“Funny, I don’t have an olfactory memory of my father. What I remember is that he wore whatever my sister and I bought him. Always proud to say “I am wearing something my kids bought me.’ Even today, proud to wear what we chose and calling his cologne ‘it’s something my kids bought me’.” Mario T Gomez, Perfumisto
"Remembering my father's fragrance, I have to admit, that he was a big fan of every cheap smelling overpowering German after shave of the early 70s. I always wished he would have chosen something like Brut by Fabergé, which was my uncle's perfume and which appeared to me rather extravagant, actually because it was French, but mainly because of the "weird" pronunciation" Christiane Behmann, Archiv für Duft & feine Essenzen http://www.duftarchiv.de/
“My father was a photographer and as a child I associated him with the smell of the padded case that housed his cameras and the cigarette smoke that stayed in his clothes from working weddings. When I got older I gave him a bottle of Guerlain's Vetiver and continued doing so as he seemed to like it – the scent was mixed with the aroma of hazelnut coffee which he drank all the time”. – Steven Gontarski, Store Manager of Scent Bar, (Luckyscent)
The one and only fragrance I can remember my father ever wore is the one and only classical OLD SPICE… to be correct it was the After Shave. My father shaved himself with a Gillette razor and I loved to watch him, completely fascinated, while he was shaving himself. Can’t remember the name of the shaving soap he used but I still have the smell of it in my nose… a very mild milky soapy smell – which I will never forget. It not only reminds me on good but also on bad days – Vero Kern, Perfumer and Owner of vero.perfumo
"There perhaps is no greater joy in life than being a tiny baby snuggled in your father's warm strength breathing his personal scent. As a conscientious objector Draft Card Burner during the Vietnam War my father David Miller was imprisoned for 2 1/2 years.
One of the few times I saw him as a baby I was baptized in Penn State prison as Joan Baez sang unaccompanied. Father Daniel Berrigan officiated with a handkerchief doused in Holy Water smuggled into the prison in his pocket. Scent memories are forever imprinted on a person’s heart whether you consciously "remember" them or not. My father, my True American Hero wore Old Spice”. – Monica Miller, Natural Perfumer, Owner of Skye botanicals, and Sr. Contributor to CaFleureBon