Picture it, the summer of 1989. I was a student in summer school for math. In my assigned desk I found a mini bottle of CoCo Chanel. OMG I was in love. prior to that I would just rub my wrist in the fragrance ads in my mom’s essence magazines. This was the beginning of my love of fragrance. I wore this perfume sample until it was gone and I was so bummed, but that just made me want more perfumes.
Fast forward, every cent of my allowance went towards Word Up magazines and fragrances. Two of my favorite scents were Exclamation and Sand and Sable which I proudly purchased from Esquire Drug store.
As a teen my family would take trips to the the Andrew’s Airforce base (dad was in the military)to shop at the PX. It was there that my dad would purchase all of my favorite high school perfumes like Clinique Happy, Ralph Lauren Romance, Polo Sport, Elizabeth Arden Green Tea, Dkny Be Delicious, and CK One. I had body sprays from Bath and Body Works and Victoria’s Secret but even back then I knew perfume was where it was at!
When I entered my career as an esthetician, I worked in a store/spa called Bluemercury. I was surrounded by Creed, Serge Lutens, Diptyque…and I purchased them all. I acquired so many fragrances working there.
Later I got sick. Very very sick. I was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease called dermatomyositis. I was in so much pain and my appearance changed drastically. All my hair fell out, I lost then gained so much weight due to the steroids I had to take and my whole body was swollen.
I was in hell. My self esteem was on E and I was depressed. Since my mobility was limited, I spent a lot of time online and thats how I discovered there was a whole fragrance community on YouTube and Instagram. I began learning about new fragrances and ordering samples from retailers such as Luckyscent and Twisted Lily.
This new hobby bought me so much joy. While I didn’t like how I looked, I loved how I smelled. I felt special. At the time fragrance filled a void and distracted me while I healed. It made me feel good. Once the disease got under control and my body finally began to heal, pain ceased, my hair grew back inflammation decreased, weight leveled out, but my love for fragrance remained. Actually it grew. Now I get joy from sharing about it with all of you.
chronically fly 