Last week while killing time in a used bookstore, I leafed through French Chic: How to Dress Like a French Woman by Susan Sommers. It had a short section with some predictable advice on wearing fragrance (wear perfume for a few hours before you decide if you like it; fragrance comes in different formulations, etc.), but I did find an interesting quote by Sonia Rykiel. She said a fragrance wardrobe should start with a base scent, just like a clothing wardrobe has basics, then build on it.
This advice appeals to the part of me that loves patterns and relationships. Five years ago or so I attempted to chart my perfume wardrobe to find similarities between the fragrances I own. I grouped fragrances by their families and by categories I made up — "reading" perfumes, "going out" perfumes — and drew lines between them, seeking some kind of common ground. (All this when I could have been volunteering at the food bank! Or at least cleaning the basement.) I ended up with a large sheet of drawing paper covered with perfume names splattered like constellations, without even a Big Dipper to give it form.
But I'm so attracted to Rykiel's statement. As an experiment, let's take her approach. Suppose you're a budding perfume enthusiast. You love white flowers, and you have a bottle of Estée Lauder Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia. Or maybe you're a little more trendy and have Kai. That's your daily scent. Now, how do you build off it?
First, I think you'll need a super seductive scent. Maybe Frédéric Malle Carnal Flower or Serge Lutens Tubérose Criminelle. Then, when you want to tone down the femininity, play off the green aspects of the white flowers and add Yves Saint Laurent Y or even Estée Lauder Private Collection, the original. For a breezier, clean take on the white flowers, Annick Goutal Matin d'Orage might be the ticket. For a friendly, joyful aspect of the base scent, add rose for Parfums d'Empire 3 Fleurs. There. That's a tidy perfume wardrobe.
Or, say your base fragrance is something leathery, like Robert Piguet Bandit. This is daring for a base fragrance, but let's run with it. For a fresh, warm weather scent that blends with Bandit, a green chypre like Balmain Vent Vert (also created by perfumer Germaine Cellier) would be a good choice. A more contemporary choice for a fresh complement to Bandit could be Issey Miyake A Scent. Picking up on the Cellier theme, Balmain Jolie Madame makes a more ladylike but still powerful counterpoint with its violet heart. Deepen and warm up Bandit's leather in winter with Serge Lutens Cuir Mauresque, Caron Tabac Blond, or even L'Artisan Parfumeur Dzing!, although that might be getting too far afield.
In the end, I know I couldn't stick to such a tidy, cohesive perfume collection, as much as I admire the idea behind it. My clothing wardrobe is probably more predictable than the perfume I keep. Where for clothing, I know my figure and character enough to pass up the skinny jeans in favor of the 1950s sundress, I still can't resist so many perfumes, from the forceful, opaque vetiver of Lalique Encre Noire to the bawdy starlet of Guerlain Vega to the polite but lush reserve of Jean Patou Joy Eau de Toilette.
What about you? Do you have a method to building your perfume collection? Do you see patterns and buy perfume to fill holes, or do you buy whatever grabs your fancy?
Note: image is le charme discret [cropped] by Uqbar is back at flickr; some rights reserved.
Ha! wonderful article Angela— I was visualizing your complicated quasi-astrological style chart and felt really inspired to try to analyze my fragrance collection…..luckily that feeling is already starting to pass. I’m afraid that my perfume habits are so much more visceral in nature: I sniff it , I love it, I must have it. There’s a woeful lack of thinking, planning, charting…and certainly no resisting, going on. I expect that places me firmly in the “Fancy Grabbers” camp.
😉
“Fancy grabbers” is the perfect name for my style, too! I don’t know what craziness seized me that I felt I needed to do all that perfume sorting, but clearly I was avoiding something more important…
I’m firmly in the Daisy camp, though I haven’t hosted any splits yet. I have a solid clothing wardrobe with well cut basics in black, grey, and white, varied by shoes and simple jewelry. My perfumes are much more extravagant and fragrance is certainly my favourite accessory. I have way more fun picking out the SOTD than I do which earrings to wear. You can dress up jeans and t-shirt with heels and a nice necklace. Add Lyric woman and that t-shirt is suddenly very sexy. Your favourite black dress can be made more casual by choosing sandals and silver bangles – spray on a little Eau des Merveilles and it becomes summery and fun. I recently read something by Amouage about Lyric woman that said something like once you have experienced it you can never feel truly naked without it. Now that’s an accessory.
That is such a good point–how fragrance casts a whole new light on what you wear clothing-wise. What a great quote about Lyric, too! I just might have to wear that one to bed tonight.
Isn’t that great? Too bad it is taken – it is almost good enough for Le Prix Eau Faux.
Shalimar is the black of my perfume wardrobe. It works in every situation, whether I want something sexy for a night out (vintage extrait), safe for a day at work (a little EdP), or at the end of a long day (EdT out of the shower or sprayed on my pillows).
It’s funny that you mention Shalimar. It’s morning now, and Shalimar is what I ended up wearing to bed instead of Lyric.
I’m so happy to be among my people. I love knowing that there are others out there who put a lot of thought into which perfume to wear to bed. I chose Musc Rav last night and drifted off with the delicious thought that there was a package of Amouage waiting for me at the post office. I was their first customer this morning and happily opening the package in my car at 8:35. Double pleasure – I’m no longer rationing a sample and can finally spray with abandon, plus it is my day off and the only person around to smell me is my dog. She never thinks my perfumes are weird or too strong even if I decide to reapply every couple of hours just to smell the top notes again.
Lucky you! Which Amouage was it?
Lyric Woman. I received a bottle of Epic Woman for Valentine’s day and really felt like it needed company and I just received my end of year bonus. I have used up two samples of Lyric and I never noticed the tuberose until today. I don’t know if it is listed but I can smell it in there. It is a warm, buttery presence that reminds me a little of Daphne.
Nice! I have a bottle, too, and love it.
I, too, tend to be more adventurous with my perfume than clothing. With clothing I’m pretty firm about what colors and cuts I can wear and look the best in; the shapes tend to be very classic and the colors more subdued (i.e. black, navy, gray, with maybe a dash of the palest pink or nautical-inspired stripes). Whereas with perfume I have none of that to worry about. Perfume is definitely an accessory and sort of completes the overall look. It sets the mood for that day, whether I’m feeling seductive or sweet or tough. I’m so happy I discovered this little perfume world; it’s been so much fun!
It is a lot of fun, isn’t it? Even after four years of writing here, I still really enjoy it and everyone who participates.
either that or the “get more candy!!!” camp!
That’s a good name for it, too!
You just put Bow Wow Wow`s song `I WANT CANDY!` into my head, and it won`t LEAVE!! 🙂 We all share a mammoth passion for fragrance, and it is a most positive passion, too – the better to hold onto it and not let it wither!! Think I will replace the above ditty w/ k.d. Lang`s “Constant Craveing“ – MUCH better! 🙂
And very suitable!
I like your style Daisy! Like it! Buy it! That’s my reasoning. I only wish I had the finances to support it.
It’s so difficult when one’s philosophy doesn’t align with one’s bank account (big sigh here).
Sigh echoing back from Vancouver. 😉
It’s getting windy in this part of the world!
and now you know why I host so darn many splits! 😉
Very canny of you!
And we lurves you for it! 😀
Following your schema I definitely have a tidy, cohesive fragrance wardrobe. Or two. Or a dozen…
🙂
Yes! A cohesive perfume strategy for each of our personalities! Now that it’s explained, I feel much better organized.
