This ’80s FFF special was match-made by my friend Lee, who could not have been more on the money. When I told her I had to think of the right person who’d wear Jo Malone‘s Peony & Blush Suede, she said, Can’t Buy Me Love‘s Cindy Mancini. Why? “Because she smells of ’80s hair full of daddy issues and sweet spring flowers.” And it was pretty much a mic-drop moment, friends.

One whiff of this fruity floral with notes of red apple, peony, rose, honey and suede developed by perfumer Christine Nagel and I was transported to the flick which, by the by, hinged on a single fashion statement. That killer white (alas, not blush, but as John Bender noted in supreme ’80s flick, The Breakfast Club, “We live in an imperfect world.”) suede getup was everything. “The best leathers come from Rome, Paris and Des Moines,” lest you forget. If Cindy hadn’t “borrowed” it from her well-dressed mother and spilled red wine on it, Ronald would never have been able to strike his $1000-to-popularity deal. The power of transforming a quiet (if cute) completely overlooked dude in high school just by dating him is a deadly weapon (I know; I once did it) and it just can’t be done with your garden-variety scent. This fragrance is flirtiness and subtle sensuality distilled into an essence.
Whether the Tucson native is busy washing her hair “out of the country” or staying local, or “working hard” at cheerleading practice, she’d surely smell super feminine with a slight hint of suede to impart a modicum of badassery for good measure.  Do you think that this is a fragrance Cindy Mancini would rock? Discuss in the comments.

Jo Malone Peony & Blush Suede is available September for $60 at jomalone.com. You know, if class is your new thing. 

This is part of R18 series Fictitious Fragrance Fans. Fragrance is one of the most difficult areas of beauty to discuss and I find myself trying to convey a scent to you, more often than not, by the pop culture character it embodies to me. So why not make it a thing?