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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Fragrance addict has spent £20K on scents (RAW)

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Fragrance addict has spent £20K on scents (RAW)
Fragrance addict has spent £20K on scents (RAW)

A woman who used perfume to protect herself from racist bullies as a child is now addicted to expensive scents - and has spent in excess of £20,000 on fragrance.As the only black girl in her school Shade Selema would spray her mum's perfume to stop the other kids from calling her "stink bomb".But what started as armour has now become a full-on passion with the glamorous 36-year-old loving fragrance so much she even wears it to bed.Married Shade - pronounced Sharday - can spend up to £4,000 in fragrance in a month.She will wear different perfumes to fit her mood, will mix them up to create her own unique scents and always plans which one she will wear the night before.The elegant IT worker, who lives in Manchester with her husband Bereton Selema 38, said: "When I was seven my family moved from Nigeria to Brunei where I went to an English/Dutch school."As the only black girl there I was cruelly bullied and called names, mainly telling me I smelled - which of course I didn't."But I didn't want to stand out and I wanted to make sure I smelled nice so by the time I was ten I was squirting my mum's perfume."Thus began a life-long perfume past-time which means Shade is now an expert in the history and chemistry of perfume.She will think nothing of spending a couple of hours every night watching YouTube videos on perfume reviews and will spend even more hours in perfume departments of stores.She is familiar with the scents of each ingredient, rose being her favourite, and can even envisage what a fragrance will smell like before she opens a bottle.But Shade's exquisite taste was not always this refined, as her first passion with perfume was men's aftershave, now more normally associated with granddads."When I was young," said Shade, "I couldn't afford perfume, I started wearing whatever my mum had.

By the time I was 14 and I was buying my own and I would buy Brut."I loved the smell."Retailing at around £3 for 100ml, the fragrance described as being "prized for its distinguished blend of spices, citrus and woody scents", it is a far cry from the £300 a bottle she is known to spend nowadays.And although Shade does consider more expensive scents are worth their money due to their blend and ingredients, she is no scent snob, and has perfumes from high street shops Body Shop and Lush in her repertoire.Shade, who is a big fan of Dior and Chanel, has refined her collection down to a cool 350 bottles, which she keeps in their own cabinet in her bedroom so they don't evaporate.She has a collection of both vintage and new fragrances that compliment and suit every mood.She often gifts her perfumes and decants her own from her compilation to create whole new fragrances.Of course she quite often has the shower gels and body lotion to match to go for the full compliment.Shade added: "The sense of smell is such a strong one, it evokes memory and feelings.

I love it so much."From something that was so bad in my childhood, I have developed something good."Some people love handbags or shoes, for me it is perfume."Luckily my husband is understanding - he has his hobby, he loves photography - so we both have something we love."I keep him happy by also buying him cologne, and he knows what I will live if he wants to treat me."Shade is definitely a glass half full person, and thinks perfume helps her positive attitude.She said: "I will buy a new fragrance in the airport when I go on holiday so that when I smell the smell I am transported back to good times."I wore Jean Paul Gautier on our wedding day and Davidoff Cool Water when I graduated."All these amazing smells I associate with great times in my life and when you walk down the street and have wafts of these when you walk down the street it is lovely."Shade says you should wear perfume on pulse points, where veins sit closer to the skin to create heat and emit more fragrance, but also on points where part of the body rub together emanate yet more scent.Shade said: "I will put perfume behind my ears, on my neck, chest, on the inside of my elbows and behind my knees and always have a quick mist of my clothes."But you should always be aware that some perfumes are stronger than others, so you can't always use this much - you don't want to choke anybody out." Although Shade does have her favourite perfumes she says she has never ran out of a bottle - because she has so may to choose from and mix and match.Favourite scent:  Oud Ispahan by Christan Dior £290 250mlMost expensive bottle: Rose oud by Kilian £290 for 50mlFavourite bottle: Anything from Lancome

A woman who used perfume to protect herself from racist bullies as a child is now addicted to expensive scents - and has spent in excess of £20,000 on fragrance.As the only black girl in her school Shade Selema would spray her mum's perfume to stop the other kids from calling her "stink bomb".But what started as armour has now become a full-on passion with the glamorous 36-year-old loving fragrance so much she even wears it to bed.Married Shade - pronounced Sharday - can spend up to £4,000 in fragrance in a month.She will wear different perfumes to fit her mood, will mix them up to create her own unique scents and always plans which one she will wear the night before.The elegant IT worker, who lives in Manchester with her husband Bereton Selema 38, said: "When I was seven my family moved from Nigeria to Brunei where I went to an English/Dutch school."As the only black girl there I was cruelly bullied and called names, mainly telling me I smelled - which of course I didn't."But I didn't want to stand out and I wanted to make sure I smelled nice so by the time I was ten I was squirting my mum's perfume."Thus began a life-long perfume past-time which means Shade is now an expert in the history and chemistry of perfume.She will think nothing of spending a couple of hours every night watching YouTube videos on perfume reviews and will spend even more hours in perfume departments of stores.She is familiar with the scents of each ingredient, rose being her favourite, and can even envisage what a fragrance will smell like before she opens a bottle.But Shade's exquisite taste was not always this refined, as her first passion with perfume was men's aftershave, now more normally associated with granddads."When I was young," said Shade, "I couldn't afford perfume, I started wearing whatever my mum had.

By the time I was 14 and I was buying my own and I would buy Brut."I loved the smell."Retailing at around £3 for 100ml, the fragrance described as being "prized for its distinguished blend of spices, citrus and woody scents", it is a far cry from the £300 a bottle she is known to spend nowadays.And although Shade does consider more expensive scents are worth their money due to their blend and ingredients, she is no scent snob, and has perfumes from high street shops Body Shop and Lush in her repertoire.Shade, who is a big fan of Dior and Chanel, has refined her collection down to a cool 350 bottles, which she keeps in their own cabinet in her bedroom so they don't evaporate.She has a collection of both vintage and new fragrances that compliment and suit every mood.She often gifts her perfumes and decants her own from her compilation to create whole new fragrances.Of course she quite often has the shower gels and body lotion to match to go for the full compliment.Shade added: "The sense of smell is such a strong one, it evokes memory and feelings.

I love it so much."From something that was so bad in my childhood, I have developed something good."Some people love handbags or shoes, for me it is perfume."Luckily my husband is understanding - he has his hobby, he loves photography - so we both have something we love."I keep him happy by also buying him cologne, and he knows what I will live if he wants to treat me."Shade is definitely a glass half full person, and thinks perfume helps her positive attitude.She said: "I will buy a new fragrance in the airport when I go on holiday so that when I smell the smell I am transported back to good times."I wore Jean Paul Gautier on our wedding day and Davidoff Cool Water when I graduated."All these amazing smells I associate with great times in my life and when you walk down the street and have wafts of these when you walk down the street it is lovely."Shade says you should wear perfume on pulse points, where veins sit closer to the skin to create heat and emit more fragrance, but also on points where part of the body rub together emanate yet more scent.Shade said: "I will put perfume behind my ears, on my neck, chest, on the inside of my elbows and behind my knees and always have a quick mist of my clothes."But you should always be aware that some perfumes are stronger than others, so you can't always use this much - you don't want to choke anybody out." Although Shade does have her favourite perfumes she says she has never ran out of a bottle - because she has so may to choose from and mix and match.Favourite scent:  Oud Ispahan by Christan Dior £290 250mlMost expensive bottle: Rose oud by Kilian £290 for 50mlFavourite bottle: Anything from Lancome

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