Jo Malone could predict her mother Eileen's mood by her scent.
Jo Malone
The 53-year-old entrepreneur - who founded her eponymous perfumerie and scented candle brand, which has since been sold to Estée Lauder - has revealed her strong sense of smell enabled her to predict the weather, how long ago her father Peter had packed up his oil paints and how her parent was feeling by the fragrance she wore.
Speaking about her earliest memories of perfumes, she said: "One was Eau Sauvage on my dad, on his crisp white linen shirts. On my mum, it was Je Reviens, Jean Patou and Ma Giffe.
"I knew her mood by what perfume she was wearing.
"I could smell when it was going to rain. I could smell my dad's oil paint and I knew how long his oil paints had been out.
"If I look at a scene, I'll look at all the pieces as though I'm hearing a piece of music and I'll hear all these notes, but with my nose, and I'll put them all together, lock them all together. That's how I've always created fragrance.
"It just happens so unconsciously and subconsciously to me that I'm not registering. With colour, while you will see colour, I will smell it first. If I feel texture, the same thing will happen, or if I hear music, I will smell fragrance."
And the beauty entrepreneur - who is working on her new brand Jo Loves - has described herself as "an artist in fragrance".
She said: "I think of myself as a shopkeeper and an artist with fragrance. I like being a shopkeeper."
Despite battling with breast cancer, Jo has revealed she still has a strong work ethic.
She explained: "I love getting up and going to work every day and doing everything".
When asked if she remembers the moment she realised she had the significant sense, she told HELLO! magazine: "No I don't, because I thought everybody did. It's funny when I try to explain it, it disappears.
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