I was 21 and working in Paris when Opium came out. You couldn’t walk into a hotel elevator without smelling it so I jumped on the bandwagon and bought some. I’m a jazz musician and it seemed to complete my image of myself, or what I wanted to be – worldly, sensual and mysterious.

Yes, it’s heavy and orientals aren’t the rage these days but I’ve worn it ever since, if only on ‘hair and makeup’ evenings. And more sparingly too – no wrist spritzing, just one short spray of EDP deep in the decolletage… I find that’s enough to perk up a gentleman’s nose. Unlike a previous poster, women never ask me what I’m wearing but plenty of men do, usually with a nose-leading dip of the head.

A few years ago, my boyfriend went to buy some for me for Christmas. The saleswoman told him, ‘Oh no, she doesn’t want that old-fashioned perfume. Get her this instead.’ Lucky for her, she sells perfume rather than trying to make a living mind-reading.

It was fine and I dutifully wore it but the fact that I can’t even remember its name pretty much says it all. As soon as the bottle was finished I was back to Opium!