French la Vie

French Antique: Perfume Label Collection

Corey — Fri, 29 May 2026 11:00:00 +0000

“Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived.” — Helen Keller

Recently, I came across hundreds of antique perfume labels for soaps, lotions, and fragrances, and it pulled me into the rabbit hole about perfume.

The story stretches back to early figures like Tapputi in Mesopotamia, one of the first known distillers of scent, to Cleopatra, who used fragrance as an extension of presence and power. Then to Renaissance France, Maria de’ Medici brought Italian perfume traditions where scent blurred the line between beauty and medicine. By the late 1800s, perfume had become both art and industry—Victor Vaissier turning fragrance into imaginative “exotic” storytelling through soaps like Congo Rose, while houses like Giraud and Sozio in Grasse quietly built the technical foundations of modern perfumery behind the scenes.

A “nose” in perfume making is someone who thinks in scent. They can pick apart a fragrance the way a musician hears individual instruments in a song, noticing tiny notes people miss. Their job is part instinct, part obsessive training: remembering thousands of raw materials and imagining how they’ll blend, clash, or bloom over time on skin-

This sensitivity is almost supernatural—like the world is made of invisible layers only they can read.

Oh perfume, crushed petals on warm skin: rose, jasmine, violet, orange blossoms, lavender –

Comments

Do you have a favorite perfume? by Laurie SF
What a fabulous find….these labels speak to my heart and this ... by Susanawee
What a fabulous find….these labels speak to my heart and this ... by Susanawee
Wonderful find! by Ann of Avondale
Achoo! by Kathie B.

Cultivating the Inner Garden

Corey — Thu, 28 May 2026 11:00:59 +0000

Flowers in her hair
Petals wrap around her
Perfume traces her steps
A garden planted with her thoughts
Seeds spill
Her hand reach for the watering can

Rain gathers in her palms
Tulips bloom beside her door
The wind carries traces of tea and honey
Branches sway with her song
Pruning calls
Her hands return to the soil

Sunlight glistens on her skin
Vines curl around her wrists
Bees hum beside her ears
Puddles beneath her footsteps
Leaves fall
Her eyes follow the drifting pollen

Wildflowers dry alongside her Garden chair awaits her
Crickets echo in her thoughts
Branches reach
Her hands fold in thanksgiving.

The Living

Corey — Wed, 27 May 2026 11:29:24 +0000

Another bomb.
Dust hanging in the air.
Names becoming prayers.

Then the brooms, shovels- bare hands.

Men sweeping destruction into piles.
Someone lifting fallen fruit back into a crate.
A chair turned upright.
Resilience clutched.

The killed carried away.
The wounded gathered close.
Hearts holding infliction from injustice.
The street returning to itself.

I watched in awe.

How does the heart continue after so much breaking?
How does morning still arrive inside the body?

Faith, courage, honor, belief in Palestine-
deeply sacred.
Tea poured. Floors washed. Shops re opened.
Children called home to tents before dark.

Life continuation.

A kind of courage I do not know how to name.

To live fully while standing beside ruin.
To keep tending to ordinary things.
To sweep the ground that is home.

Comments

Thank you for that beautiful insight . I am also praying. ... by Cynthia Thompson
Your words are perfect, Corey—- nothing to add but tears and ... by Annafromindiana
Courage and faith, hand in hand. Eid Al Adha Mubarak ... by Franki
Your words Corey are beautiful, but oh so sad! Their ... by Leonie

Jewelry at the Brocante

Corey — Tue, 26 May 2026 11:00:21 +0000

I’ve had two groups recently on French la Vie where some of the guests were looking for jewelry. Each mixes medals, chains, pendants, and rhinestones. The other searches for vintage jewelry with bling and bang.

I wear very little jewelry myself, and I can count on one hand how many times I’ve looked for jewelry at the brocante. But I’m here to tell you: after seeing so much of it lately, I realize I’ve been missing out. There is an incredible amount of jewelry at the brocantes.

And honestly, women who wear jewelry often seem so chic, so stylish — everything thoughtfully put together, so much attention paid to the details.

There’s gold and silver and pearls, collectible pieces, designer treasures like Chanel and Dior, cool funky pieces, 1980s styles, boho, avant-garde, statement jewelry… I saw it all- and we’re looking for jewelry one sees clothes and shoes and hats and purses…

One thing I learned is that if you’re a jewelry maker, you’re going to need a lot of chain — and there’s plenty of that here too.

Jewelry isn’t fragile to send, but it’s heavier than sin. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration… but it is heavy.

I even started creating jewelry in my mind, because that’s probably as far as it’s going to go. There are plenty of techniques you need to learn, the tools you have to have, and then you either wear it or sell it. I’d definitely have to sell it — probably tied together with ribbons.

The two guests who came looking for jewelry knew exactly what they wanted, exactly what they were going to do with it, and already had the tools and clients to make it happen. It was fascinating to watch.

So if you come to France and visit the vintage or antique markets, look for jewelry. You’ll be pleasantly surprised. From every period of time, you can find so many bits and pieces just hanging around looking for a home. The prices vary, so there’s truly something for everyone.