Five classic fragrances from our teenage years

Perfume can be fairly magical, right?

We need only get a fleeting waft of a particular scent and we’re instantly transported to a different time, place or stage in our lives. Smelling the various perfumes we wore during our teenage years is almost like getting access to a time machine.

The easiest way to recall how you felt sitting in the front row of Irish class or standing outside the Home Ec room with your mates is to take a deep breath of your favourite fragrance at the time and allow yourself to relive those ‘interesting’ years in your life.

Here are just five fragrances we rocked when we thought dark eyeliner, poker straight hair and school ties over white vests were the height of style. (Cheers for that, Av Lav.)

White Musk

This Body Shop classic saw us through from the first day of secondary school until the moment we left gripping our Leaving Cert results. Fresh, inexpensive and instantly recognisable; this fragrance was a hit with most girls in their teens and their bank balances.

Tommy Girl

Who didn’t have at least one bottle of Tommy Girl on their shelf as a teenager? Even now when we get a hint of this classic teen scent, we instantly recall the day Conor in the year above let slip that he was more interested in our best friend than us. Sob.
 

Glow by J Lo

Jennifer Lopez could do no wrong in our eyes when we were teens. So, when the queen of the R&B scene released her own fragrance, we knew exactly what we’d be teaming with our bandana, hoop earrings and fur jacket.
 

Ralph

Ralph, in its small blue bottle, was the perfect size to slip in to our bag amongst our ring binders and forged PE notes. With its floral, fruity fragrance and hint of sophistication, there was no way Conor would be immune to our charms this time, dammit.
 

Curious

When teen queen Britney released her first fragrance with Elizabeth Arden back in 2004, very few teen girls felt they could live without their beloved Brit’s signature scent. The vintage-looking bottle was the icing on the cake for all of us, right?