Sents and sensibility

By Tim Trainor - 11/22/2008

Tim Trainor / The Montana Standard Marijane Morin, owner of Uptown's Colours and Scents, is pictured here in her store at 21 N. Main St.

People often ask Marijane Morin to find things they can't get anywhere else.

Usually, she does.

It's one of the reasons her store, Colours and Scents, an upscale, Uptown cosmetic and perfume shop, has succeeded since 1981.

But that's all coming to an end. She closes next month after 27 years in the beauty business.

Morin said her merchandise is on sale, and that she hopes to have the entire shop, 21 N. Main St., emptied before Christmas.

"It's been a good run," she said. "I just think it's time to retire." Much of Morin's business was predicated on her finding perfumes and colognes that are no longer made, or finding rare boutique products.

"I love the challenge of finding things," she said with a sly smile. "I've compiled quite a network over the years." That includes importing collagen and other beauty aids long before they become "fashionable." "I was into those things decades before it became popular," Morin said. "I would get it from a company in Switzerland." Julie O'Gara, 55, has been frequenting Morin's store for more than 20 years. O'Gara said she suffers from rosacea, a skin disease, and has sensitive skin. She said Morin helped her personally to find what worked.

"We've tried a lot of different products," O'Gara said.

Eventually, they found something that O'Gara said improved her skin and "kept her looking younger all these years." The personal service and ability to secure rare items are what O'Gara will miss most about the store.

"It's going to be very difficult," she said. "A lot of her things are very unique and not available in your regular department stores." Morin worked in Hennessy's cosmetics department in Butte until the store closed. It was then that she opened a shop of her own.

Business was good until the last four years, Morin said, with this last year especially tough.

"This was the worst," she said. "We just don't get the traffic we need (Uptown)." If dwindling profits aren't enough, Morin, 79, broke her hip and separated a shoulder in a fall at the store last month. The injury forced her into a nursing home to recuperate and a physical therapy regime forced her to find extra help.

That stress and the extra costs convinced her it was time to give up the store.

She will, however, continue to sell some of her products over the Internet at www.colours-scents.com.

For her retirement plans, Morin said she'll concentrate on getting healthy. After that, she says, is undecided.

"I don't know what I'll do next," Morin said. "I'm looking for something interesting." — Reporter Tim Trainor may be reached via e-mail at tim.trainor@lee.net.