My love of fragrance did not begin by smelling the contents of fancy bottles. I learned to love perfume in the garden. If you’ve read my reviews for any length of time, you may have noticed I often use botanical illustrations to “decorate” my posts; that’s because any perfume that gives me a realistic representation of a beloved natural scent has captured my attention and has a chance at capturing my heart, too.

I grew up in the countryside, and big parts of my childhood were spent outdoors: in flower beds, vegetable gardens, orchards, woods. The bounty of those places found their way into the kitchen, where another facet of my scent education took place (all those fruits, vegetables, spices, vanilla, chocolate, liquor!) To list my favorite fragrance notes would be a laughable exercise; I’ve been smelling everything that crossed my path my entire life…the list would be extensive. Still, the scent of stone fruits would be high on my list…

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