In last week’s comments on the Guerlain Parure review, the idea of smelling “like a million bucks” arose. It got me thinking. What does it mean to smell rich?
Of course, we all know that just because a fragrance costs a lot of money doesn’t mean it smells expensive. First, practically every fragrance outside the drugstore costs a packet, yet they convey messages ranging from “I found a fragrance that expresses who I am, and I love it” to “I don’t have a mind of my own and will buy whatever smells bearable at first whiff” to “I’m a fifty-cent hooker.” (Sadly, you can spend hundreds of dollars to smell like a fifty-cent hooker.) Conversely, some relatively inexpensive fragrances could successfully waft through the halls of the fanciest opera houses, in my opinion. Balenciaga Le Dix, Rochas Madame Rochas, and Faith Hill by Faith Hill all smell like class to me, yet all can be found online for a fraction of what you'd pay for a new fragrance in a department store.
“Tasteful” and “rich” aren’t the same, either. Just because someone has money doesn’t mean he or she spends it with good taste. (If you doubt me, see the documentary The Queen of Versailles.) Throwing money around can mean you end up wearing whatever they’re pushing at the Vegas boutique you stroll into. Or a Clive Christian or JAR, not because you love them, but because they’re hard to find and costly to acquire. They don’t necessarily smell “rich," and some people might question how tasteful they are, depending on how and where you wear them.
So, what does, then, smell like money? Brice Terrible, the amazing Nordstrom fragrance sales associate (hey, he calls me “doll” and always manages to look like he’s fresh back from Palm Springs) chooses Chanel No. 5 for women and Aramis by Aramis or Jo Malone Lime, Basil and Mandarin for men as rich-smelling fragrances. In his view, smelling rich means going traditional. He adds that “fun” rich types might choose Hermès Eau des Merveilles.
On the other hand, when I pose the question to my friend, Joseph, a 30-year-old man who does a lot of thinking about people and society, he notes that rich people might wear a big perfume that says, “Look at me.” Their perfume would be chosen to command the attention of the people surrounding them. Boucheron by Boucheron comes to mind. So does a big classic fougère like Christian Dior Jules.
To me, having money doesn’t necessarily mean having taste, but it might mean coming from a tradition of expensive things — including perfume. When you’re used to wearing perfume daily instead of saving it for special occasions, and you’ve smelled perfume all your life, you might become more willing to wear “perfume-y” fragrances, such as aldehydic florals and abstract blends, like classic Christian Dior Miss Dior and Hermès Calèche.
And then, there’s literally smelling like a million dollars — a million in green bills. I imagine them slightly oily, redolent of rag cotton. I can’t believe no one has made that perfume yet.
For you, what does “rich” smell like, both for real and clichéd? What inexpensive fragrances to you smell rich? Do you care how rich you smell?
Note: top image is Money by AMagill at flickr; some rights reserved.
Bath and Body Works’ Orange Sapphire is inexpensive and smells like a million bucks to me. It is discontinued but I try to catch it during their semiannual sale.
Tom Ford’s Santal Blush is my go to cologne that costs a pretty penny and smells rich and classy.
I love the idea of a bargain Bath and Body Works fragrance smelling like a million dollars! It’s sort of a secret “gotcha.”
Really smooth leather always smells like pure luxury to me, like a fancy luggage store. I think Donna Karan Signature, with its subtle suede note, conveys “I have money and I spend it well” excellently.
So true. Those glove leathers can smell so luxurious. Cuir de Lancome is another good, luxurious leather.
Yes, I see a connection between DK Signature and CdL, though the latter is much more overtly leathery.
I have to admit that it’s been way too long since I’ve smelled DK Signature.
I used to have a job that required a lot of hugging and air-kissing with “ladies of a certain age,” and when I think of rich I think of them. Not that they all were, necessarily, but they put themselves together with classic grace in mind. Mostly they smelled like aldehydes, dense, powdery cosmetics and little whiffs of their leather handbags and furs. Nothing to sweet, and never, ever a near danger of having over-applied.
Field research! What you describe sounds exactly how I imagine traditional “rich” smells.
I smell White Diamonds on ladies around here – I realize at some point it is the fragrance I always smelled when I was a kid in church on the women around me. That one could definitely be construed as a fragrance to evoke wealth.
I completely agree, especially if it’s applied with a gentle hand.
The old black Armani.
Was that the one with rose? It would be especially “rich” now since it’s so hard to find.
It is true it now is rare, but it already smelled posh to me back when I thought it was something second rate because I had no idea who the heck Armani was. I’m not sure about the rose, I know it is very dark, labdanum-rich and mossy. Actually, I think labdanum and moss smell like a million dollars, and this one has plenty of both.
Jolie Madame is another good one, going on the leathery direction suggested by Ellisa. And can be easily found for very affordable prices!
I think I was remembering another Armani that I must have first smelled (and loved) in the late 1980s. I wish I could smell it now. All I have is a vague memory of a rose chypre. I do adore Jolie Madame!
Of course it’s a rose, now that you said it I can see! 🙂 Wearing three good sprays of Armani today, and loving it more than ever. A rose, of all things…
Nice!
I think that Dia or Gold or Ubar (men’s or women’s) smells rich to me. Any Amouage, fits the bill, really. Even my beloved, Beloved, which is truly a wallet and CC breaker, smells just divinely costly. Amouage smell rich even if you don’t know what or how costly they are. And they perform! They are the thoroughbreds of the fragrance world.
