Boozy oranges, lipstick, powder and other people’s mums…
I have just received a bottle of Aqua Manda perfume, it has only just been delivered by courier and I’ve only just opened the bottle, but I am already back in the 70s and a kid at school.
I didn’t know that smell was this perfume. Of course I’d heard of it before, who in my age group hasn’t, but I’ve never owned a bottle (until now), and my own mam was a Coty L’Aimant girl (still can’t sniff that perfume without feeling sad).
This, this is the fragrance that wafts from the depths of a handbag, a mix of pink lipstick in a gold case, face powder with a velvety puff, dare I say it – of cigarettes, and Babycham (or Cherry B). It’s a hidden world of grown ups, nights out dancing or at bingo, talk about unknown people and places, and American Tan tights.
To the child I was then this is sophistication. I don’t know what fragrance was worn by the women at Abigail’s Party, but I can imagine it was this one.
For me it is a fragrance of its time – even the design on the box is reminiscent of 70s decor, with lots of orange, green and brown, while the bottle is solid, safe, just as I remember those days to be.
I don’t know if Aqua Manda will find a new audience in the beautiful young things of today, but it’s got to have a ready-made fan club in us children of the 70s.
Update
Dot came home from school and on spraying the perfume declared it “awesome” so perhaps there is a new audience out there… There’s also a new purse spray available here
