Victorian, Edwardian and Belle Epoque Perfumes

"The true gentlewoman never uses strong perfumes," says Qui-Vive, "yet her hats and clothing and handkerchiefs always send forth a faint scent of fragrant flowers. The odor is so very slight that it does not suggest the dashing on of perfume, but, instead, bespeaks scrupulous cleanliness of body and garments, with perhaps an added suggestion of the soft winds that blow over a clover field. No perfume at all is far better than too much, for who does not look with suspicious eyes upon the woman who, when passing one on the street, seems to be in an invisible vapor of white rose or jockey club — strong enough to work on the streets?"

She continues, "There is a secret about it all, and such a simple one! It is merely choosing one particular odor and using it in every possible way."

Mary Miglin's website, while not especially aimed at the Gibson Girl or Edwardian enthusiast, lists some suggestions for some new ways to use fragrance:

Layer your chosen scent with bath and body products and apply your fragrance to pulse points--especially those below the waist.

Spray lightbulbs. Heat dissipates fragrance.

Spray your air conditioner, heating vents, humidifier and dehumidifier with fragrance.

Sprinkle dusting powder on carpets before vacuuming and on clean bed linens.

Shampoo your hair with fragranced bath and shower gel.

Wash lingerie and delicate items in fragrant shower gels.

Spray on a cloth shower curtain. The heat from the shower will dissipate the scent.

Sprinkle dusting powder in your shoes to keep comfortable and smelling nice.

Spray a damp cloth with fragrance and throw it into the dryer with your clothing to scent them beautifully.

Heat oven to 200-250 for ten minutes, then turn off and place a small dish in warm oven with a few drops of fragrance of bath oil for about 30 minutes.

Mix a small portion of fragrance with hair conditioner.

Place a few drops of perfumed oil on the inside of a leather watchband.

Pour a few drops of fragrance into the final rinse cycle of your wash.

Spray a small amount of fragrance on your ironing board. Again, the heat will dissipate the scent.

Place scented soap shavings inside your closet to keep it smelling nice.

Spray padded hangers with fragrance.

Additionally, Qui-Vive suggests:

There is nothing sweeter than violet perfume, so suppose I illustrate with that? Begin by using orris root for your teeth, combined, of course, with the other necessary ingredients. Then, if you can afford it, get the expensive imported violet soaps, although as a matter of beautifying there is nothing better than the pure white castile. The odor of this, disliked by some, can be entirely done away with by using a little violet toilet water in the bath and touching the ear lobes with it afterward.

Thanks to synthetic perfumes, scented products are now easier and cheaper than ever to acquire. (Remember Eliza Doolittle's shock at the scented soaps in Pygmalion? Whilst nowadays even a hobo would hardly be stunned if you handed him a bar of scented soap to wash his hands with.) This can be both good and bad for trying out the above trick in the modern era: on the one hand, it makes it simple to find just about any product you could ever want in a scented form. However, since everything is scented now, it can make it a bit harder to force the fragrances to match with one another -- particularly as so many items don't even reveal what they're supposed to smell like, or else have vaguely defined odors like "Summer Breeze" that can be inconsistent from manufacturer to manufacturer. If you're intent on this, of course, I'm sure you will find a way. But watch out for further posts about this very topic!