Back in the late 80s, a scent caught my ears: Prescriptives Calyx. I remember it being a fruity floral before I knew what a fruity floral was, and I loved wearing it in the summertime when I wanted to smell like ripe fruit (ready for the pickin’) I remember it became somewhat of a ‘signature scent’ of a very young me, and I remember being scared going to the women’s Prescriptives counter wanting to buy it. (As it turns out, Prescriptives’ liquid foundation was my first ‘grown up’ foundation brand anyway so it became a one-stop shop)  Prescriptives, of course, is no longer, and Estee Lauder wisely never discontinued Calyx, and it is now under the Clinique umbrella. Aparrently the perfume has a bit of a following, from I would guess people of the same age range as myself.

But here I am today wearing Calyx, and I marvel at it. It’s fruit concoction is as potent as ever – a mixture of grapefruit, guava, papaya. The hothouse lily of the valley heart is pungent as ever, and the berry drydown still juicy. This is a unique scent, so well-made in the vein of its day (Sophia Grojsma, she of YSL Opium is the nose) and this perfume brings me to a time I was younger, less jaded, almost innocent. And you know what? it still works perfectly on my screen, and I don’t think the current version is as reformulated as other big titles. It’s a bit loud than more modern perfumes, I suspect, but I don’t care. I will still wear it proudly.