My love affair with Poison

Where do I begin to tell the story
Of how great a love can be...


This opening from 'Love Story', one of the ubiquitious songs from my teenage years in the 80s, engraved itself in my consciousness when a dear aunt gifted a piano song book to me sometime early in that decade, and I was busy lurching from lesson to lesson, to piano examination, and back to lessons again the following year. This song(and Für Elise) was one of the songs that I really enjoyed playing and listening to, not the countless forgettable primer tunes and ABRSM set pieces that I was compelled to practice day in and day out.

And it is only right that I begin this brand new blog with the inception of my love affair with perfume.

The magazine advertisement above(together with one which features a close up of a model gazing rightwards and holding empty Poison flacons by their nobbly glass stoppers between her fingers) captivated me with its promise of mystery and the allure of the seemingly forbidden in a single mesmerising purple bottle.





My family made a twice-yearly sojourn to the country capital for family get-togethers, an almost obligatory visit to McDonald's(they had yet to open an outlet in my small town) and pilgrimages to the two or so department stores that existed back then(there are now over 20).

On one of these visits, I decided to spend whatever I had on a 50ml bottle of Esprit de Parfum that came in a green octagonal box that looked impossibly plush and luxurious in the interior, where the shiny ball-like bottle nestled, its stopper throwing off light as though it was the most precious piece of quartz.

(Kids like me were very impressionable, even by glass)

When I had brought the precious perfume back home, I laid it gently into a hallowed corner of the 2nd drawer on the right side of my wooden desk. Every day,after school, I would slide this drawer open gingerly, take the box out of its hiding place, open it, unstrap the two gold cords that held the flacon in place, and open it(all in slow motion) to enjoy the genie of aroma that wafted from inside. Never once did I remember putting a drop on my skin for fear of wasting it, so precious was that treasure to me!

Occasionally, when my mother was all dressed to the nines for a formal dinner, she would ask to use my bottle and I would sparingly(and reluctantly) dab her on the neck and wrists, careful not to let her perform this herself for fear of losing too much of this magical elixir.

Just as well: it was reputed to be one of the most bombastic scents of all time!


Gradually, it was too potent even for her, and the requests to use Poison became more infrequent, and this coincided with a dimming enthusiasm for daily visits to my drawer of secret pleasure, which became weekly visits over the years,until finally the bottle just sat there.

In 1988, I was sent to study in a neighbouring country, and I can't remember whether I gifted this bottle to my mother shortly after, or she annexed it for herself.

All I know is that two years later, it was no longer to be found in my room, and after sneaking into her dresser drawer and seeing it there, I bought another smaller bottle for myself, sometime in 1990.

Soon, this too would disappear into her possession.

Thankfully.


For my old desk was soon given away,and the contents most probably emptied into a bin(without any consultation or consent sought - that is how infuriatingly unilateral my parents are).

In August 2010, when I made it known that I was buying perfumes online, she returned me the 3 bottles she had taken from me over the years, together with others that my brother bought for the two of them, but which were largely unused.

One of them was the latter bottle of Poison, hardly used, it's green,streaky black box slightly tattered from age and less-than-careful storage.

We were reunited again after 20 years : my first fragrance love and I!

A whiff from this purple gem brought memories of the eighties flooding back to me on a flying satin carpet of plummy tuberose, rose and other dense flowers: these are the notes among the many listed by reviewers that were nostalgic to me. Since then, I've learnt that there is also jasmine,opoponax and a whole host of other ingredients, some pleasant while others were toxic(like phtalates and nitromusks).

I accidentally spilt a moderate drop on my white shirt and when I removed it to my clothes rack, the room filled up with the heady smell(which I soon learnt was associated with old ladies by some)

The smell kept the mosquitoes away that night!(Perhaps on account of the incense)

The spot on my white shirt was green and pungent for 2 days, and after it had been laundered, stayed a pale green and could be sniffed up close for a couple more days.

Ah, good 'ol Poison!(And the flankers that it spawned...)




1 ml vials of vintage Poison esprit de parfum are available at $10.99 per vial + shipping.E-mail zirdex@yahoo.com.sg to receive a Paypal invoice.