Wednesday, March 11, 2009

smells like

I was all set for my bath the other week when I noticed I had no bar of soap. Can't use shower gel, it's a bath. Need soap bar. No problem, as I knew there were several bars tucked away from a previous bulk buying frenzy of 'buy 2 get the 3rd one free' variety. Couldn't find them. Every time I have a good tidy I seem to lose things, especially those bulk bought items. Keep searching. Can't even find the cream soap I also have tucked away... Bath water is getting cold, so I decide to use those luxury bars that I've got in my socks and underwear drawer as a sort of pomade. Am not sure where it came from, most likely from when I cleared out my mother's apartment last year.

So now, my bathroom is smelling particularly spring like.
And well, lovely, really.
I know, you're probably thinking it smells like your grandmother.

Lily of the Valley. Yardley's.

Something you don't see very often. In fact when I did some research for writing this I couldn't find any in the two Shoppers Drug Marts I checked, which is where I was sure they would have some for the older ladies who cling to their tried and true favoured brands.

I love this smell. I'm using it all the time now. It isn't too cloying or too sweet and fake. It lasts forever. No wonder people think of their grandmothers. Throughout the day, I will move an arm and get an oh so subtle whiff of lily of the valley and sigh, contentedly.

This made me wonder when this particular scent went out of favour. In fact when flower scents went out of fashion. Lavender is still around, though usually mixed with something else. But for the most part the scented soap industry has veered off towards the fruits. And like juice, there is often a combination of fruits of the anti-oxident variety with acai and goji thrown in. Pomegranate, blackberry, mango, passionfruit, lime and ginger are popular. It is like they are trying to make their shower gels and lotions sound healthy. Food that gets absorbed in your skin?

My kitchen always smells of fruit with the dish soap. I must admit though, that I usually just buy whichever colour goes with my decor. So I have grapefruit scents wafting every time I wash a dish. There is key lime waiting in the cupboard. Unless I've lost that one, too.

But my bathroom smells of SPRING.

37 comments:

  1. Ummmm... your bath "the other week"??? So, like... every other week is bath night? But you have showers in between, right? Right? Seriously, I come from the old country and when we were kids we only had baths once a week and a lot of people in the old country still only have baths once a week. I think when we move to Paris we'll have to cut back on the baths and showers

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  2. XUP: I know, we'll have to give up the daily showers. I remember the weekly bath nights, which I actually enjoyed (my mother couldn't get over how how much I looked forward to that long soak.

    And, no, it was just that 2 weeks ago I started using this huge luxury bar of soap that is still going strong.

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  3. I could smell the soaps as you mentioned them, like you I buy mainly for colour now.

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  4. Delwyn: and I buy for the pretty, pretty, packaging!

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  5. Me, I'm a lavender girl! Don't like smelling like a dessert!

    Why cut down on showers in Paris? I'm in the UK, and have a shower every day - didn't know Paris was short of water! ;)

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  6. Gilly, this fantasy apartment will be very old and may not have showers, only an elegant tub.

    I know, we in NA have this thing about daily showers that we think the Europeans scoff at. It may be an old stereotype.

    And I agree about not wanting to smell like dessert!! I noticed some new lotions have yogourt included!

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  7. Yardley! I've loved Yardley since the late 60's - they made "Love" cologne-my junior high favorite! My favorite flower scent is Lily of the valley. If you can't find Yardley try Crabtree and Evelyn-I got some of theirs a awhile back and it's beautiful. Hope they still make it!

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  8. Deedee: yes, I thought of C & E, I'll check there when I run out - but these are huge bars and there are three of them, so I should be fine for awhile!

    It sounds a little bit of an 'old fashioned' non trendy brand though doesn't it?

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  9. I love scented bars like that as a luxury - my favorite is Caswell and Massey's Almond soap. So delicate and delicious.

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  10. Char: Especially the delicately scented.
    There are so many choices out there. Haven't heard of those.

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  11. You brought back a lovely memory of Yardley's Lily of the Valley soap!...What a wonderful smell...I used to use Winsor of somethings Rose soap and toilet water..I wonder if they still make that?...It made me think of beach roses...as for the new foody scents I have to admit to liking Organics Ginger scrub..yum...

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  12. As a teenager, one of the first scents that I could actually identify and therefore love was Coty's Muguet des bois (lily of the valley). No - wait - I had a Polly Pocket doll that was scented with lily of of the valley even before that. Anyway, I'm with you: it's a wonderful, gentle, floral scent, and I'm feeling the need to go find some again!

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  13. Oliag: I don't particularly like the taste of ginger, but I love the smell. I have a ginger bubblebath which is nice, but the smell is gone when the bubbles disappear.

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  14. Pinklea: It's interesting, I would never have thought of buying this soap, or any Yardley products, but now am hooked.

