A TALE OF SCENTS AND MOTHERS

This tale is a piece of my heart! 

Like all of you expatriates, UAE is a second home to me too, but the first keeps knocking at my doors. Even after more than two decades, the smell of rains and the warmth of Umma’s touch keeps one piece of my heart in my homeland. When the flowing beauty of Nila and the golden farm patches call me from kilometers away, an urge to run back wraps my soul! I run back home, leaving everything behind, to the home that has my mother! I wonder to date, was it my presence that she asked God in her long prayers! Was it to see me every day that she prayed for hours? Because her face lights up with an immense glow every time I place her favorite scent on her wrinkled palms. Do you know, after all this, I’ve gained, what gives me the best content feeling in the world? That million-dollar smile and that gentle pat on my shoulders when I give her favorite perfume of mine, the Arabian Eagle Musk-Concentrated Perfume! Her grin makes the wrinkles on her face disappear, and I turn to become that small boy lingering around her arms!

My journey to date has seen lots of mothers and sisters from the UAE, brimming with love and showering with affection. Nothing will feel complete without taking a moment to reminisce about the sweets, dates, and even fish products the women here packed with compassion for me. What has surprised me always is how somebody can be so much generous over the generosity they invest in my dreams. I have lost count on the number of times my eyes were filled being at the receiving end of immense blessings, which felt just like my mother back home! One thing I swear by, their hearts are more fragrant than any of the bottles in my store.

Well, emotions aside, I’ve noticed a peculiarity in the choice of our older generation of mothers and sisters. The perfumes they love reciprocate the warmth and care they possess inside them! Estee Lauder Private Collection, Clinic Aromatic, Quelques Fleurs, Gerline Talk, White Diamonds, and Ralph Lauren Safari are some of their favorite options, probably because it matches their personality of staying calm and composed.

Talking about the Estee Lauder Private Collection, based on floral odors, was personalized for Mrs. Estee Lauder, and then caught the eye of the market back in 1973. With green notes, it didn’t find any hard to find a place of its own in the hearts of consumers. Perfectly blending with the floral exposure, it protrudes a well-balanced composition of honeysuckle, linden, jasmine, and orange blossom. To add to the heart of it, the Bulgarian rose, chrysanthemum, reseda, ylang-ylang, and coriander creates a magical expression altogether. Sandalwood, heliotrope, amber, and musk make up the final tone, taking the credit for the increased span of survival.

Created by Bernard Chant in 1975, the Aromatics Elixir is one of the pioneers in the Clinic family. Based on a Chypre-floral first note of fragrance, the dominant smell of verbena, sage, and chamomile takes your breath away instantly. It slowly deviates into an amazing amalgam of geranium, rose & white flower, ylang-ylang, jasmine, and tuberose, all sweetening the aura. With the traditional pinch of Oakmoss and Patchouli notes as in any spice from the Chypre family, the exclusive tint of moss-green and Vetiver makes the end memorable. With many ingredients and spices going into the cuisine, this perfume is one in a million, for sure!

Another favorite of our older clients is the Quelques Fleurs perfume originated in 1913. Robert Bienaimé is the mastermind behind this top-selling marvel. Topping the notes by orange blossom, green notes, tarragon, bergamot, lemon, and citrus, the first impression is bound to be exceptional. Centering the perfume are the middle notes like carnation, tuberose, orchid, lilac, orris root, jasmine, heliotrope, ylang-ylang, lily-of-the-valley, rose, violet, and iris, all culminating into an incredible mixture that sets the mood right. Keeping it alive for long hours, the base notes are sandalwood, Tonka bean, amber, musk, civet, oakmoss, honey, and vanilla. With a well-proportioned ideology, this scent finds the right place in the market!

With my passion for scents, I can keep this going for years. I pray not to get suffocated somewhere amidst the never-burdening love from my mothers; be it the one who gave me birth to the one who made me ‘me’! As life moves on in its hard and fast pace, I sleep in peace on the thought that their favorite fragrances have my sweat and effort! That heals me and keeps me going forward! For today, this is what I’ve got to share with you! Hope you find it exciting as much as I did writing this! Let me know in the comments below!

With warm hugs to all the mothers out there,
Faizal Changampally