I had the lovely privilege of spending a sweet sixteen birthday with Little this year. I had some ideas in mind about what we could do, but inquired with high school friends – moms of teens – for advice and they did not disappoint.
I picked Little up and brought her first to my parent’s place so she could pick out a piece of jewelry made by Mom. Little was very excited to have it. For “fun”, I gave her a tour of the carriage house, which is actually pretty interesting with it’s graffitied chalk board and still-existing pool table light (a story for another time).
Then we ventured on to the main event. We drove into the city and parked ourselves in a cafe for a cookie butter croissant and cocoa for her, and a mocha latte and pistachio and chocolate croissant for me. On our way there we talked about birthdays and the passing of time, “I’ve known you for exactly half of your life!” I said.
“I know!” she marvelled.
After a leisurely snack in the cafe, where I did a little time capsule interview with her (shared with permission!), we headed out for the big surprise. A visit to a shop on Newbury Street called Olfactory, where we were going to create our own signature perfumes. She was super pumped, as I knew she would be since she is a teen with a solid perfume game.
We entered the shop and were accosted by a blast of scents! Whoah! Along one wall was a collection of core fragrances to choose from.
Two interesting issues; The fog of scent in there was so strong to begin with, choosing the first scent was a challenge, and two, Little was congested with a slight cold and struggled to smell!
No matter! We brought some core scented strips of paper outside with us and managed to figure out what we favored. Away from the other strong smells, Little was able to get enough of a whiff to choose. We brought those strips to a counter where a consultant talked to us about what kinds of scents we liked to build on that core fragrance.
L’s perfumes are on the sweeter side, and mine are too, except I struggled in the haze and fog of smell to think straight – am I thinking about how I want to smell, what scents I like, or what candles I like? Because they are all different.
Our core scent was dripped in concentrated oil form on the back of our hands and forearms, and the second fragrances we chose were dripped onto those first spots. We then let it set for a bit and took our radiating-with-smells selves back outside to determine our favorites. The challenge also included not giving ourselves nose blindness. Nose blindness is exactly what you think it is – you smell so much scents you cant differentiate anymore. We learned you can “clean your smell palate” by sticking your nose under your shirt.
That kinda worked.
Little struggled a bit with her cold, but was able to get enough scent through (I mean how could you not with those concentrated oils!) to make a choice. I felt like I chose something a bit too manly, but no matter, I was committed!
Thinking back on Little’s interview at the cafe, I decided on “Laidback” as my perfume’s name and of course she chose “Sweet 16”.
BEAN'S BABBLETORIUM 