I became a mother for the first time over five years ago and I’ll happily admit, my beauty routine, well, it’s rather unpredictable…
There are days, where I’ll use every product in my cabinet, and then others where I’ll be lucky to grab some moisturiser to put on in the car while running out the door. For me, a shower by myself, without my girls trying to jump in, is a good start to the day. Makeup? It has to be done in less than a minute. As for hair, let’s just say it sees more dry shampoo than shampoo. Given how time poor I am, you can see why I love fragrance so much – it’s quick to apply and makes you feel (and smell) incredible. But I also love it because I’ve been taught to appreciate it. Growing up, my mother’s vanity table was always filled with an array of perfumes. Even now, it’s still decorated in elegant perfume bottles. Her bathroom was always so pretty and feminine and always fun for me as a little girl.
I’ve inherited a lot from my beautiful mother – her determination, her love of travel, her get up and go, her decisiveness, but I’ve also inherited her love of two of life’s greatest pleasures: fragrance and flowers. We’ll still get up at the crack of dawn every few months and head to the flower markets together – it’s a little ritual we’ve created and occasionally we take the girls and tell them we’re going on an ‘adventure’. On weekends, we’ll both take my girls to the local flower markets. I love when the house is filled with the scent of fresh flowers. Fragrance changes your mood and it creates memories. Christian Dior – the late fashion designer responsible for some of the world’s most iconic fragrances – remembered the women he met by their fragrances. Brought up in an affluent merchant family, he was exposed to stylish women at an early age, and his memories of them were intrinsically linked to fragrance. “Of the women in my childhood, I retain above all the memory of their perfumes, perfumes that lingered — more clinging than those of today — filling the elevator with fragrance long after they had gone,” he said.
Editor Georgie Abay with her mother Julie
So when it comes to my wish list this Mother’s Day, a sleep-in followed by cuddles and a coffee in bed is top of the list. Next is flowers and fragrance. And I’ll be giving the same to my own mum. I’ll always return to Dior J’adore – it’s the ultimate luminous floral fragrance, which is both sweet and salty. Dior J’adore is an enduring classic which was first created in 1999 through the nose Calice Becker. The original blend of ylang-ylang, Turkish rose, jasmine and tuberose quickly became a favourite and it’s still one of the bestselling perfumes in France and is constantly reinventing itself (it now comes in a multitude of other forms, including Extrait, Absolue, Touche de Parfum, L’Or, Voile de Parfum and Eau de Toilette). More recently, the scent has been updated with a floral bouquet of exquisite Comoro Islands ylang-ylang, Damascus rose and sambac jasmine. The signature long-necked glass bottle features liquid gold-peach-coloured sparkles which diffuse the light thanks to the convex bottom. Dressed with golden rings at the neck, it looks divine sitting on a bathroom cabinet or dressing table. The scent is a tribute to Christian Dior’s passion for flowers (he once said: “after women, flowers are the most lovely thing God has given the world”), and a symbol of “absolute, sophisticated and glamorous femininity”. In years to come, I hope the smell of it will remind my two daughters of me and my mum. And I hope that they share our passion for flowers and fragrance. J’adore is available in bottles of 50ml and 100ml. Photography: Alice Mahran | In association with Dior | For more information go to www.dior.com