Yeah! Specific scent libraries for each one of them, like maybe “Aspirational/Rain outside/Warm inside/Social/Not fat” or “Who am I kidding/Springtime everywhere but not for me/Where’s the cat/Help”
Perfect! (and hilariously true!)
These cracked me up! I especially liked “where’s the cat”…
I have two Abyssinians who seem to enjoy playing hide-and-seek on the mornings when I am running particularly late for work, so after confirming that nobody got locked up or locked out there is usually no time to stop and choose a perfume – voila, I end up with Guerlain Tokyo or Ormonde Jayne Frangipani. And these are not what I had in mind for the day. Cats control EVERYTHING in my house. Help!
My cat just nudged my hand with my coffee cup and spilled it! Now I have to change my skirt.
Love these, Delfina! 🙂
LOL! These are the best. Thanks for defining these categories, because I definitely need a “not fat” scent.
I am currently in search of a “no lines above my lip or between my eyebrows” fragrance that doesn’t contain botulism.
Let me know if you find it, Julia, because it’s probably right next to the “no laugh lines or crows feet” fragrance, and hopefully somewhere near the “skin as clear as day” fragrance, both of which I’m desperately seeking. Sigh.
Isn’t it awful? I feel so shallow, but it is really bothering me. It looks like I’m scowling or furrowing my brow when I’m not. Maybe a really happy smelling perfume will send people the message that I’m not actually angry? I guess I’m on an Eau des Merveilles kick, but that one smells really happy to me. Bright and sparkly. Better than L’Eau de Botox, right?
Thank you, Angela, for the fun article. I definitely think that I look for perfumes with similar notes when I’m on a “kick” for that note . . . but the perfumes I end up loving don’t always contain notes that I think I would like. For instance, I assumed until very recently that I didn’t like white flowers. Then I bought Michael Kors original at Marshall’s (not entirely un-sniffed because I had smelled it years back and thought I liked it). I ended up really liking the fragrance and thinking that the tuberose note was something I liked about it. So, now I want to try all those tuberose fragrances like the ones you listed above. But three months ago I was into incense and spice and would never have considered going after white florals. I think this also has to do with the time of year.
Oh yes, time of year and current enthusiasms influence my perfume buys, too.
For the past month or so I’ve been buying tuberose for my house. Three stems last 10 days or so, and the living room smells glorious!
I don’t even know where one would buy tuberoses.
The supermarket closest to me has a flower vendor out front who has them, but I’d think most florists would, too.
I can’t buy them around here (semi-rural Va.) either, unless I place a $75 special order with the florist.
Too bad! They’re so nice.
I’m like you, Minnie. There are definite trends in my fragrance wardrobe like fig, amber, and tuberose. My tuberose phase began with my first sniff of Fracas. If you are coming off an incense phase and like tuberose you should try CdG Daphne. I also like Minuit Enchantee and PdN Number One, as well as the ones Angela mentioned. I’m julia941 @ MUA and yahoo – drop me a line if you want to sample some! I’m not a Daisy level enabler yet, but she is my hero
It’s definitely an interesting concept … I am in the process of building a fragrance wardrobe. I’ve got tons of samples and decants, but I just don’t have the $$$ for bottles very often, so I’m very choosy about what I get.
I make sure that I truly love things before I choose to get a bottle, but I also think about whether or not they are similar, and in what way to things that I already have. The base of my fragrance wardrobe is currently made up by Bois Blond, POTL, and Ta’if. Other fragrances are like satellites for different moods, times of year, occasions etc.
What a great base! I admire your organization and approach. It must feel good to know they all snap together some way.
It does feel good to know it’s going to come together, but at the same time, I can’t help but be impatient!
It’s time to get impatient about summer scents, too! Maybe a nice, crisp rose like Eau Suave to blend with your Ta’if?
Bois Blond!!! Feeling that love… 🙂
It’s a good one! I still like Chene better, though.
It’s just great, isn’t it? And one of my husband’s favorites, which is always a good thing 😀
A very good thing!
Great article Angela!
I’m not as organised as that so I loosely split things into cold and warm weather scents and just try to cover the bases within those. Y’know – something casual, something more formal, something discreet, something sexy/evening.
On top of that are those took-one-sniff-and-can’t-stop-thinking-about-it fragrances which might not necessarily fit neatly into any categories but which still fit nicely into the wardrobe all the same.
Sometimes I think the main thing my perfume has in common is that I like it. Like you, I try to fill certain needs. My summer perfume category needs a little bolstering now.
Same here. I find it much easier to find a cold weather fragrance with good personality. So many summer scents are either too wimpy, or too samey or last all of 15 seconds or all of the above.
I’m looking for a summer floral right now so I’ve a whole list of Maybes and Almost Theres that need testing or re-testing.
Now that sounds like a fun project!
I like your base! What are you re-testing for summer? My perfume obsession is not yet a year old so my first summer was about trying everything I could get my hands on so I could learn about perfumes in general (notes, categories, houses, etc.). My more informed decisions have been mostly fall and winter fragrances even though we don’t have much winter were I live. I don’t fancy packing away some of my faves for summer, but I can imagine certain scents will seem less desirable when it is above 105 and humid for thirty or forty days in a row.
You and I should meet up, Julia, as I have lots of warm weather frags I love, and not much summer. 😀
Let’s do that! Drop me a line? julia941@yahoo or on MUA. In keeping with my light Hermes kick, I discovered that I really like Eau de Pamplemousse Rose.
This is the opposite of what i do. The LAST thing i want is the same thing done 15 different ways. My wardrobe is made up of all different genres, but only 1 fragrance of each. If i run out of a citrusy type, ill replace it with a citrusy type. If i run out of a woody scent, ill replace it with a woody scent. There is no way im going to have 10 woody scents at once.
So, you do have a scheme: variety! Sounds good to me.
I agree with you Rictor! I don’t want several, or even three or four, scents of a particular note or type. Although having several classic Guerlains, I suppose someone could say they have a similarity with the Guerlinade base.
Similar…but not the same! I think you’re safe.
Gosh, you guys make me sound like a complete Perfume HO….
I can live with that…..
If you’re one, I hate to think what I am!
No a HO…. variety is the spice of life and you like life SPICY!!
Daisy, ain’t no shame! There are worse kinds of hos to be!
I`ll gladly join you on that nickname!! “She works HARD for the money, so you better treat her RIGHT! – ALRIGHT!!“( …thank you Donna S., disco Queen!)
I try not to, but have fallen away from that a bit, with the lure of ready splits. Of course, in my case, it’s part small budget, part indecisiveness….if I have too many too choose from, I’ll never know what to wear, and will end up ignoring some. So to that end, I finally acquired my perfume uniform: an inexpensive unboxed bottle of NR For Her that I can grab when I don’t have time to choose. It seems to work in most weather, isn’t complicated, and unlike most things, it will wear off by the time I get home so I can put on something new. 🙂
It really is nice to have the reliable, fall-back perfume option, and it sounds like you’ve found it!
Well…sort of. I’d rather find one I truly love that works for any/every occasion, but as I haven’t found one yet, this will do.
Oh yeah. The fabled HG. I’m looking for that one, too.
Angela, you wrote about an all-purpose LBD of a fragrance not two weeks ago, and I’ve plum forgot what it was (hey, these brain cells ain’t what they used to be). I just remember it was a good ‘un. Sorry to be so forgetful, but what WAS that again???
