Searching for a sentimental scent

Three years after her mother’s passing, Monique Viljoen is searching for something small yet deeply meaningful: a bottle of the perfume her mother used to wear. To her, the scent is more than a fragrance. It is a doorway to the memories of the mother she still longs for.

Mathynette Olivier died on January 12, 2023, after a short illness. She lived in Wartburg but often visited Viljoen’s home in Howick where she spent time spoiling her two granddaughters, now aged 14 and 16. To those who knew her, Olivier was warm, social and endlessly kind.

My mom was a very loving person. A quick trip to the shop for bread and milk could turn into an hour because she would start a conversation with someone and leave having made a new friend. “She had a special way of connecting with people.

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She loved children, had a soft spot for cats and filled every space she entered with conversation and laughter,” said Viljoen. The fragrance she remembers so vividly isTramp by Lentheric.It wasfirst introduced in the 1950s and known for its warm floral woody notes of citrus, rose, jasmine and musk. The perfume was once widely sold in pharmacies and stores such as Clicks, Dis-Chem and Foschini.

Later, body spray versions sold for about R40 to R50 before the fragrance was eventually discontinued. Hoping someone might still have an old bottle tucked away, Viljoen placed an advert inThe Witness, appealing to readers to help her find the perfume.

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