By the 90’s, my career was in full swing and we had moved into our first house together. This was a time when we were enjoying life to the full.

The scents and perfumes I preferred during this period were fruity florals – Im not sure if anyone remembers these, Calvin Klein’s Escape, Clinique’s Happy, Ralph Lauren’s Polo Sport. Strong scents with fruity top notes.

You could say in the 90’s we were a typical couple of the time, which in marketing terms was called Dinkies – Dual income no Kids.

So I guess it was only appropriate that much of this time we spent thinking and planning our escape from the UK with holidays, long and short stays to as many destinations as our salaries would permit.

What defined this period was a sense of escape, from the power hungry 80’s sharp suits to a more relaxed feel. Fashion became less formal, suits of the 80s were ditched in favour of smart casual dress code for work.

I still like Escape as a perfume, it’s being discontinued so if you like this throw-back to the 90’s, better get your hands on it now as it won’t be around for much longer.

With top notes of peach, apricot and roses, at it’s heart was Ylang Ylang and base notes of vanilla and musk. It had staying power, lingering on my clothes well into the evening.

I didn’t wear it for long. During this decade, I tried lots of different perfumes, some enjoyed as a passing fashion trend of the time, with a growing taste for luxury cosmetics as well. Does anyone remember Prescriptives, a make-up designed to be fool-proof, colour coded so that you could pick out the colours that complimented your skin tone. This was before Mac and Nars came on the scene and had a comprehensive pallet of neutral eye and lip colours for every skin tone, sadly, no longer available.

The perfumes that I do remember, is Ralph Lauren’s Safari and Sport, though the latter has now been discontinued.

There was also a brief fling with Elsabeth Arden’s Sunflowers which gave way to Clinique’s Happy. It didn’t exactly make me feel happy, it was a very strong citrus scent that I am sad to say smelt a little to artificial for my taste.

Some of the music of the time, selected because they remind me of various vacations I’ve included here, if you’d like a moment of distraction.

There was an unspoken way of dressing at work and by the late 90’s everyone it seemed dressed in black jeans and slim fitting shirts, I’m not sure why, but perhaps it was just a period when it seemed the floaty florals were no longer appropriate as the century drew to a close.

By this time, I had swtiched to Ralph Lauren’s Romance and though I might not have openly admit to it, I was caught by it’s notion of love and it’s headiness.

I still have a bottle of this perfume, though I’ve not worn this for a very long time. It’s an easy scent to wear, fresh and summery full of roses with some lovely citrus undertones to give it a refreshing feel as if there’s a gentle summer breeze around you.

And ofcourse, this post wouldn’t be complete without some classical music of the Romantic era:

Hmmm – pure escape, I’m going to put Romance on now.