Answering for Angela — I think that’s Mythique you’re remembering, Robin. I remember because it’s one of my favorties, too, and was a total sleeper. I really would like a bottle, but haven’t committed yet because I’m still so surprised that I wear it all the time. A gorgeous warm (!) iris–unobtrusive without being boring. Hard to do!
Yes, you’re right: Mythique. I’m surprised how much I liked it, too! It’s just so easy.
NR seems perfect for that sort of thing. If I had a bottle of 28 La Pausa, it would be the little black dress of my perfumes, for sure. I feel like I have a lot of sexy red numbers (Prada, New Haarlem) and some Pucci-esque crazy prints (Chinatown, Lolita Lempicka), but no LBD yet.
An LBD and a comfy cashmere sweater are the scents to have on hand, that’s for sure. But I love the Pucci dress scent!
We have something in common boojum – NR for Her EDT is my fall back fragrance too. Works in any weather and any situation and is the perfect choice for days when nothing else seems just right.
Interesting discussion. Cristalle is my fall back / LBD fragrance.
Both NR for Her and Cristalle, although very different fragrances, share that “gorgeous but in the background” feel. Everyone should have one, I think.
“Gorgeous but in the background” is a great way of putting it, A. I wore Mythique to a wedding recently for just that reason. I was giving a blessing and participating very actively in other parts of the festivities so I wanted to feel special and dressed up, but without stealing focus from the true participants.
That sounds perfect!
I’m trying to be more like you, Rictor. Sadly, so far I have not succeeded.
It’s a worthy goal, but I know what you mean.
Thank you for the excellent and enjoyable article, Angela!
My mind has an inherent need to categorize things in order for me to get through each day and through every new to-do list. So I have tried to categorize my growing perfume collection as well. I started with the basic seasonal approach: summer, fall, winter, spring perfumes which for me would read citrusy, light (Eau de Givenchy) then something stronger with a tiny bit of an edge (Prada); then total comfort scent for winter (EL’s AY-AY) and Chanel Rue 31 Cambon for special occasions. Then something floral and light and bursting with life for spring! (FM’s Carnal Flower and EL’s original PC! )
But then this posed a new problem…what about daytime scent vs night time scent? What about office work (Chanel Beige) vs. play (Stella Rose Absolute) ? What about seduction? (Lancome Magie Noir) Oh no! 😉
And so now with each new sample that arrives at my door my categories are forever expanding….and so I have found that even though I crave to categorize and organize, life like perfume and people defy categories every day. I love going to my dresser every morning to choose which perfume I am in the mood for that day!
Categories~schmattergories! 😉
Hey, “categories schmattergories” would have been the perfect title for this post!
Honestly, in so many other ways I feel like there’s cohesion. Friends come up to me all the time and say, “I saw this coffee mug and thought of you” or “I saw this movie and thought of you”. But it would be tough to do it with perfume.
Nodding my head. I think we all fall into one category though – “The WOW s~/he ALWAYS smells so good!” category! LOL!
That’s what I like to think!
Excellent article – really gives newbies like me something to think about.
Right now I’m building my wardrobe around the seasons. I’ve built a base for winter and have turned my attention to finding scents for spring and fall. On the hunt for the perfect citrus scent now. Like Rictor I don’t want to have too many scents of the same type – how many orange blossoms scents can I wear anyway? I make an exception for the white tee/wallpaper scents though. I have a few of those because they help to fill in the gaps in my small collection.
That sounds like a good plan. It’s nice to have those bridging types of scents, too.
Lovely article Angela.
I don’t think I can dive deep into organizing my perfumes though. I’m prolly more into the “fancy-grabbers” type. The best I can do is to separate the ones most suitable for the wet & dry seasons here in my country.
It sounds like we’re in the same boat!
I guess we fall into that different type of OC – “Organized Chaotic”
Nice categorization!
Whatever grabs my fancy, though I do try to sample many times to make sure it’s a real hit rather than a moment’s whim. Of course, I have a few favorites that require full bottle buys. I love to get bath products in these scents, too, when available. Bath powder is so lovely in hot weather, but sadly doesn’t seem to be marketed often. Warm-weather and cool-weather is about the extent of my categorization.
Sampling more than once is so smart–and can be a real money saver, too.
You’re so right about bath powder! It seems not many people use it anymore.
Sampling more than once *is* a good idea. I’ve had at least a few things I’ve bought after one sample test that I’ve put on and thought, Is this even the same thing?? It’s also a good test to know how bad you want something. So far I’m trying to stick to that, and have stuck with Nasomatto Black Afgano (which I hated the first time I tried it, BTW), Amoreuse, and PG Bois Blond. And once I have the money, they will be mine, hahaha!
Such great scents! You will smell terific once your ship comes in.
You know…you’d have more $ available for the others if you split that PGBB…. 😉 Still need to try that in the right weather though… dead of winter doesn’t do it any favors.
My problem is, I don’t know if I want to share it. 🙂 But we’ll see. Once I get sick of something, anything is fair game.
Ah well, someone else will. That one’s a long way off for me, anyway… it’s an Indian summer scent.
Oh, well, if it’s *you* I will share! LOL. I guess I missed what you really meant. I’ll email you. I have big plans to buy this once I have money…
As always, an interesting and thought provoking article Angela! But I have a question… without having read the book it’s hard to tell, but Rykiel’s comment only said to start with a base scent and build from there. I would take “building” to mean any number of things, or, whatever you wanted it to mean.
She did have a little more information, but I don’t have the book in front of me or I’d copy it out for everyone. The impression I took away, though, is that the other fragrances would relate somehow to the basic fragrance, just like a clothing wardrobe “matches”.
No organized collecting for me. I just buy what I fall in love with (as long as I can afford it!), sniff/sample/get decants of things that I’m curious about, and generally just go where my nose leads me. I do make an attempt to “meet” the old classics, sniffing perfumes that are important historical/artistic developments in the art form. But generally I take a more whimsical attitude to this. (The rest of my life, now that’s another story…)
“Whimsical” is such a nice word to use for it! And a lot more fun.
I enjoy the way you think, Angela. Or maybe I enjoy the way you make me think. Or both.
Now I’m thinking we never should have used the wardrobe metaphor. Isn’t smelling scent more akin to eating food than wearing clothes? So we may actually be building a menu of fragrances, filling a pantry of perfumes. I eat from a wide range of foodstuffs and apply a wide range of frags, but suit up in just a narrow selection of clothing styles. I think it’s the word “wear” that has skewed our perception. What do you think?
Very interesting, Q. Especially if you consider fragrance something you consume for yourself, a “menu” of fragrances makes a lot of sense. On the other hand, if you consider scent as part of what you present to the rest of the world, “wardrobe” works well.
I’ll be chewing on this one for the day, I’m sure.
Angela – I think *you’ve* nailed an important point in all of this – whether one wears scent for oneself (food) or for what you present to others (wardrobe).
Or both? Unless the scent is quiet, other people get to experience it, like it or not.
well, in that case perhaps it’s more like collecting edible lingerie 🙂
*blushes* and runs away
NST has such creative readers! (Naughty, too, apparently.)
It is such an interesting point. That’s way I have my quite fragrances (Barbara Bui, Opal) that I wear for myself, at home, for bed. And there are chypres (Mitsouko, Diorella, Parfum de Therese, Enlevement au Serail) which I wear out of the house. I want to present myself more sophisticated.
Not that I don’t like chypres. I really do!
No explanations needed! i know exactly what you mean.
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head, Q.!
You’ve posed a useful question, Quarry. Perfume IS more like food– better yet, wine– to use it is to consume it. Clothes last much longer!
