Mother passed in 2017, but last year I decided to track down the fragrance to remind me of her. Launched in 1968 with Josephine Catapano as “the nose” behind the fragrance. It’s classified as a woody musk floral fragrance. According to Fragrantica.com The top notes are Narcissus, Galbanum, Hiacynth, Lavender, Bergamot, Lemon and Mandarin Orange; middle notes are Carnation, Arum Lily, Rose, Coriander, Mimosa, Iris, Gardenia, Jasmine, Ylang-Ylang, Cinnamon, Cardamom and Orchid; base notes are Oakmoss, Vetiver, Myrrh, Musk, Amber, Cedar, Sandalwood and Vanilla. Norell was an iconic fragrance for Americans. It is considered the first luxury designer fragrance from the United States. Taking a sniff now to write this article, it actually reminds me of Diorissimo by Dior. They share the same pyramid notes: bergamot at the top, ylang ylang in the middle and sandalwood at the bottom. Norell, however has much smoother and quieter sillage, or scent bubble. It really is really elegant. My mother wore this fragrance for everything: work, visiting friends, going to church or attending a social event. This is the perfume of old money and old Hollywood. The actress Faye Dunaway was the face of Norell.
I never did pick up the habit of wearing Norell. That was my mother’s fragrance. I can remember wearing Guerlain L’Heure Bleue – just a dab here and there and dousing myself with the powder. This was the scent I wore to school every day in elementary school. By the time I reached high school, I wore lots of different perfumes from Estee Lauder Cinnabar to Caron Fleurs de Rocaille to Jontue and Ralph Lauren. Pretty much from high school to college and pretty much well into adulthood I just wore perfume without thinking much about it. When I finished a bottle, I bought a different perfume.
Now here I am decades and decades later. It is only now that I have this hankering for a signature scent. This hankering pretty much started during the notorious lockdowns. Of course I develop a hankering when no one but my family can smell me. Between a shocking number of samples and a few bottles (okay, more than a few) full bottles, I haven’t found my signature scent. Everything smells nice. I have a few that I know will always stay in my collection like Jardin de Monsieur Li by Hermes or Naxos by Xerjoff. But I’m sure if you queried my family their eyes would glaze over and they would shrug shoulders, possibly roll their eyes and say “Beats me.”
So the quest for the signature scent is on! Or, I could settle for “must keep in my collection – for now.” Ha!
