Parfums de Nicolai Number One

Notes: Egyptian jasmine, Indian tuberose, orange blossom absolute, cassis, rose, iris

Number One takes me back to childhood Saturdays when Mom and I would make our weekly pilgrimage to the big department stores that ruled downtown Baltimore in the early 70s - Hutzler's, Hecht's, Stewart's, and Hoschild Kohn.  We always took a stroll through the cosmetic department so Mom could try on yet another unflattering shade of too-red lipstick (her lips still lived in the 50s, when red was de rigeur).  The whole department smelled of makeup and the various perfumes that fashionable (and, like us, not so fashionable) ladies spritzed into the air.  To me, digging some 35 years into my youthful memories, this parfum smells like those cosmetic departments.  Although otherwise, Number One is a fairly "happy" and upbeat floral, it brings to me an almost overwhelming feeling of melancholy, a longing for those long-lost days when my mother was my best friend and we could spend hours whiling away the time with the pleasantry of aimless shopping.

A sweet floral fragrance, Number One is apparently composed of notes that are supposed to merge into one, forming an idealized white flower.  But I can pick the notes apart quite easily, although the individual components are "visible" only briefly before they merge into that coherent whole.  The orange blossom comes to me first and foremost, then it is suddenly accompanied by a blur of tuberose that quickly segues into a highly indolic jasmine.  And then poof! they are one.  Supporting these white notes and lending them sweetness is a background of syrupy cassis.  The rose comes out in the drydown; it's a dry and old-fashioned rose that reminds me of my mother's lipstick and powder and adds to the overall über-femininity of this scent.