Quarry, I like your twist on this. Hmmm… a highly varied diet, where one eats foods when they are in season, is considered healthful. Right?
I was just thinking, while reading through the comments, that clothing might not be the best parallel to perfume, and lo and behold, this fantastic suggestion of food! I think perfume’s invisibility also renders it different from clothing; its suitability really is all in our minds, whereas appraising how an item of clothing looks on us is at least partly objective.
Then again, I don’t think anyone construes my menu choices as reflecting my personality (although god knows I judge people by what’s in their supermarket carts!). Perfume, however, is all tangled up in identity.
It’s certainly complicated all around, but I love pondering the different ways to think about scent.
I am definitely a “whatever grabs me” type of gal, and my perfume collection seems wildly unwieldy, but your article actually sparked something for me, because now I’m seeing some patterns amidst the chaos of bottles and sample vials! Thanks for such a thought-provoking piece as always.
Just don’t start charting them unless you have a few hours, colored pens, and a lot of paper (and ideally a glass or two of wine).
I think the wine might be mandatory. 😉
Of course!
Interesting. I should compare the notes of all my favorites and try to figure out what I reach for, when, and why.
I hope you have better luck than I did!
I started trying to catalogue my collection recently, and ended up with a sort of triangle, with the Empress of the Universe (Mitsouko) on the top, and then a few more on the next layer, then a lot more further down etc…. (there were a few out of the box that I should not have bought!).
But it is so true that there are so many considerations, and I am thinking that like food and clothing, season and time of day are top priorities.
Sounds like a feudal structure. A few serfs for everyday labor, some ducal landholders (or at least they cost that much!), and, of course, the Ruler Mitsouko.
I catalog my collection using Luca Turin’s Guide 🙂 It glows from highlighter marks.
Very thorough of you! Now, I wonder if we could chart a course through Turin’s taste.
Or his private drama…
Can someone explain to me why does he hate Sisley so much? Is it really that bad?
I know I’m not the only one who doesn’t agree with all the Perfume Guide’s ratings, but I have a copy next to my bed and love perusing it all the same! Who knows about Sisley? I have a sample of Eau du Soir and like it.
I’m having a hard time describing my, um, wardrobe, menu, candy store, whatever…
I do find that I would rather categorize my scents for the occasion, or for the mood they invoke. I have office scents, I have church scents, date scents, bedtime-when-I-want-to-sleep scents, bedtime-when-I-don’t-want-to-sleep scents ;), quietly meditative scents, take-charge scents, happyhappyjoyjoy scents, you name it. I do feel like narrowing my collection down to the Ones I Truly Love, but I don’t feel the need to pare it down to the wardrobe backbone. That’s no fun…
I do think, though, that starting at a point you already like and moving outward from there is a smart way to explore fragrance.
I know just what you mean. Yet somehow, maybe in a misguided attempt to learn about myself, I tried to find something similar, some common thread. And failed!
Oh, me, too. I have a definite leaning in my drobe in general, but my ‘backbone’ doesn’t reflect it at all.
Does your gravatar reflect you? If so, I smell some rock and roll.
Well, my hands-down fave is No. 22 edt, and if that’s not rock and roll, I don’t know what is! 😀 I have strong animalic and gourmand leanings; my top five are 22, Tabac Blond, Alien, Borneo 1834, and Tabu. I also love a good tropical floral. I don’t know what any of this says. I see no pattern except that they all have pretty big sillage.
Also, yes, it does. Zep has been my favorite band since I was 14. 🙂
Definitely rock and roll! Way glamorous, too. Excellent.
I am kind of in the same place at Mals with my system – first weather (season), then mood. Thereafter I think of timeless or fancy or at home. But sometimes I want to wear Chanel no 5 while I am cleaning around the house…. nothing like a tshirt, bluejeans (or sweats!) and vintage No 5 to cheer one up for chores!!
Anything to be more cheerful at chores! Maybe I should try that tactic.
I can see a flowchart: first season, then mood, then activity, then lists of fragrance choices at the end of each line.
Mals, you’re more organized than I am, I have no category whatsoever. The only way I can sum my drobe up is in the words of a vile character from a vile cartoon, “I do what I want!” 😉
Wait, I think those are the words of a friend’s toddler daughter!
Nice article!
My tiny perfume collection consists of free samples from Sephora but I’m sure it’ll get bigger! I’m hoping for a bottle of Cinnabar or Shalimar as a graduation present 😀
A beginner! You have a fun road of ahead of you. I like Cinnabar just fine, but I’d take Shalimar instead in a heartbeat.
I’ve never dared to wear different perfumes at one time…I can hear my mother exclaiming, “You can’t wear those plaid shorts with that striped shirt!” But what a thought provoking article. I’ve dumped out my large collection of samples on the bed and, with an eye on my day to day favorite bottles arrayed on my dresser, started shuffling them about into little groups and possible combinations.
Have fun! It’s interesting to think about day scents that, as they fade, blend well with evening scents.
It’s definitely something I *should* give some attention to, since my skin seems to hold onto base notes all day long. I tend to just reapply if needed, so I don’t clash, but this would be a good plan to have in place. I’d never figure it out on the fly though, alas.
I think to really make it work, you have to have 5 bottles of perfume max. Otherwise it takes too much planning.
Occasionally when I wear more than one perfume at a time, I’ll do something like put one on the neck/cleavage and one on the wrists… that way I can get small sillage from each without them clashing too much. Also, I am a very light applier most of the time, so that makes a big difference too. And certainly, some fragrances need a lot of space and all the attention. I can’t imagine anything that would layer with most classic Guerlains, but then Iove layering AT L’Air du Desert Marocain with other fragrances. It smells great with a simple rose soliflore!
I like the idea of having them on different appendages so you can smell them in the air as their sillages mix.
Thought-provoking comments here – lots of fun to read. I was chewing over the idea of fragrance “menus” versus fragrance “wardrobes” and the essentially practical approach to scent that both of those imply.
For me, my fragrance collection has been built from the ground up with another approach – more of an academic one. I’ve wanted to have what my nose tells me is A Great Example in each category. So that’s been my semi-systematic (and rather unwieldy and expensive, as I’ve found) approach.
Great incense? Great green? Great chypre? Great amber? Great vetiver? Great rose/jasmine/ylang/fig? I’m trackin’ them down, even if it takes me fifteen tries and the closest I can get is a short list of two or three or four.
I love, love, LOVE your idea, Angela, of starting with one thing and then doing subtle variations on it. Reading your example of white flowers really had me going; I could follow every step of your process. But then, I’ve tried all of the ones you’ve mentioned and so I “get” it. My question would be: if you were a budding perfumista, how would you KNOW enough about those subtleties, unless you’d already owned them all? Have you found a source that would give less experienced folks a bit of a hand? (I’ve found most SAs hopeless, I’m afraid.
I guess when I think about it, I use every approach mentioned. No wonder my fridge is full of nothing but bottles of fragrance and one huge drawer is devoted to samples/decants. (And I STILL don’t know if I’ve found The Great Incense. 😉 )
You raise such a good point: really the only way for a new perfume lover to figure out how to build is to figure out how to smell! And that’s harder than it sounds. I know there are some great SAs out there with a lot of experience, but a lot of them won’t be much help.
What a fun hobby, figuring out the best of the different categories! There are so many great incenses out there, too.
Robin, I also enjoy searching for my true love in each scent family or category. And it’s a great reason to keep sampling! 🙂
I don’t think I can imagine an incense more wonderful than AT’s L’Air du Desert Maroccain – but if you find it, inquiring noses want to know!
