Other Eras, Other Scents

I never thought I would be too interested in what women of the past have found fashionable as far as perfumes go. Recently I bought some essential oils to make an imitation of a perfume I wanted to try, and after I like that so much, I became curious about trying other types of perfumes. One from the 1930s intrigued me, and I had a lot of oils to imitate it, but not all of them. I thought I would add them as I bought them, but the result I got the first time was so wonderful that I have kept the formula just as it was. The perfume I had been planning to imitate was called "Fleurs de Rocaille," and since this one so reminded me of my grandmother, I decided to name it "Fleurs de Belle," as Belle was her middle name.

(I make all my own boxes & labels, too!)

After my grandmother died, I inherited an empty Shalimar bottle of hers. I loathed the smell at the time. Interesting how one's perceptions of scents can change! When I smelled it again a few weeks ago, I thought it was quite nice. I made another perfume inspired by that, as well. It has been very interesting to research what fragrances were once popular; they were more floral-based than what seems fashionable today, and more "oriental," with their sandalwood or amber base notes.

So now when I go out dressed in a vintage style, I can smell like a classy vintage lady, too!

If you are interested in my fragrances, my "business" is called "ELIZA Fragrances." Visit on facebook or email me at eliza.fragrances@gmail.com.

Broken Ring

This is the ring of my grandmother's. I am not sure if it was her wedding ring or engagement ring, as I have seen wedding rings from the 1940s that look just like this, but another ring was with it that looks more like a wedding band (see bottom photo).

Slightly blurred photo, but you can see the art deco design.

The ring is cracked, and see that lip on the top? That's a piece of metal that was bent away... D: My grandmother told me that it caught on the handle of an oven.It's also a little warped, don't know if this photo shows that well enough. What you can't see here is that there is some type of corrosion on the inside of the ring that I'll have to clean off. I'll need some kind of gentle cleanser for that--it's a very delicate piece of jewelry.

Here is the other ring that was with the broken one. This one is intact; it looks more like a wedding band to me.