Today we're helping Satya, who owns about 100 bottles of perfume but is tired of them and wants something new. Her criteria for her new scent: it must be something unique that will stop people in the street when she walks by, but it can't be so overpowering or cloying that it will bother her co-workers. She's also like it to be warm, dark and smoky, but with some clean/green notes. She can spend between $50 and $100. Here is what we know about Satya:
She's in her late 30s. She was born in Trinidad & Tobago and is now living New York City. She works in Property Management but her "inner career choice" would be something in fashion or home decoration, or some other field that would allow her to express her wild sense of style. She describes herself as a "quiet storm".
Satya says she is a chameleon when it comes to her fashion/perfume sense, and takes as much time to choose her daily perfume as she does to choose her outfit.
Satya likes notes of gardenia, tuberose, fig and sandalwood. She likes grapefruit for the summer and honey for the winter. She has liked perfumes that are soft, like Dolce & Gabbana The One, or sweet like Hanae Mori and Juicy Couture.
Other perfumes Satya likes include Marc by Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Nicole Miller, Gold by Donna Karan, Gucci Envy Me, most Burberrys, Escada Into the Blue, Chanel Coco Mademoiselle, Jean Paul Gaultier Classique, Hilary Duff With Love, Sarah Jessica Parker Covet, Tom Ford Black Orchid and Badgley Mischka.
Satya dislikes synthetic mango, sage, rose, or anything mossy. Some of the fragrances that did not work for her include:
Very Valentino: so light that it fades away in 15 minutes
Christian Lacroix Tumulte: after an hour, it's an old powdery-musty closet.
Escada Sunset Heat: synthetic mango!
Donna Karan Cashmere Mist: she likes it on a friend, but not on her.
Clinque Happy: she liked it at first, but now she is smelling a weird green note that won't go away.
Perry Ellis 360: headache inducing.
Lanvin Rumeur: she loved it once in the spring, but tried it again in the summer and hated it.
What say you?
Note: image is 6:45 pm by Jam Adams on flickr; some rights reserved.
I think Satya should try:
L’Artisan Parfumeur La Chasse aux Papillons and Premier Figuier
Jo Malone Wild Fig & Cassis, White Jasmine & Mint and Tuberose
Prada Infusion de Fleur d’Oranger
Paul & Joe Blanc
Stella McCartney Stella
Narciso Rodriguez For Her
Monyette Paris
Frederic Malle Carnal Flower
L’Artisan jumped to my mind too – Passage D’Enfer was the particular scent I thought of. It’s incense-smokey and warm, but also fresh and slightly floral.
Bandit by Robert Piguet is warm, dark and smokey. Tabac Blond by Caron, in parfum it is gorgeous and dries down to a warm, honeyish, leathery hum. There are two excellent reviews for both on this website.
Seconding Bandit and Passage d’Enfer.
Passage D’Enfer came to my mind, too.
I can’t tell from Satya’s current faves whether or not she likes vetiver, but for dark and smoky with clear green note I’d give Chanel’s Sycomore a try. They sell the ginormous bottles for $200, but affordable splits and decants are easily obtainable from the wiki scent split site and the usual decant places.
I am hiding my Sycomore sample from my boyfriend:) They used to give out free 5ml samples at the Chanel counter but those good times seem over…
Hi, Satya: second Passage d’Enfer. I’d add MAC Naked Honey and just for the heck of trying it, L’Artisan Dzing! Never know what you’ll get of out that one…
Tokyo Milk’s Ex Libris is a nice fig, and Honey and the Moon is a nice honey fragrance, and together they cost around $50 on amazon or Beauty Habit. I also like Guerlain’s Figue-Iris. It has notes of Bergamot, grapefruit, violet, iris, fig leaf, vanilla, and vetiver. It is one of the Aqua Allegorias and is about $56 at Sephora.
Field Notes from Paris is also really nice and not something you will smell on everyone else. It has tobacco leaf and flower, but it isn’t smoky. It also has notes of lavender, cinnamon, beeswax, patchouli, vanilla, and tonka.
I also second Tabac Blond, and am going to recommend my standard PdN Sacrebleu. She also makes a nice fig called Fig Tea.
I second Honey & the Moon. This one has great lasting power on me.
For soft, I can recommend Sonoma Scent Studio’s Lieu de Reves.
And Satya, I am so impressed with your 100+ perfume collection!
How about Flowerbomb, nice warm and sexy kind of sweet.
Bylgari Jasmin Noir
Narcisso Rodriguez
Tocca Bridgette , very smoky
Clean and Fresh I love , Hermes Mediterranean…. full of complements ….