Great noses think alike, N!
I worship l’Air du Desert Marocain, but y’know, although it wears very much like an incense — it’s got heaps of resins — it’s not technically (at least in my books) an incense-based fragrance: no frankincense/olibanum, opoponax/sweet myrrh or regular myrrh – no gum-resin, in other words, from small trees and thorny bushes of the Burseracean family (or not enough to make the list of notes, which are coriander, bitter orange, lemon, bergamot, jasmine, cumin, rockrose, cistus, bourbon, geranium, cedarwood, vetiver, vanilla, patchouli and ambergris.)
See how insanely particular (and who knows – maybe even misguided) some of us perfumistas (or at least I) can be?? I tend to rely on Bo Jensen’s Small Guide to Nature’s Fragrances per the advice of NST’s Perfume Glossary, but I’m no expert on figuring it all out .
And yes, I am so persnickity/weird/delusional that Aoud/oudh/agarwood scents get their own category separate from incense.
In my list of Greats, l’Air du Desert Marocain it quite possibly The Greatest Non-incense Resinous scent, even above my beloved benzoin-crammed Bois d’Armenie.
Incense-wise, it’s a toss-up between Homage and Hinoki . . . I think. . . (!)
And I have just proven to myself and all Angela’s good readers that I have far too many fragrances for my own good. 😉
We’re all jealous!
Not everyone’s jealous, I bet. I daresay there are lots of NST readers who have collections that make mine look positively puny in comparison. (You might be one of them, Angela! It’s not in a complete vacuum that I’ve got what I’ve got, you know. 😉 )
I agree with you, Robin R. This is so true.
Your articles often inspire serious meditaion Angela! 😉 I have to admit that I have a ‘multiple perfume personality complex’. I think the only circumstances that really help me determine what I like or what to wear at a particular moment are the weather and my mood. I like, no – love, so many different notes and styles of fragrances, that there would be a slim chance for me to ever have some sort of coherent perfume wardrobe. The only consistency I have is a small list of notes that I don’t care for & tend to stay away from. I do appreciate the concept of building a perfume wardrobe, though.
It sounds like we have a similar approach. It’s true there are some fragrances I definitely won’t wear and some I like better than others, but other than that it’s all over the map. Today I’m wearing Bel Ami, but yesterday it was Songes, for instance.
Your idea of variations on a theme strikes me as something that might suit a person seeking to slightly expand her repertoire rather than just having the one signature fragrance, and I would recommend it to… let’s say non-initiates ready to be taken by the hand.
But I’m a scent slut, and my process is much messier.
One the one hand I tend to gather a comprehensive collection of historic perfumers whose work seems important to me like Edmond Roudnitska, Jacques Guerlain or Germaine Cellier, but that’s not necessarily for wearing.
On the other hand I let myself be seduced as I go along, with a few themes emerging, of vibes that seem to suit me best: fruity chypres, lactonic florals or woods…
Apart from the big tuberoses which take up so much air space I save them for evenings or lunches with Mr. Big, I really don’t have much of a categorization either: I’ll usually revolve around a dozen fragrances for awhile, or do a sort of fugue — a thing I wear one day makes me think of another, then another…
Actually, like you, I’m probably a lot more consistent with my sartorial choices, although in a way they’re divided along the same lines as the perfumes: modern, chic and black most days, vintage when the mood strikes, cleavage when required.
D, I think my comment appeared below, instead of appended to your comment, so I copy it here (sorry readers for the repetition): I agree: the “build on a basic” model is great for getting started, or for someone who likes perfume well enough but not a whole lot.
And let’s hear it for fruity chypres and cleavage! I just might need to learn to embroider so I can put that on a pillow.
Oh Angela. I so share your love of pattern-finding! The map-maker in me just eats this up and wants to find that nice structured order and connection between my fragrances. Although, it would have to be a large map to include my love of variety, so one family just wouldn’t cut it. But, I like what you’re saying- I’m kind of doing that with vetiver most readily: Encre Noir, Sycomore, Turtle Vetiver, and Guerlain all serve different functions. I’m having a harder time with my beloved patchouli, but I like how you’ve gotten the ball rolling. What’s harder is matching the clothing wardrobe in the same way. I’ve always been less capable in that realm, but it’s getting there. It all just takes so much time and money! By the way, I think I have you to thank for my mini-obsession with Joy (parfum specifically). I don’t know where or when or if I could ever wear it, but I may have to have it.
It’s a fun problem to sort out, even if it takes time and experimentation.
I’m so glad you’ve discovered Joy!
I agree: the “build on a basic” model is great for getting started, or for someone who likes perfume well enough but not a whole lot.
And let’s hear it for fruity chypres and cleavage! I just might need to learn to embroider so I can put that on a pillow.
Great post and wonderful comments! I’m similar to Rictor (finding a new woody chypre when you use up your woody chypre, etc) but I have to say, if I had the cash, I would buy bottles from entire houses – Tauer, Miller Harris, Guerlain, and L’Artisan for starters! And yeah, and maybe The Different Company, too.
That sounds like a dream come true! Don’t forget to add Ormonde Jayne and Serge.
My desire to analyse and organize and research came head-on with my perfumista tendencies. When I first began and was trying to learn about notes and accords, it was really helpful for me to make lists and lists of “type” and primary notes, and occasionally I tried to make some of those crazy circle diagrams….
I noticed that if I researched two or more very similar fragrances, then it was easier to pick out what was different and then train my nose. Eg, like comparing Stella, and then Bryant Park and then JHaG Lady Vengeance, etc… really pulls out those different patchs, woods, etc..
But overall, I organize by season and then mood. And then there are those amazing few that are above category – ones that transcend all types. IMHO, Chamade, AG Heure Exquise, No 5, Timbuktu, Lyric Woman, Shalimar, ones that kind of say: anyplace, anytime… I also tend to think of it as a top down for me: in each category florals, orientals, woods, colognes, etc, which of the ones that I have are the epitomy of the best…. Well, I could go on and on. It is fun to struggle with! Finally a puzzle, a hobby, something (art, science, nature, history!) that can hold my attention for a loooonnnggg time to come! It is good brain candy for sure.
I understand that desire to categorize! Plus, I think it’s a way to learn about yourself and what you like, too. Love the idea of the “supernumerary” list, too.
Ann, I totally agree about the organization and research, bringing these parts of yourself to a new fun hobby. (Great post Angela!). I approached learning about wine the same way: tasting different grapes side by side, reading/tasting the differences, and so on. Like wine I’ve got favorites for different seasons. My FB collection is small but I have a lot of samples that include the classics–to train my nose–and the highly rated and then ones that just sounded interesting. My current “house wine” is No. 5 Eau Premiere which I’m wearing to work most days. Looking at my FB dream list I don’t see any pattern emerge. I just have one criterion: if I still love it after I finish the sample then I’ll get it.
That sounds like a good rule to me! Eau premiere is a lovely scent to have as your house wine, too.
“House wine!” What a great term, I love it!
I’m not sure how to think of this theory! =o
On one hand, it seems strange to me to pick out every perfume based on one single perfume, but it occurs to me (just as I was typing a confusing counter-argument) that, in some ways, this does happen. The sweet powder I love is present such favorties as Brin de Reglisse (spring warmth), China White (I’m not sure what this one is but it’s heaven), Shalimar (date or blistering hot beach days ((it sounds blasphemous but I loved it))), Chanel No 5 Eau Premiere (no drama days), and Vetiver Tonka/ Lubin’s Vetyver (it’s hard to describe when these work).
