What would be a Regency-type scent?

[oakmoss]

I'm watching a great PBS series called "Regency House Party" and also working on a Jane Austen-related art project that's due soon, so I'm looking for aromatic inspiration, of course! What blends would you think evoke this time period, and why? (Tarotgirl, you know I want your input for sure! )

[t_for_tau]

I'm watching a great PBS series called "Regency House Party" and also working on a Jane Austen-related art project that's due soon, so I'm looking for aromatic inspiration, of course! What blends would you think evoke this time period, and why? (Tarotgirl, you know I want your input for sure! )

 

It depends what country you're looking at, and which scent. Off the top of my head (and the top of my bookmarks), the Perfume Museum in Grasse has a good overview of C19th scents in France: http://www.museesdegrasse.com/MIP/fla_ang/histo_fXIX.shtml, for example. Note they mention musks, civet and mace, and then Josephine's influence with then-exotic scents such as vanilla, clove, cinammon....and the fruit-based "eau de cologne" for men.

 

I'll go & rummage around in my Regency & Napoleonica research sources and see what I can find! Military history is more my field than cosmetics, but I have a bunch of stuff that might turn up something useful.

 

EDIT: another useful resource: http://www.costumes.org/history/100pages/PERFUME.HTM I'll keep adding as I track them down! Hope this is helpful....

 

Also, ladies' cosmetics at the time often contained benjoin (benzoin resin) and ambergris, so they might be notes to look for too; lavender water was used a lot too. Rose gardens flourished, so I wouldn't be surprised to find a lot of rose-based scents - Jane Austen's favourite was allegedly an attar of roses from Echarabad.

Edited July 15, 2007 by tau

[willowtreeling]

I tend to match my scent to the outfit I am wearing, and Dorian would seem to go with the regency clothing style to me--I would feel very at home wearing Dorian in a lovely Jane Austen styled dress...

Anything simple and floral, too, I would imagine...and lavender-y or violet

maybe the White Rabbit or Unicorn, too...even Dormouse...

[Ahania]

I don't have any good ideas, but as soon as I saw your topic, I thought, "HOMG, Beth should do a Brighton Pavilion scent!"

[for_the_nonce]

My mostly uninformed opinion is that Florence would be appropriate. It's girly, but also proper and elegant. I could see many Jane Austen characters wearing something similar.

[smallvoice]

I submit Queen Gertrude, London and Moon Rose... just because they seem like the type. I also imagine things with lilies and roses.