Smelly facts

I own 20 bottles of perfume.

I can't always look good. I have been ill recently and have used an extortionate amount of foundation to cover up my blotchy skin tone.

I can't always wear nice shoes. I have a knee condition meaning sensible shoes are a must from 9 to 5 with heels ONLY for special occasions.

I'm limited in the clothes I can pull off. My body shape is an awkward one. Trying to maximise my breasts while minimising my stomach is rarely easy to do.

I don't have good luck with handbags. I carry a lot of stuff, so it has to be big.

But I can always smell nice.

The best trigger of memory is olfactory sensations. You can remember what a scene looked like, you can remember the noises that you could hear; you could even remember how you were feeling at the time to try and piece together a memory with varying degrees of success.

But the thing that will trigger all of these memories the most is smell. If you smell the same thing that you could smell at the time of the thing you are trying to remember; the memories will be stronger than with any other sensation.

For my 18th birthday party I was wearing Velvet Hour by Kate Moss and I am reminded of this wonderful time with friends and family everytime I wear the same perfume.

My favourite bottle is Little White Dress by Avon. It's half empty because it used to belong to my mother. The scent always reminds me of her because I bought it for her as a birthday present a few years ago. If I'm feeling homesick I will simply take it out of the box and smell it and will instantly be flooded with memories of her.

She gave it to me the day I left for university - just over 1 week ago. I wore it that day. So it also reminds me of the difficulties that I faced in leaving home and the euphoria I felt when I realised that I could, in fact, do it and everything was going to be okay.

I also have shower gel that smells like food. As well as several shower gels, moisturisers and body sprays that came in sets with the aforementioned perfumes. Some people call it an obsession and say that there is no reason that I would need to smell differently everyday for nearly three weeks, but I think they misunderstand why I have so many bottles. If I borrow a bottle from a friend when I have forgotten my own, I will usually end up buying a version of that same bottle for myself - for the memories.

I am, by no stretch of the imagination, done with buying different bottles of perfume and when the ones I have run out they will also have to be replaced; which is fine as well. It's a fairly expensive habit, but its better than some expensive habits that I could have.