Scent of a Legend

Natalie Wood’s daughter Natasha celebrates her mother’s legacy and love of flowers with a gardenia-infused eau de parfum.
Devoted daughter Natasha Gregson Wagner

By Diana Dolling Ross

For Natasha Gregson Wagner, Mother’s Day will be spent creating beautiful memories for her daughter, Clover, while remembering the magic of her mother, legendary actress Natalie Wood.

“I have so many joyful memories of my childhood with my mom,” says Gregson Wagner. “She liked to cel- ebrate every holiday, from birthdays, to Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Halloween. Our house was a hub for entertaining! We always had lots of animals and children, flowers, food and lots of laughter.”

After the loss of her mother, she remembered how Wood’s fragrance permeated the rooms of her childhood home. The creamy scent of Wood’s favorite fragrance, Jungle Gardenia by Tuvaché, transported Gregson Wagner back in time. “When I was a child, our backyard was filled with gardenias, roses, hydrangeas, pansies and citrus trees,” she says.

Natalie Wood with a young Natasha.

Gregson Wagner celebrates those memories with her first fragrance, Natalie, an exqui- sitely crafted eau de parfum blending natural and modern gardenia with crisp fresh orange blossoms, freesia, jasmine and hyacinth, in a warm base of soft woods and vanilla. A roller ball, purse spray and candle, a delicate mélange of gardenia and orange flower, complete the Natalie collection. “The fragrance makes me feel happy,” explains Gregson Wagner. “It is as though her arms are wrapped around me when I wear it.”

She keeps Wood’s memory alive for her daughter by sharing childhood stories, photos—and, of course, her mother’s magnificent films. “Clover loves West Side Story,” she says. “Her favorite scene is ‘I Feel Pretty.’ She calls it ‘Maria and her friends.’ She knows that her Grandma Natalie is Maria.” Another of Wood’s legendary performances inspired the soon-to-be-released second scent in Gregson Wagner’s fragrance line. “One of my favorite movies of my mom’s is Gypsy. She played the part of Gypsy Rose Lee so authentically. She knew and understood that character and intimately. I wanted to honor the character’s struggles so her by making the next fragrance a rose.” La Rose will be launched this summer as a roller ball, perfect for travel. nataliefragrance.com