So obviously, this phenomenon happens but whether people do this consciously or not, I’m interested to read. But later, as I’m running late right now.
Did you find your Cuir d’Iris? =P
Maybe it all goes back to the one thing our choices have in common: us. If we like powder, we tend to choose fragrances with powder in them.
It turns out the sample I had was Cuir Venenum. No wonder it was so sweet!
It’s like wondering which way the whirlpool’s turning: either way, you’re going down. x3
Being forever curious, I had to look that one up. Sound pretty good, but is it super-fruity? I’m not a fruit kind of guy.
Kind of fruity, yes. I like your whirlpool analogy, too.
Poo.
And thanks. =P
See, I can’t do this with clothes, either. I come out with Updated Classics with overtones of black leather motorcycle jackets, pearls, silk camisoles and platforms.
How do you build when your default perfume is Ormonde Woman?
**dithers**
I definitely see a look rising from your clothing description! A good one, too.
Ormonde Woman is one of my defaults, too. I suppose we could go grassy and green, then maybe earthy (Coze, maybe?) but it’s hard to build off that gorgeous truffly goodness.
Wow, the natural human desire to organize is sure strong among us perfume lovers! I know that one of the sources of my stress (sort of happy stress, LOL) is the ever expanding menu of options out there. How do I achieve the limits that I need so I can pretend I’m in control? How do I feed my strong urge to simplify when there is SO much to explore?
The path to sanity for me, I think, is my overarching craving for BALANCE (yes, typical Libra here). I like Robin R’s idea of Great Examples. Having at least one great fragrance in each category that I love – well, actually two in each category (one for warm weather and one for cool weather), is a good starting concept. When there are two fragrances that fit into one pigeonhole (as has happened for me, for example, with Le Temps d’une Fete and Chamade), then one has a license, oh heck – a MANDATE – to have two bottles in all the OTHER pigeonholes.
One can see the inherent problems here, yes? Perhaps I’ll toss everything except my exceptionally balanced and versatile bottle of Shaal Nur.
No! No! Don’t toss those bottles! There’s a beauty to a certain amount of passionate disorder among an otherwise ordered life.
She won’t “toss,” she’ll “pass them on to good homes.” Right?
Right??
OK, I won’t toss. But some culling might be in order. Angela, I need to loosen up and learn some appreciation for that “passionate disorder’ thing. Excellent advice! 🙂
I get the culling urge sometimes, too, and end up giving away bottles. But I wonder if it’s safer to relegate the culled bottles to the basement for a few months just to see how you feel about it? You can always clean out your linen closet or something to feed that urge to clean up and simplify in the meantime.
Does anybody know if Chanel n19 ever contained natural civet? I have just found out about civet musk and it has seriously freaked me out. Will be grateful for any info.
I don’t see civet listed in the basenotes list of notes for No. 19, but if it ever did have civet, I’m almost positive it doesn’t have real civet now. Since it was released in the 1970s, it may have (*may* because I don’t know) had a civet-like note, but probably not the real thing.
Bottomline: no reason to be freaked out.
Angela, I had a really long work day and reading your article made me smile – I have my own fragrance wardrobe, categorized by emotions and notes, and I also take charge of my husband’s fragrance wardrobe (is it weird I spend more time and money on his?).
Oh, and I dropped into a Salvation Army today off the beaten path (I pretended it was a bathroom stop) and found this crazy kitschy silk scarf from Venice for $2.99. In short, it rocks. And begging to be worn, like immediately.
Great score at the Salv Army! I love things like that.
I’m glad I’m not the only one with the urge to sort perfume.
“Not the only one”? Angela, it’s you and Robin and Kevin and carmencanada (Grain de Musc) and all the other great fragrance bloggers out there who have collectively spawned the hundreds and hundreds of us rabid readers/collectors/organizers/categorizers/assortedfragfreaks!!!!
Y’all just wanted some company. 😉
I guess you can read it as “misery loves company” or “the more the merrier”!
If my perfume collection ends up anywhere near the scope of my clothing collection we’re all doomed lol! I suppose I have all sorts of scents, I guess I’m building my scent wardrobe by picking the things that smell good to and on me. I’ll take the skinny jeans and the sundress too!
and I may have to buy Fumerie Turque as my hockey perfume… sure was lucky yesterday!
Oh, Bunny, I would love to see the look on Uncle Serge’s face if he ever learns that Fumerie Turque is your hockey perfume – LOL!
Serge might be more a polo man.
I bet that look would be wide-eyed and confused! LOL
Congratulations on the big win! That’s exciting. And Fumerie Turque, too! Great combo.
Being a newbie to this site here are my thoughts…
I have always had a summer (warm weather) fragrance and a winter (cold weather) fragrance (s). I tend to favour the Cool Water aquatic scents in the summer and the more intoxicating scents like Halston in the winter. Now mind you I have work fragrances Jlo Glow or Lather or a light floral.
And of course the fragrance to make the hubby happy Pink Sugar (which I cannot stand but he loves go figure).
Welcome! Isn’t it funny how men sometimes like sweet, gourmand fragrances? I have a friend whose husband loves vanilla scents. My friend like the original Fendi, but for her husband she wears Hanae Mori from time to time, and he loves it. I bet he’d like Pink Sugar, too!
what a fascinating idea!
a few years ago, i grouped my scents by notes and was not, actually, astounded to see such a strong. strong coordination among my various perfumes, the same collection of notes.
then i did my daughter’s, and the same similarity occurred there too.
i guess i shouldn’t be as surprised as i ended up being, tho…..after all, perfumes are so individual, so personal, so utterly chosen by the soul, by the gut, that i would think it would be more common to find vast irregularities.
But I guess that is not giving your better senses credit for what they are doing in selecting for yourself.
You have a good point: the one thing in common in our perfume choices is us. We all have our own likes and dislikes, so it makes sense, for instance, that you might have lots of fragrances with lavender and I might have lots with leather or something like that.
plus–and this is really amusing and fun–one of my sons shares the same notes (i haven’t checked the other son yet).
could it be that our body chemistry is similar since we are related? and that that body chemistry is what is guiding us towards our particular choices?
wish i knew…….
Body chemistry, taste, or even happy associations! Maybe your son associates certain notes with you, so he likes them even more. (I like that explanation–it’s so darned sweet.)
Angela, great topic! I will be thinking about your original question and many of the comments for some time.
While I’d like to think I’m entirely open and eclectic, I do remember looking up my then-favorite perfumes in a guide to fragrance notes back in the 80s, and finding that most of them fell into the oriental category. Even now, when I’ve tried all sorts of things, I think the ones I like best are in or around the perimeter of the oriental category. For example, I love Joy, which is a floral (if not THE floral), yet it’s so rich and deep that it borders on oriental. So my preferences are a bit like that base scent idea, after all…
It sounds like you like deep, rich fragrances, so there’s definitely a relationship there.
Angela,
Loved this thread and it entertained me while waiting to fly out of post-Olympic Vancouver — told to check in five hours before departure but being a rebel I arrived three hours ahead of time and am stuck in the midst of souvenir purgatory.
I thought citrus was it for me but I discovered only certain citrus inspired. Today,I am wearing l’eau d’orange verte but what I really want is O de Lancome (the original formulation). You can’t always get what you want!
At the end of the day,I always come back to Cristalle and my quest is to find a scent that made me feel the way I felt thirty years ago when I bought my first bottle.
Many thanks for the thought-provoking topic.