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  15. I have tons of lily of the valley plants in my yard, but I honestly can't remember what they smell like.

    But a quesiton - why can't you use shower gel in the bath? It's just liquid soap.

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  16. Citizen: They are very close to the ground.

    It is just wrong. Somehow, it doesn't feel right.

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  17. Mmmmm. Now I want to take a bath.

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  18. Don't know if you have the store "Bath and Body Works" in Canada? But they have a hand soap (the foam kind) called Honeysuckle-very fragrant! By the way, my brides bouquet was lilly of the valley (that was a century ago:) )

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  19. Geewits: I know, gets me washing up more often!

    Jeannette: Honeysuckle sounds lovely, too.

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  20. I've never smelled that soap, but I love love love the smell of lilies of the valley, which are growing all around the foundation of our house. I just melt smelling them (after I pick them and put them in little vases, not leaning down to the ground).

    Funny you would talk about soap, as Don and I have been talking about making soap here on the farm. He's into the soap making part, and reading up on it people say their house smells incredible while it's curing. Cool. Me, I want to design the packaging, because like you, I love buying soaps for how they're wrapped. If I love the packaging, and pick them up and love the smell, and if they're not $6 a bar, sold!

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  21. Whew, Don's moved on from pigs to soap!

    ooh, and you can get some inspiration from that paper shop in Ann Arbor (where you're going to take me when I come to visit).

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  22. Funny how there's fads and styles in soaps too. I'm sure within a few years they'll be touting the BRAND NEW AND IMPROVED LINE OF SCENTS - which will be lilly of the valley, and lilac and and and...

    This being said, our soap in the kitchen is orange blossom. When I first smelled it my reaction was: So THAT's what all those old ladies smelled like many many years ago.

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  23. I hate to admit it, but I'm partial to Cucumber/melon soap..:-)

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  24. When I saw your header come up, I was sure it was going to say "teen spirit" when I clicked on! :D

    Seriously, I do love lilies-of-the-valley and that's my birth flower. I used to love the smell of lavendar and I still do in its natural form. Sometimes it's just so strong in lotions and soaps that it gives me an instant headache.

    My favorite soap smell is anything that smells like the scent of clean.

    SPRING is a wonderful way for the bathroom to smell!

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  25. You can buy that soap at any Walgreens. i love it! I used to have lilies of the valley planted near my garage at my old house, and the smell would waft into the windows. It was beautiful.

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  26. Jazz: When I was young I read a reference to a favourite teacher always smelling of lemon verbena and ever after associated it with memories of someone old, but still don't know what it smells like.

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  27. Susan: The alternate smell is pretty bad (litter box gets quite potent at times!) The headachey fake perfumes gets to me immediately too. That's why I rarely go into Crabtree & Evelyn.

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  28. Jackee: The next time I'm in the States, I'll have to find a Walgreens and stock up!

    Thanks for your comment. I see the bricks on your blog header are almost like mine, except on a path instead of a wall.

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  29. I have Yardley's Lily of the Valley soap and talc which I too got when my mom's things were shared around when she passed. It is still one of my fave scents. I also looked after an elder while her family was away and she had a beautiful 'rose' hand cream which I adore. I let her know how lovely it was and she gifts me each Christmas....I still don't know where she gets it.
    Thank you for the lovely post and the gentle reminders.
    Smiles

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  30. Carolyn: My mother had a habit of 'saving' her best soaps and lotions. Shame really, but at least I get to revisit an old scented memory.

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  31. I actually always liked the way my grandmother smelled. It's a sweet reminder of a very lovely person.

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  32. Kylie: That's nice. I always feel a little wistful when I hear such things since I never had a grandmother.

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  33. One of the smells that take me straight back to my childhood is the smell of roses, can't remember the name but they were pink. My grandmother used to cut them very short and put them in a soup bowl. I remember when I got my house, the first thing I did was to get a climbing rose. When it bloomed, I cut a few and put them in a soup bowl. I teared up just sniffing them.

    I'm not keen on long baths myself but I love scented soaps! I discovered skinlicious and they have gorgeous soaps made with the actual herbs/flowers. They're big, very bulky but last a long time. I'm currently using lemongrass with poppy seeds. http://www.skinlicious.ca/prod_thumbs.asp

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  34. Hi,
    I LOVE taking baths, so I'll have to try the Yardley's brand. Have you ever tried chocolate scented bath powder?

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  35. UA: I used to love long baths when I had an old footed tub and a window in my bathroom. Now, not so much.

    Petals in a bowl always strike me as so simply elegant.

    lemongrass w/ poppyseeds - that would make me hungry for sure!

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  36. Hannah: I've heard of that, but never tried it.

    again, that might make me too hungry!

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