Love’s Baby Soft

Last week, a high school friend posted a picture of Love’s Baby Soft cologne on Facebook with the comment, “who remembers wearing this stuff in high school?” Soon after, many forty-something females starting ‘liking’ the photo, including myself. My, did that bright pink bottle, with the cap as tall as the bottle itself, take me back to my teenage years. I recalled the year my hand-knitted red Christmas stocking, with the angora bearded Santa Claus, was filled to the brim with Love’s Baby Soft products. I was prepared to be a cloud of baby powder scented sweetness. In my stocking was not only cologne, but talcum powder, bubble bath, and deodorant, to layer upon my 15-year-old self. The advertising campaign slogan was “anything can happen when you are in love.” What teenage girl didn’t fantasize about their first love? All of my friends were wearing it, to the point that even the boys knew the scent by name. As I was reminiscing about Love’s, a comment was added to the Facebook post, “They still make Love’s.” (I later discovered that it has its own fan page on Facebook). I immediately logged onto Amazon.com to find that, indeed, it was still being made. I didn’t hesitate to click the ‘Buy now’ button. The description of “kid’s perfume” didn’t deter me. I need to share with Love’s that they are marketing to the wrong demographic. We over forty women still love the gentle, clean fragrance of baby-powder with a slight floral hint. I don’t remember when I stopped wearing it. I’m sure I reached a point where I felt that I was too mature to smell like a baby. I moved on to headier scents, such as Ralph Lauren and Poison. My bottle arrived Monday. I’ve spent the days since sniffing my wrist remembering teenage loves found and lost. My husband smelled my neck and said, “you smell nice. Is that new?” I guess those now forty-something teenage boys are still having their heads turned by it too.