AD/Sponsored (This post is sponsored by Boots, all thoughts and imagery are my own).
As Mother’s Day approaches, I of course started to think of gift ideas for my Mum for the special day. Reflecting on years as a child, she was often presented with questionable drawings, a box of Maltesers and cups of tea in bed. I am sure she still looks back at those days with fond memories. We were, after all, just children and I should imagine that at those ages, it can be quite fun to be a mum (although I am sure it is hard work too). As a 30-year-old woman myself, I do not have children, yet at my age, my mum had three; I can’t imagine it in truth. I can only admire and thank my lucky stars that I get to call her my mum. It is a cliche perhaps, but it is true, she is the best and that is why it felt fitting to tie this collaboration together with Boots and the topic of Mother’s Day. It is a nice way of celebrating her and sharing with you just how much she means to me, along with some of our memories together.
Speaking of memories, I don’t know about you, but perfume and certain smells often bring back memories that I had once forgotten. A sudden capture of a certain smell can instantly take me back to a certain time in my life, whether it is a happy memory or sad. I am often, for a brief moment left reminiscing on that time. It is an odd feeling and it is one that I like to experience, as it often catches me unawares. Certain fragrances of course always remind me of mum, there is Chanel Chance from a long time ago which she often wore when we were younger. This is a floral based scent which is also quite warm and spicy, which when I think about it, this is always the type of scent she goes for, even now. I also recall Cerruti 1881, which I know that she no longer likes, yet for a while, it was a scent that I associated with her. Our preferences of course change over time with fragrance, I know that for myself, scents I used to love when I was younger are scents that I would no longer reach for today.
As I mentioned earlier, scents bring back memories and there are many memories that I recall being tied to a certain scent. For instance, a couple of years ago mum and I went out for my birthday to a lovely little place not far away from where we live. It was just the two of us, it was the beginning of July and it was a gorgeous, sunny day. I have included a few images from the day below. I remember my mum wearing Gucci Bamboo, I had brought this for her birthday a few months previous and I really liked it. So much so, that not long afterwards I decided to treat myself to it too. Gucci Bamboo has woody floral notes with orange blossom, ylang-ylang, sandalwood and grey amber being present and I find that it is a gorgeous scent that can be worn both for the day time and evening. It doesn’t last that long but during the time that it does, it is gorgeous. It was one of my favourite beauty discoveries that year and it continues to be a scent that both me and mum reach for regularly. In fact, this brings me nicely onto the fragrance featured today as in truth, there are not many scents that me and mum like at the same time, however, we both late last year fell in love with the new YSL Libre Eau De Parfum*, which is the French word for ‘free’.
YSL Libre is a floral fragrance which contains notes of lavender, orange blossom, jasmine, and Madagascar vanilla to name a few. It is absolutely gorgeous and I would highly recommend checking this particular fragrance out if you have the chance. I originally tried this by obtaining a sample last year, me and mum both tried it and instantly fell in love with it. Again, earlier this year we ended up with another sample of this fragrance and once again it was confirmed how much we both loved it, which as I alluded to earlier, is a rare occurrence. This one scent alone is just another which makes me think of mum, even if it is a recent memory. I can see us both sharing this one.
Other familiar scents that instantly make me think of mum are from Jimmy Choo, Estee Lauder and Guerlain. Then, of course, there are others scents which instantly make me think of her which are not women’s perfume in the typical sense, I refer to such scents that I associate with Christmas. For instance, there is the spice that arises from mulled wine which is often simmering away on the stove, then the fresh pine from the Christmas Tree when you get up in the morning. I associate all of these scents not just with that time of year but also with mum. At the opposite end of this, there is the summer, our garden is often full of flowers as my mum loves to garden, therefore the fresh grass, honeysuckle growing up the trellis, this all makes me think of mum and it is glorious.
Mother’s Day is such a special day for many reasons, whether you’re able to spend the time with your mum or not, I hope that you can celebrate the day and share your memories with her or with fellow loved ones with fondness and love.
Therefore, I put it to you, what are your favourite scents and do you have any that make you think of your mum and the memories that you have? I would love to hear about them if you are happy to share them with me.
*This post is an advertisement feature with Boots UK but all thoughts are my own.
