Scentimental Over Perfume

I'm feeling very wistful today for perfumes I used to love-- Avon's Sweet Honesty in middle school, Paloma Picasso in high school, and Cacharel's Lou Lou throughout my college years and early 20s. Only Lou Lou is discontinued, I think, but I'm not positive. None of them still smell the "same" to me/on me, although I'd be hard pressed to describe any of them right now. I think it's that fragrance captures memories in a different way than other cosmetics.

As an "oldish" woman, I've been looking for a classic scent that I can wear all the time (my minimalist tendencies seem to demand it, and my budget certainly does), but I haven't found "the one" just yet. My husband loves Angel on me, and while it's certainly a spectacularly unique fragrance, there's something off-putting about it that's preventing me from living with it every day, even applied with a light hand. I actually also have a bottle of NR for Her edp right now, too-- could the two be any more different? The NR for Her is very comforting to me for some reason but just "meh" to my husband.

I'm truly hoping that I'll find a classic Guerlain for me-- none of the Chanels have quite worked out, although the cool green of No. 19 was very pleasing in the late spring and throughout the summer last year. Mr. Caroline doesn't like Mitsouko on me (although I love the peach) and he thought there was something oddly chemical about L'Heure Bleu. Maybe Jicky? L'Apres Ondee? It may be just that I like the idea of wearing a Guerlain as opposed to something created by a "celebrity".

Reading perfume notes, if anything, makes it even harder to try scents as I think you really need to give them time. I've just marked a Daisy Fuentes scent at Kohl's as one to try-- jasmine and peach seem like they may be a great combination for summer.

One thing that web commerce has gotten right in regards to perfume is the number of fragrances available to purchase for trial-- I'm happy to continue sampling (for a fee) from great sources like Luckyscent as a way to truly discover what's "me". I also think I need to do more reading about perfume-- the more I read, the more I am intrigued about this most personal of cosmetics.