I have a few feet of old charm school and beauty manuals on my bookshelf. This week, rather than yammer on in my usual way, I’ll treat you to some of the advice on fragrance these books have to offer:

Teen-Age Glamor by Adah Broadbent (1955)¹: “Another accessory is an intriguing whiff of perfume. It’s the certain sparkle which send your spirits winging. Light and delicate flower aromas are sparkling, demure, or flirtatious. The heavy, spicy, musky, and exotic scents are ridiculous with your fresh, smooth, look, which requires a light flower fragrance. You occasionally prefer to be identified with one certain scent, but with so many alluring fragrances there is no need to be an echo of yourself. Once upon a time, all the girls in a club decided to use the same perfume. A sad mistake…”

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