Une femme loves wearing fragrance. It's the one thing I can always count on for a "Pretty Fix," even when I have dark circles under my eyes or my pants are feeling a bit tight.I mentioned in the Office Gifts thread below that I don't recommend giving fragrance gifts when you don't know a person's likes or dislikes. Fragrance is highly personal, and it's so true that a scent that is fabulous on one person can be horrible on another. On a couple of occasions, I've been given fragrances because the giver liked how they smelled on the little paper stick, and both times I've hated them.
But I will admit to being very picky about my scents. I've tried several that I love for a few minutes, but after they've reacted with my body chemistry for an hour or so, I can hardly wait to scrub them off. I don't like anything that's too cloyingly sweet (and a lot of florals that are lovely "on the stick" turn sickly sweet on me), or conversely so "sharp" that it smells like men's cologne. I don't have a single signature scent; I like to match my fragrance to the season and to my mood.
Currently in my rotation are:
Chanel. No. 5 and Chance. I really like Chance as a workday scent in the cooler months. It's warm but crisp, and not overpowering.
Marc Jacobs. The original. Nice for evenings out.
Serge Lutens. Clare de Musc. A soft, more casual scent. I wear this during the day on weekends.
Two new favorites, both from Hermés: Un Jardin sur le Nil, and Kelly Caleche. Jardin is supposedly a unisex scent, but I find it very feminine. I like to wear it during the day in warmer months. The citrus top note when I first put it on makes me happy. Kelly Caleche I just discovered a few days ago. It's floral, but with a little bit of woodsiness, not cloying.
When it comes to fragrance, it's easy to cross over into too much of a good thing. I tend to use the "spray, delay, then walk away" method of application (thanks, Queer Eye Guys!) for most daytime use. (This goes for you men, too!) If I'm going out at night, I will apply more directly to the décollete and wrists.
What are your favorites? Any tricks and tips for application?
I love perfume as well -- the fragrance can really lift my mood during the day. I've never worn Chanel No. 5 but have been thinking of picking up a bottle as I love it from when I was young and my mom wore it. This last year I've been wearing Terre D'Hermès and Creed's Vetiver, both unisex (well, the latter is actually a men's fragrance, I think, but since I'm wearing it, it's unisex!). For something lighter in the summer, I like Nina Ricci's Fleur de Fleurs but I've never been able to find it outside France. Also like O de Lancôme for summer -- it's very citrus-y in the top notes.
ReplyDeleteI had always been sort of ambivalent about scent until I fell in love with the fruit that adorned Adam and Eve after the fall from grace---le figeur. I am head over heels in love with the fig. My favorite fig comes from L'Artisan and I add a little L'Artisan vanilla for depth( this is no sickly sweet vanilla; rather, it is a sexy, grown up, fully matured ripe and delicious vanilla).
ReplyDeleteThe only problem with this fig/vanilla scent combination is that I descend into a narcissistic olfactory paradise ( meaning, I cannot stop smelling myself and then swooning in delight).
I recently got my husband Bulagari's Aqva. OMG, it smells so sooo good. If he wants me to follow him anywhere he knows what to do--just spray a little on and I have lost my capacity for free will. ;-)
For warm weather - Coco Mademoiselle, which strangely, I can't smell on myself, though other people say they like it and it suits me.
ReplyDeleteFor cool weather - Estee Lauder's Cinnabar - it smells spicy and Christmassy to me. I first smelled it in a stairwell in junior high, about 1979. I never forgot it, and finally bought myself a bottle several years ago. They salesguy ( strange to see a man behind the perfume counter) told me it was an old lady fragrance, but I don't care, and receive many compliments.
I've worn Guerlain Samsara for 19 (!) years. I like having a signature scent. Especially since I have two small children--I fondly remember the smell of my mother and want to give them that experience.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I've heard rumors that my perfume may be discontinued, and am on the hunt for a new scent.
I discovered I like Prada, as well as Burberry Touch. But still not the same as my old favorite.
I have always had a bottle of Jicky by Guerlain and I do love their Mitsouko and Champs Elysee too.
ReplyDeleteI have always named my pets after perfume. I have just one dog now, Oscar after the scent Oscar de la Renta.
I love www.luckyscent.com (based in LA), which carries unusual and hard-to-find scents, and www.dshperfumes.com (based in Boulder, CO), perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz' online shop. Both site have very thourough - sometimes even poetic - descriptions. DSH in particular had a note dictionary. And both sites allow you to buy small sample vials of most scents, allowing you to try at home, branch out, and have a perfect purse-size to put in your makeup bag. I think it is a gift best bought for yourself (or with someone who is very close to you)!
ReplyDeletePremier Jour!
ReplyDeleteby Nina Ricci
I stumbled onto this by accident and I love it. The lotion is even better, and I smell like my poached pear in red wine with cinnamon and anise dessert.
Also love Casaque by Caron. I used to mix as a teen Love's Rain scent with the lemon. Anyone remember the Rain and Wind scents? I think there was fire and earth also.
A professor was using Youth Dew heavily this semester (confused about the math? I'm going back to school at 50) but I didnt mind - it reminded me so of my grandmothers house!
great topic,
BiscuitX
As
Enjoy reading everyone's favorites! And let's wear perfume... I do not comply with the signs asking me to be fragrance free.
ReplyDeleteMy choices these days are Norell for evening and Floris Edwardian Bouquet for day in winter; Un Jardin sur le Nil for summer.
It is to cry but about 10 years ago or so, I became allergic to most scents. I did it to myself by over using a nasal spray (beware!) and now I am a sort of super-scenter - I can tell what brand of toothpaste was used by someone walking by on the sidewalk while I ride my bike by on the street. Yikes. I used to love Diorella in the summer. It was primarily citrus and fresh. And for winter, I used Anne Klein II and Vanderbilt, both musky and woodsy. But you are so right about the body chemistry. I loved some men wearing Old Spice but it didn't work on my husband at all.
ReplyDeleteI just went upstairs to check on the names of my winter perfumes because I still have them! And I sprayed a tiny bit into the sink and then touched a fingertip to it and then touched it to my wrist. It is beautiful as I remembered but overwhelming! That tiny bit. Maybe I can use just a tiny bit... thanks for making me try again. But for anyone else out there, think of poor me, overwhelmed by a fingertip bit of perfume and don't use too much! Put some on your own wrist and sniff it every now and then as "la belette rouge" suggests above. Don't force it on others.