I know it is not easy to find but, what about Eau du Fier by Annick Goutal? It can still be had in Paris; with a bit of luck they might just ship it. It is very smoky but with citrus on top to make it livelier. An excellent review of this scent is on Bois de Jasmin’s blog. ( don’t know how to do links, sorry)
In a similar vein, but still very different and in my eyes equally delicious: Bvlgari Black
Hi, Satya!
From your preferences, it seems that you are looking for something that is not loud, but that would stand out because it’s not what everyone is wearing. For a summery grapefruit, you might enjoy L’Artisan’s Ananas Fizz (which is more grapefruity than pineapple-y); you might also like Missoni Acqua and Byblos by Byblos (original in the blue bottle), which have a grapefruit note and are very similar to one another. For winter, you might really like DelRae’s Amoureuse, which has a lovely honey note and tuberose. Fracas is the obvious tuberose; while it’s lovely, it’s not exactly an office fragrance, and unfortunately, the same might be said of Tuberose Gardenia by EL. Lierre rose by Parfums 06130 is an interesting green tuberose that you’re not going to smell on everyone else–I know it’s called rose, but it really shouldn’t be. Sacrebleu by Parfums de Nicolai is another lovely floral with an incensy drydown, very distinctive. Good luck!
Am wearing EL’s Gardenia Tuberose in the office but I admit that it is much stronger and longer-lasting than pretty much anything else that I own. Love that it gets me through a full day at work though.
Ormonde Woman is pretty unique, I think, and it might just fit the bill of dark but with green notes.
Or how about Guerlain Vol de Nuit?
Second the OJ Woman, it was the first thing that came to my mind. Also would suggest L’Artisan’s Timbuktu.
Mmmm…OJ Woman, I would recommend this one as well. I recently fell in love with this fragrance, head over heels. Also helps that the boyfriend is liking it too.
Nice call with the Vol de Nuit. Warm and *almost* smoky, and a tinge of green but then sweet, and you won’t smell yourself coming and going. I don’t know why this one is not more popular (but then I’m also kind of glad it isn’t because more for me!).
I was so excited about the perfume tips that I could not sleep last night! Anyone who knows what it’s like to be on a never-ending quest to find that perfect little something knows exactly how I feel. Bergere hit it right on the nose, I am looking for something that isn’t shouting from the mountain tops and isn’t the same ole-same ole thing.
I am so impressed with everyone’s thoughts and I just want to thank you all for your insight on perfume.
A lot of the fragrances that I typically I like have been quite floral and green so I am psyched about trying something different; there are so many suggestions that I don’t know where to begin but it’s sure gonna be fun trying them all and seeing which one works for me .
At the suggestion of Austenfan, I am going to search for Eau du Fier by Annick Goutal but many of the others are more attainable so I will start at Sephora and Macy’s today so that I can gift myself with the lovely fragrance for Christmas.
Jo Malone Wild Fig & Cassis, White Jasmine & Mint and Tuberose sounds interesting as does Tocca Bridgette , very smoky. I have tried the Hermes Mediterranean and liked it as well (very unique) but I find it too green for what I am looking for this season.
I greatly appreciate all of the suggestions and will stay tuned to NST to see what other great suggestions my other smelling good sista’s and brotha’s have in mind.
Happy Day!
Hi, thanks for picking up the tip about Eau du Fier. It is amazing. You can order samples/decants of it from The Perfumed Court.
Smellgoodsista, aka Satya….I forgot to mention that.
Hello!
Here is my little list for Satya:
For summer:Un jardin sur le Nil (Hermes)or Philosykos(Diptyque):this one for the fig ,the former for the mango and grapefruit.
For winter ,including notes like honey,flowers and sandalwood why don’t you try :Beige(Chanel),Bois des Isles(again Chanel),Champagne des Bois(Sonoma Scent Studio) and L’Eau d’Hiver(E.P.Fred.Malle)?.
Thinking about dark,smoky scents, I’m thinking Timbuktu(L’Artisan),Black(Bulgari),,L’Eau Rare Matale(MDCI Parfums) and that’s about it.
Good luck ,Lo.
I’m voting for Tauer L’Air du Desert Marocain or Le Maroc pour Elle.
Also, I’d recommend Serge Lutens Cèdre.
This and perhaps the Tauers can be sampled at Aedes in NYC. Spend some time there on a few weekend field trips.
Definitely l’Air – popped in my mind immediately. People have followed me just to sniff.
LdDM is a show stopper for sure. Lonestar has the smokiness, though.
Hi Satya! Since you like honey, I agree with Bergere that you might try Parfums DelRae Amoureuse. It’s utterly unique, and gorgeous, tree pollen & honey. I think Joe’s recommendation of Serge Luten’s Cedre also sounds right on, though I haven’t tried that one. Another thought… have you tried Balenciaga’s Cristobal? It’s fig and other good things, and might suit you. These fragrances are not exactly smoky, but they ARE smoldery.