All of those are such fabulous crisp fragrances! I love the mix of citrus and oakmoss. Keep your eyes open for the O. You just never know. You might find some vintage Climat, too.
I love your Cristalle nostalgia. It reminds me of people wishing to re-capture the pleasure of the first time they read their favourite Jane Austen novel. Fortunately there is always something new to find in Austen. And Cristalle too for you, hopefully.
Gorgeous thought!
While my natural tendency is to obsessively overanalyze, the realities of how my mind and skin react to perfume — my mind hates about 80% of everything; my skin hates about 90% of what’s left — leave me with no choice but to cherish what little works for me, no questions asked!
That sounds like a blessing in some ways. Having the selection narrowed down for you makes it a lot easier to hone in on what you’ll love. (Or is that just glass-half-full thinking?)
This is such a great article, as always. I love it when you guys write about the ins and outs of being a perfume lover.
I try to counteract my habit of falling for and buying fragrances that smell more or less the same, I have this feeling that I should branch out more and need a more varied scent wardrobe. As far as planning goes, eh – I do have lists of things I should buy as soon as I’m able to (Mitsouko has been at the top of that list for years now, for instance, but maybe I should just hold out for a vintage bottle), but I usually end up buying things that just happen in my way instead. My last four or five buys were vintage finds, unexpected bargains and refills of fragrances I can’t imagine life without.
I have a list of bottles of perfume I’d like to buy, but like you I’m easily drawn off track depending on what’s in my path. Still, how can you pass by serendipity?
What a thoughtful article!
I didn’t consciously “build up” my collection, of course, but looking at the fragrances I wear the most I do see a common thread, or a couple of threads, that tie up toghether what I love.
Reflecting my “real life” persona, my favorite fragrances seem to be all quite loaded in notes the french call “solaires”. Even my chypres, are rather sunny and floral. And, for my darker side, I soothe myself or broode wrapped up in simple woods, balsams and resins. Vanilla and acquatics are banned. The roses are fine only if crowned (again) with woods and spices. Otherwise, they are verboten, too.
In any case, my absolute favorites are the white queens: Beyond love and Fracas, Kai and Carnal flower. (I might have to add to the list two simple soliflores I just discovered and loved: the orange blossoms and Tuberose perfume concentration from the Prada exclusive line. Very simple, and very beautiful. They might be showing that I’m getting drawn towards another thread: the almost “solinote”, as kai and BL….)
It sounds like there’s lots of cohesiveness in your perfume wardrobe. Nice! You definitely know what you like, which must make sampling perfume so much easier.
Oh, I’m not sure I know what I like a priori… It’s much easier to find a thread a posteriori!!! So I might be cheating a bit here ;)… Also, I don’t have such a huge fragrance wardrobe, which helps! But there are so many unknown (to me) HG out there that wait to be discovered… and to throw some chaos in my well organized patterns!!!
What enjoyable chaos, though!
Since the success of “French Women Don’t Get Fat” a lot of books have mushroomed to prove French women do everything better. Now it’s the season of Lent and we eat a lot of beans over here, but aparently French Women Don’t Fart of there’ll be a book about it 🙂
My fragrance wardrobe is built around “season notes”. Green, sharp and bright for spring (Issey Myiake A Scent is a great casual example, the elegant work partner would be Prada Infusion D’Iris.
Herbal, citrus and coconut would be summer. Bronze Goddess, Premier Figuier Extreme, Fico di Amalfi, Herba Fresca, Jardin Sur Le Nil etc. Or rose in all its beauty – Un Zeste de Rose, or even Dior Addict 2. Or for a special day, Poeme.
Autumn would be falling leaves, driftwood, salt, vetiver, ginger. Lolita Lempicka Fleur de Corail, Eau de Merveilles, Encre Noire for men, Miracle
Winter can be cold and dark (Midnight Poison) or warm by the crackling fire (Hypnotic Poison), or joy and a festive atmosphere (Dolce Vita)
I feel I don’t celebrate seasons as I used to do, and that makes me a little sad, so the least I can do is mark them through scents!
From all the comments here, it looks like lots of us build our perfume wardrobes around the seasons. I’m glad you can at least experience the seasons that way, if the weather isn’t going to cooperate!
I would concur with the Seasons theory. It makes the most sense, and we Perfumistas are nothing if not perfectly logical in systematising and justifying our fragrance wardrobe! I thought I’d posted on this article, but cannot see it – apologies if i repeat myself!
My base notes are musk, wood, incense and gourmands. With a little lightness thrown in during summer time with Bigarade Concentree, Passage D’Enfer and Vetiver Extraordinnaire. I’ve given up trying to create a varied collection and accepted that I just don’t enjoy wearing florals and citrus (apart from Bigarade!!) And my wardrobe seems to consist of L’Artisan and mainly Giacobetti and Duchafour and Ellena!!! Top designer labels!!
It is 78 F all year round here in Guam, with no seasonal changes – and every once in a while I feel deprived of the possibility to wear heavier/winter stuff, or moody/automnal scents. I had to edit my perfume preferences and stick with the ones that do not evaporate and do not smell “synthetic” because even indoors feels like outdors most of the time. And no coconut smell, please, unless one wants to totally blend with the scenery! Poor me (smile). Great article, as always, Angela!
On one hand, I love the idea of tropical warmth. On the other, I sure love my cool weather perfume! I suppose there are lots of lovely warm weather scents, too.
Great article, Angela! I love how you built the white flowers wardrobe, it made such perfect sense and appealed to my spreadsheet-loving side 🙂
I have a thing for roses but go about my collection rather randomly. I try not to have too many rose fragrances at the same time because I do like variety. So there’s always some white flowers and some citrus and some aqua-y fragrances in my collection. I don’t have occassion scents as such – I use one a day regardless of what I’m doing and the choice is almost always based on the weather forecast in the morning!
I have been very good this year so far and have not bought a single fragrance – am saving all the pent-up longing for my trip to Europe in June!
Also, I must have been living under a rock but I tried Chanel No. 5 in Eau de Toilette for the first time last weekend – and loved it! I didn’t really like the Eau de Parfum (way too powdery and reminded me of stiff old ladies wearing pearls) and somehow thought the EdT would just be a lighter version …. but it’s not, it practically radiates on my skin! So on the wish list it goes.
Nice! What a great discovery. It’s hard to go wrong with that one.
There are so many great roses out there to choose from! Maybe you can pick up another bottle on your trip to Europe.
Ooh, I like the topic! Didn’t read all the comments (So. Many!) but I must say I love Quarry’s notion of a fragrant smörgåsbord rather than a wardrobe.
I don’t think I could ever do “base scent” and its satellite scents, though. Sounds too much like a glorified HG ideal: I mean, imagine the stress to pick that one perfect base scent! And to be forever just wearing riffs off that theme! Nuh-uh.
The system *has* had its use, though: when I just started out and was utterly overwhelmed with choice, I would pick a note I thought I fancied, and sample everything that boasted it. Helped me learn systematically. But then I would pick the best out of the lot I sampled to buy (a decant of), and move on to the next note.
So now I have my woody oriental and my neroli and my fig, they don’t match and I still love ’em.
You’re so right–that’s a lot of pressure to choose the right base scent! If you were really a fanatic about it and decided you didn’t like the base scent, you might end up tossing the whole lot.
I looked at one of my stashes today, and came to the realization I am neurotic. And random. 🙂
And find it really difficult to give anything up, even if I won’t wear it.
