ÇaFleureBon Fragrant Awakening: Parfums de Marly Delina (2017) "The Queen"

Catherine Bialkowski, writer and journalist

My first fragrant memory is of a bottle of Coco by Chanel – glass stopper, not spray – that sat on my mother’s vanity. It was her scent, and it smelled like luxury to me even then. I’d dab a little bit on from time to time; certain the scent molecules would transform me in some way.

The iconic Coco by Chanel by Jacques Polge

The richness of the benzoin and tonka, brightened with mandarin and orange blossom, seemed to shimmer on my young skin like something mystical. The way the aroma deepened and lingered long after first application was pure magic to me. I was right, in a way – it did transform me, into someone with a lifelong obsession with smell.

Catherine in 2004

I remember my first eaux de parfums, a collection of fragrances that I wore to death. American Girl Truly Me was a dewy, sparkling gardenia, designed to be worn by young girls. Released by a doll company, it was the epitome of innocence – vibrant, dainty, and delicate. Oddly, it was nothing like the scents targeted at young girls today; the notes contained no vanilla, no cotton candy, no strawberry or caramel or coconut. I’m confident that if I smelled even the lightest whiff of this scent, housed in its star-shaped vessel, the lightness of being 9 years old would overcome me at once, that mid 2000s era when the grass seemed impossibly green and fairies lived in my own backyard.

My high school self

Next was Hilary Duff With Love, which I started wearing on the brink of my high school career. Musky, spicy, and comforting, it may have shared something in common with my first love, Coco. Hilary herself had been one of my idols–beautiful and talented, with her own show and music career at just 13 years old. To wear her fragrance – it never occurred to me that she didn’t douse herself in it every day – was a thrill.

Chloe Eau de Parfum (2008), my longtime love

During my college years, my fascination with fine fragrance blossomed, and so did, ever-so-slightly, my budget to acquire them, due to my position at a local magazine. I remember the first premium fragrance I ever purchased, impossibly expensive to me at the time even in the smallest bottle: Chloé Eau de Parfum (Amandine Clerc-Marie and Michel Almairac), that fresh, romantic cloud of peony and rose that has become iconic. This was also my first encounter with a scent that metamorphosed as it warmed on skin; I remember the grave disappointment I felt at first much-anticipated spray right before bedtime, only to wake up in the morning and wonder at the heavenly aroma in my college dorm room. I could not believe how much the scent changed once it had a chance to become acquainted with my chemistry.

Glossier You composed by Dora Bagriche and Frank Voelkl

The fragrance that changed everything for me, though – and my first encounter with something “niche-adjacent” – was Glossier You in 2017. Never before had I smelled something that was so unlike a perfume, something that unfolded on skin so effortlessly, so nonchalantly. I believe it was also my first sniff of iris, that rooty, earthy note that evokes a sense of nostalgia, powdery and quaint like your grandmother’s makeup pouch. I flew through my bottle, hungry to discover more like it.

Delina La Rosée, Delina Exclusif, and original Parfums de Marly Delina, respectively

Like many others, my first true niche fragrance was none other than the queen herself, Parfums de Marly Delina (2017). I was desperate to smell it, tantalized by YouTube videos I studied in the evenings like it was my education. When I finally got my nose on this scent whose popularity had spread like wildfire throughout the internet, it was everything I wanted it to be and more. I felt like I had finally found something I did not know I was pursuing; Parfums de Marly Delina was pure artistry, a blend of rhubarb, rose, and lychee that altered my brain chemistry and introduced me to a new world of niche perfumery. It smelled like rose syrup to me, decadent and edible and regal.

I think what I’ve always loved about fragrance is the universality of it all. Unlike with fashion and beauty, there is no visual to hinder ourselves – this shade doesn’t go with my undertone, my body type won’t suit this dress. Scent does not discriminate, nor does it ask permission; it simply blossoms on skin as it’s scientifically designed to do. The right fragrance makes us shapeshifters, unlocking parts of our personality we may need to access depending on the day ahead. We are enchanters, influencing those around us with the way we smell.

Today, I wear fragrance in the morning, the afternoon, and the evening. I spritz it on before bed, and whenever else I need a pick-me-up. It’s an invisible cloak that surrounds me and protects me, leaving quiet magic to linger in my wake. It’s an outlet and an art form, an expression of expertise, an homage to the nose behind the composition (for Parfums de Marly Delina, Quentin Bisch) Fragrance is a silent storyteller, capturing moments that language cannot reach, leaving a trace on all who encounter it.

All photos and bottles are my own

~ Catherine Bialkowski, Guest Contributor

Staff writer at BeautyNewsNYCOfficial.com

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