Vaniglia Acqua di Parma 2019 Eau de Parfum

It’s 1995, I’m 14 years old and excited. Soon I will have the house to myself. My mom had me young and is still wild. She’s in her mid-30s and I’m old enough to stay home alone. She wants to go out on the piste, as she calls it. From our big kitchen comes loud laughter. She’s taking photos with her friends, all styled with tons of hairspray in their blow-dried hairstyles, wearing cropped leather jackets with golden jewelry buttons, tight stretch jeans and studded belts, smoking and drinking Bacardi Cola. I think it’s great, I want to go out on the piste like that too someday (and oohhhh yes I did, with less hairspray and a different style but with full enjoyment). It’s been a long time, what remains are a few snapshots in memory. It’s 2022, I’m shopping with my mom, she’s over 60, fit in herself, but noticeably aged and unfortunately almost completely blind. She’s still outdoors a lot, but hasn’t been on the piste for decades. We’ve arranged to go fragrance shopping and we sniff our way through the shelves for hours and suddenly she says, “Oh man, smell this, doesn’t it smell exactly like I used to?” I smell, and in a fraction of a second she stands before me, my mom, ready to go out on the piste, in a short leather jacket, super tight jeans, smelling of vanilla, totally styled and excited, laughing with her friends in the kitchen. I bought the fragrance here in the souk, nothing smells as good as memories.