Memories and Azuree Soleil

It's funny how memory works, particularly with fragrance. How a single sniff of something can cause a "madeleine moment," bringing back memories much like Proust's famous cakelet. For some unexplained reason, the smell of Estee Lauder's Azuree Soleil Eau Fraiche Skinscent, released in 2007 as part of their Tom Ford collection, made me think of my mother. She never wore tropical fragrances, certainly nothing with tiare or coconut. She wasn't a beach bunny by any means. Yet, one brief smell of this scent brought her to my mind.

Each of us has a personal scent, the smell of our skin oils, or sebum, the waxy excretions of sebaceous glands that keep our hair and skin moisturized. The smell can permeate the fibers of clothing, particularly synthetics, and linger unpleasantly. Some people smell better than others--I can think of two men in my life who barely have any scent at all, while two others are strong-smelling enough that they are practically gamy. I can only imagine that there is something about Azuree Soleil that reminds me of the smell of Mom's scalp, her own personal perfume. My mother died in 2001, so I am happy for anything that reminds me of her. As it goes, the smell of ELAS no longer brings her to mind, which is a shame.

Azuree Soleil isn't around anymore, but Estee Lauder's Bronze Goddess is very nearly the same fragrance.

Here are my original thoughts on the scent, originally posted in Sniffapalooza Magazine, ca. 2007.
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Tom Ford's Azurée body oil was a huge success when it was released last year; people rhapsodized about it being summer in a bottle. This April, its fans (and everyone else who didn't get a chance to grab some while it was available) will have another chance to test this modern reinterpretation of a classic.

As with Youth Dew, Tom Ford has left his mark on another Estée Lauder fragrance. The original Azurée, released in 1969, was a woody citrus fragrance, "inspired by the pure light of the Riviera." The new version, however, is more of a fun-in-the-sun California beach scent. Light and warm, Azurée Soleil is redolent of coconut, tiare flower and jasmine, with a subtle spark of citrus. The coconut is not of the cloying type one might find in a tropical drink but rather the light and mild sweetness of coconut water, the refreshing liquid within the nut. These notes are wrapped in a warm cloud of woods and amber, touched with a dollop of caramel. And like Youth Dew Amber Nude, this scent has an old-fashioned quality that makes one nostalgic.

Azurée Soleil is a skin scent--skin in the summertime. The first whiff took me back to my childhood in the early 70s, forming a clear picture of my mother as she sits on the beach in her yellow bikini, wearing a chustka (kerchief) on her head to keep the sand out of her hair. She smelled of suntan lotion and shampoo, combined with her own natural fragrance.

We didn't go to the beach much, but I recall this one particular week-long trip, taken by Mom, my little brother, and me (Dad had to work), as being a wonderful time. Although not exactly, Azurée Soleil smells enough like Mom to bring tears to my eyes at the memory of her.

Notes: Tahitian gardenia petals, coconut, orange flower buds, jasmine, magnolia petals, myrrh, bergamot, mandarin, amber, sandalwood, vetiver, caramel

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Posted by theminx on Minxstinks