Growing up I had a friend called Mary and well, there was something about Mary.
I have often reflected on exactly what it was, about Mary. Not a particularly sparkly or loud person, in fact pretty quiet and a little peppery at times if anything. She was twice (yes twice!) broken up with because her boyfriends thought her ‘too boring’. But what she did have was a sort of put-togetherness that I found incredibly alluring. (Cropped) caridgan-wearing, neatly-messied bun, short squoval nails always coated in some milky-nude. English rose complexion. Papers always in order. Mary was the opposite of chaos. I remember she used all her savings and birthday money to buy one pair of simple black Celine sunglasses when we were 13 or so and I had never (a) heard of Celine or (b) known anyone spend that much on sunglasses. For the next 15 years, whilst the rest of us bought cheap Topshop pairs to chase every trend going, Mary wore that same pair of sunglasses. I never stopped thinking about them and bought them 20 years later. They were classic. Like Mary. The only adult I knew to have a set bedtime. Read for 30 minutes before it. Always fiction, nothing heavy. Always carried handcream. Dabbed, never rubbed, her lipbalm on. Used eyecream before it formed part of our vocabulary.
When she got her first apartment after University I remember visiting and her bathroom gave me the feeling of being in a Spa. Curated shelves and nail-varnishes arranged into colour families. I used to pretend to use her bathroom, lock the door, flush the toilet and spend the next two minutes sticking my hands in all her creams and layering as many products on as many body parts as I could hoping to feel a little more Mary.
I now realise I was a little enchanted with Mary. Captivated by her. For years, I would buy the same handcream as her as though rubbing it on might give me a little of her calmness, as though her nature would rub off on me. I hardly had £20 to spend on handcream as a student but I would save my money and buy it as a treat. Fifteen years later and no longer in touch with Mary, I can’t help but spray the sample of her perfume on my scarf in an airport or rub the handcream on when I walk through John Lewis. I’m still wearing my Celine’s. I wonder what Mary would make of it all. Not much I suspect, she was never one for drama.
4 Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Lipbalm
So rich! not as much of a statement as a lipstick, a little wetness to whet the whistle. Link
5 Tom Dixon Fire Candle
Candles are indulgent but what a way to elevate the mundane/day to day. This one in particular is so beyond anything else I have ever smelt that it’s worth the price tag. It’s like the house has taken a shower, moisturized and sprayed perfume in its scent. Link