For warm and smoky I’d recommend Fumerie Turque and Bois d’Ombrie. And another vote for L’Air du Desert marocain and for Honey and the Moon…
Lonestar memories (Andy Tauer) is very (too?) smokey… a rather warm smokey incense ould be une fille en aguilles (Serge Lutens), just discovered it myself..
And I’m not sure how easy it is to find in the US, but Parfums de Nicolai’s Vanille Tonka is a lovely smoky winter scent. Otherwise another vote for L’air du DM and Bandit.
These new suggestions sound really interesting! I love the word “smoldery”, Haunani.; that among other things are exactly what I’m looking for. I am also open to men’s cologne’s as well. I have smelled a few that I found to be very wearable.
Thanks again all for your suggestions…………..The quest begins
I feel like I am always suggesting the same stuff (my favorites) but here it goes:
Serge Lutens Gris Clair – smoldering lavender but with sweetness (Aedes down on Christopher Street should have testers to try this, some BlueMercury stores might have this one too)
Tokyomilk – Death Sexy (smoky and sweet) or Ex Libris (with the current coupon on Beautyhabit they are less than 25$ each)
Sonoma Scent Studio – I second the Champagne de Bois, but also try Winter Woods or Tabac Aurea
Comptoir Sud Pacificque – Musc Alize or Princess Muscat
forgot Diptyque- Tam Dao
Hiya, so many great suggestions already, just a few additions. Good luck for your search!
For soft warm yet interesting, I am thinking of
-Caron’s Aimez Moi (violet vanilla anise, very long lasting and uplifting, also relatively cheap if you buy online)
-Dior Hypnotic Poison (almond heliotrope vanilla, Annick Menardo and me, it’s love, she just does not know it yet), Bulgari’s Black was already mentioned above)
-L’artisans Bois Farine (powdery soft wood with a nutty note, gorgeous and unique)
-Nicolai’s Sacrebleu (gets so much love on this blog that it probably does not need any introduction)
-Mercier’s Nuit Enchantee (spiced coffee vanilla, although probably at the higher end of your price range)
-Barbara Bui (soft vanilla incense, discontinued but easy to order cheap online, bought it unsniffed after reading reviews, no regrets)
For sweet florals:
– Estee Lauder’s Gardenia Tuberose (no other EL floral works on me but that one is love)
– Badgley Mischka’s Fleurs de Nuits (dreamy jasmine)
– Annick Goutal’s Matin d’Orage (wet gardenia, some green, fresh nectarine; completely different to anything else from the line)
MPG Secrete Datura.
mmmm, yes, one of my faves. Get it while you can.
So, I went to Sephora and I found the Tocca Bridgette, Bvlgari Jasmin Noir and I decided to try YSL Opium while I was there….loved them all. BTW Opium and Bridgette smell AWESOME together!! The harmony of the honey and the spices are blending perfectly.
I am still looking forward to trying some of the other suggestions.
Thanks all
i second Bandit. strongly!
good luck hunting.
Parfum de Nicolai Aziyade came to mind. It has a strong cumin note that can be overpowering in the beginning, but it settles down nicely into such an intriguing scent. Perhaps worth investigating.
Guerlain Vetiver pour Elle my sister swears by it…
Satya, I’m tagging along at the end here, but you’ve given us a really good idea of what you like and I do hope you’ll give Prada Tendre a try. It’s somewhere between Coco Mademoiselle and The One — soft and warm but sultry, too. Quality stuff! Have fun with all the savvy suggestions.
I would suggest her to try El Attarine from the exclusives by Serge Lutens, and perhaps Jasmin by Le Labo. My god!!!! 100 bottles… I had the same with Rumeur as she had. I got craze about it around february and then gave it to my mother by spring…… My mother he likes it but is not crazy about it.. then she came for a visit and bought Bal d’Afrique of ByredoShe is crazy about that!!!!. Now that I am thinking about it this could be also an option for Satya!
Yes Air…..100!!! It’s out of control but I do give away before buying new bottles. It’s all mostly because I keep searching for “The One” and never find it. Robin, I will be looking for the Prada Tendre and some of the others mentioned.
And if you’re ever in the streets of NYC around Columbus Circle and you catch a whiff of someone wonderful; it might just be me.
Thanks all and have a wonderful Thanksgiving
Hmm.
Chanel Beige is lovely. Serge Lutens Un Bois Vanille is sweet and smoldering. L de Lolita Lempicka is sweet and woody, though it can be cloying. Maybe Robert Piguet Bandit or Hermes Kelly Caleche for a nice leathery touch.