Fragrance and memory are intertwined—it’s not sentiment, it’s science. Get this: studies show that 75 percent of our memories are triggered by scent. Which, if I’m going to put on my introspective goggles, probably has a little something to do with my current fragrance collection—comprised exclusively of musky gourmands.
Here's the lore. Since I was a little girl, my bubby (aka my grandmother) has stood in firm defense of her one and only signature scent: Guerlain Shalimar. The fragrance, which was developed in 1925, put amber perfumes on the map at a time when feminine florals and powdery jasmines dominated the market. By the '50s (right around the time my bubby got her hands on it), it was an established icon—the pièce de résistance for a seductive, sexy fragrance that oozed French girl sophistication and infused a warm, seductive vanilla into an otherwise masculine mix with effortless ease.