You’re in good company. My last four perfume choices, in order, were Songes, Bel Ami, Shalimar, and now Le Dix. Definitely random.
Bel Ami and le Dix I don’t know… But Shalimar and Songes are quite related to my nose: both would qualify as heady and vaguely exotic “vanillés capiteux”… at least for me… Maybe I see patterns everywhere… I studied too much physics ;)!
They both have a certain “grand dame” way about them, too. Hermes Bel Ami is a gorgeous scent intended for men with a delightfully funky cardamom note. Le Dix is an aldehydic floral featuring violet and lots of creamy sandalwood.
And DO NOT give anything up! Learn from others’ mistakes: once, in a mad frenzy of “clearing out things I never use”, I put out to the curb a lot of bottles of fragrances I didn’t wear, Diva, Calyx, many, many miniatures. . .. Needless to say, I seriously regret that now. I should have at least kept decants for reference.
I’ve given perfumes up, too, only to regret it later.
My biggest regret is swapping away a 100 ml bottle of Noir Epices. Crazy, crazy me.
Ouch! I feel your pain!
Thank you Angela for yet another exciting article!!!
The trouble with building on a base, is that you have to have a base… like many other people here, my collection so far (23 FB & about 25 samples) is neurotic, random, and suggests MPD–*except* the two bottles of Shalimar parfum. Which I have taken to wearing far to often for the taste of my staff, and is seemingly unrelated to anything else in my scent wardrobe.
I am getting more picky about what I add now, but there isn’t a theme that runs through the way it does through my style of dress. I kind of wish that I had a theme in my fragrances though. Maybe it’s just that, as a perfumista, I’m still a two-year old. “Mine!” and “Why (not)? are the extent of my vocabulary : )
I love your characterization of the budding perfumista vocabulary! I definitely feel that way, too. Well, the pleasure from wading through all the wonderful if unrelated smells is worth the lack of order.
I started by collecting the Master pieces from TPG(so many, never finished) without sniffing and seriously have fallen in love with all of them, I look around me and read reviews and order without sampling and love a surprise. Have 5 differant wardrobes I guess, one for hubby, and 4 one for each of my chidren— Don’t know anything about base notes, citrus, woods ect., don’t consider myself a perfumista, I just love perfumes, colonge, and body products, (my 8 yr. old boy loves and wear Angel)
Ordering without sniffing is such an exciting surprise! Sometimes disappointing and sometimes expensive, but I admit I do it, too, from time to time.
Enjoy your many perfume wardrobes!
oops! ment wears Angel, I get all the perfumes knowledge here at NST, and I thank you for the exciting review Agela.
I know just what you meant, and I love it that he wears Angel! He must smell like a real angel.
GREAT! Fun idea – it is all about identity I think?
I seldon buy clothes as well as perfume. There has to be quality and a certain classic style about it, and sometimes both need to be calssic and also fun, e.g. with afany colour and classic cut.
It takes me several weeks to decide to buy stuff, and I am not a casual shopper.
I love white florals and rose and my non-perfume wardrobe is based on not so expensive cashmere cardigans and sweaters, a handfull dresses, jeans. Black, marine, white, pink.
Basic perfume aka LBD: Kelly Caleche or Coco Mademoiselle Extrait.
Sexier: SL A la Nuit, Nahema
Business: Allure and Allure Sensuelle
Daily and fun wear: Nahema and Les Jardins
Dressed for success: Amaranthine, also A la Nuit (gets disturbing with a business dress 😉
All my clothes and accessoires fit together and I have only a small wardrobe.
I think it is important to break out of your style and try or add something new. With perfume and clothes!
I see a definite beautiful but somewhat classical and passionate trend in your choices! I agree that it’s important to break out of a beauty/clothing/perfume rut. It’s easier in perfume, I guess, than in some areas.
Oh sorry for the several typos!
Don’t even think twice about it. I make typos all the time.
I buy randomly but then organize my perfumes loosely into summer and winter. I have a list called “summer rotation” and a list called “winter rotation”. Then I go through the rotation, wearing a new scent each day regardless of what I’m doing, and thats the scent for the whole day. If a perfume that comes up on the list isn’t suitable for some reason, I will choose another from the rotation. This wayh all my perfumes get an airing, and I’ve got so many that I don’t really know which one is going to be next. I know this wouldn’t work for everyone (or anyone!) but it strangely works for me.
That’s a great way not to get into the habit of wearing whatever you’ve been loving lately. Just today I wore Le Dix, which I haven’t worn for ages, and remembered why I like it so much. If I had your plan, I’d probably rediscover so much!
Yes, thats clarified it for me, I think thats why it works for me, I’m wearing a perfume that I might not have chosen, and so sort of “rediscover” it, and am reminded of why I bought it in the first place. 🙂
Dear Angela,
Thank you so much for that article! For a while I thought that there is something wrong with me having so many SO different fragrances, I even used to think that this is bad of me to them, that I’m unfaithful to my favourites when using other scents. But you make it all make sense.
And what a wonderful insight! My base fragrances are indeed Bandit and Cabochard. And my summer rave is SO Vent Vert! But also the powerful super-citrus-leather Tuscany per Uomo by Aramis. For sparkling freshness that still turns heads full with questions and interest is Cabaret. And for peaceful moments (a rarity for a Bandit person) I have my faithful Habit Rouge that works wonderful every time. My totally transparent, wonderful and gentle choice is Fidji.
And my more “human” fragrance is indeed Jolie Madame, though I personally tend to see violets as garden kind of thing, and powder as a nostalgic grandma’s wardrobe full of fashion wonders (she used to be our family designer), which makes for a personal experience more than a social one. The most “social” thing I have is Kelly Caleche.
But my one and only pijama scent is and will always be the vintage Eau de Givenchy.
BR,
Manna
I forgot to mention that I use Moustache by Rochas or 4711 (or the soli-lemon relaunch of Balmain Monseneur) to sprinkle newly washed sheets. 🙂 And also strange as it goes, I adore Folie Douce, so retro!
What a fun comment to read! I felt like I smelled my way right through it. I especially love the thought of Moustache on sheets, and I’ll make an effort to smell some Tuscany per Uomo soon.
About a year ago I started wondering what my personal scent families were composed of and it ended up helping me tremendously in my fragrance purchasing. I too, store my summer fragrances safely while I bring out my winter collection – yet I still find similar notes between the 2 seasons: neroli, rose, amber, sandalwood, a touch of patchouli and sometimes some mosses. Unlike so many of you, I choose a fragrance to wear and I end up not changing it for about a week. I spritz some on in the morning and if I’m going out at night I spritz on some more. This week I am thoroughly enjoying Fendi’s Pallazzo – last week was SL Mageste Rose. Even tho it’s the same fragrance I find that it captures my “need” for the week. It’s not related to my clothing for the day – it’s all about something that I deeply or intrinsically crave/feel.
Your approach inspires me to give it a try! I bet you really come to understand each fragrance better after wearing it a full week.
I happened using the word “wardrobe” and “collect(able)” in my latest blog entry! What a coincidence! Well, I was talking about wearing the same perfume with others.
I love how you portrayed the Rykiel’s words. I have never thought about it before. But I did mix up perfumes when I bought my first Mitsouko EdT. It’s such a pleasure for me to blend Mitsouko with other Guerlains, Vetiver, for example. Or having a base like Sugar by Fresh, that’s when I want everything being warmer and sweeter.
Maybe that’s how I built up my wardrobe, as messy as my collections.
I’ve never been very brave about layering perfumes, especially Guerlain! But your approach inspires me.