If it’s perfumista “insider” rich, I’d say MCDI Promesse de l’Aube, just b/c it is costly and does smell very put together. Or one of the Liz Zorn Soivohle fragrances, b/c they have such superior ingredients.
If it’s common knowledge of the smell of rich, then I’m going to have to dig into the past and say that one, massive 80s fragrance has that perception of money: Giorgio Beverly Hills. If you can offend everyone in the room, then you can afford to do it, right? One needs enough space for bags, fancy dogs, and a security team.
Amouage Gold really does smell like a million bucks. It’s big, it’s aldehydic, it’s floral, and it commands attention. I love the idea of a perfumista “insider” rich, too. And a crass Beverly Hills rich ready for the paparazzi!
Before I even read your comment, Ann, I thought of Giorgio. Back in the 80s when it was popular, I remember attending the big charity ball in Saratoga Springs, NY during the horse sales. When I walked into the huge tent, the air was dense with it! So here was a group of extremely wealthy women wearing a big fragrance and over applying it. Counter intuitive to me!
That sort of goes to Joseph’s observation that a rich person might be used to a privileged position that doesn’t include respecting the olfactory space of we plebeians.
The same thing happened much later – 2007 – here in Lex. except the smell was cedar. I never did figure out what the scent was. I assume it was coming from the men that night.
Now that’s interesting. I wonder what it was?
Perfumes that spell M O N E Y to me…
Not new money as in “I just won the lottery” or “Soccer star’s wife” but like Vanderbilt, Billionaire’s boardroom, LVMH Heiress style old world money…
28 La Pausa by Chanel
Eau Parfumé au thé vert by Bulgari
Heritage by Guerlain
Vetiver-Tonka by Hermes
Eau de Campagne by Sisley
The thé Vert is the EXTREME version…. Sorry!
I just smelled Heritage for the first time a few months ago, and you’re so right–it smells rich rich rich. (I loved it. Wish I’d bought the bottle, especially since it was at Goodwill.) Your other choices are great, too–very well considered!
It’s easy Angie, I’ve got the taste of an Duke, with the budget of a peasant… I have accepted that fact in my life LOL!
Cheers!
A duke.. freaky autocorrect!
Really, isn’t wealth wasted on the rich (to riff off of Oscar Wilde)?
I remember reading an article in the Houston newspaper about 30 or so years ago in which they asked a number wealthy socialites which perfumes they wore. Nearly all of them claimed to wear Joy (I think there might have been one who wore something else, but I don’t recall what it was), some of them exclusively, and the most common reason given was that it was expensive. Of course, this was before the era of niche perfume, so I wonder what the answers would be today.
I’m surprised there weren’t a few Chanel No. 5s tossed in there! But Joy does not surprise me. Yes, I wonder if some Clive Christian would have sneaked on the list by now. I wish someone would re-run that poll.
While No. 5 *smells* rich, it doesn’t have the price point! 😉
Patou really was a genius when he marketed Joy as the Most Expensive Perfume ever.
The first few fragrances that come to mind as smelling rich to me are Cuir de Lancome, Coco and Bottega Veneta EdT, though I’m not exactly sure I could explain why. Oh, and Cuir de Russie, too – so it’s looking like Chanel and/or leather smell rich to me, I guess. And just typing that made me realize I need to add No19 to the list!
There’s also something rich smelling about O de Lancome to me, though in a different way from the first scents I listed, if that makes any sense. It’s not leather or Chanel, obviously.
I bought my two bottles of Cuir de Lancome when it was still around $40 at the discounters, so I’d say it qualifies as an bargain rich-smelling fragrance.
That’s funny–I mentioned Cuir de Lancome in a comment above as a rich-smelling fragrance to me, too! Cuir de Russie definitely makes the cut. (My decant of it has run dry, too. Note to self: get more Cuir de Russie.) I can definitely see why you’d add O to the list.
I have to agree with Melissa, above. My mother was a high level fundraiser for a prominent national charity and I was pressed into service at a very young age as a kind of ‘coat check’ girl for charity events. I remember the “air kiss” ladies well, and Melissa, you’ve captured them perfectly. They were always perfumed, but never to excess, and I used to love hugging the fur coats before I’d hang them up, pressing them just a bit to express the lingering fragrances.
To this day, nothing smells ‘riche’ to me as much as a fur lightly scented with something aldehydic and expensive. I wasn’t terribly perfume-savvy in those days, but Guerlains and Carons and Chanels were usually in evidence. Not the well-known ones, of course, much too common. And I’ve often wondered if any of the scents were bespoke. Or did they do that back in those days?
I love the image of smelling the fur coats! I would have loved to have known what fragrances the women actually wore. I bet Arpege made the cut.
Beautifully evoked! I wonder whether there’s a lovely aldehydic floral out there with the soft furry base built right in? I don’t know that I’d wear something like that often but I’d love to smell it.
I bet a lot of the old-school fragrances would satisfy that feeling with their fusty mossy bases. Add a hint of civet or castoreum, and you have plenty of animal to smell. Plus, remember those fragrances like Zibeline from Weil? They were actually named after furs.
Blenheim Bouquet! Made for the Sunny, 9th Duke of Marlborough who married Consuelo Vanderbilt, he had the class and she had the cash (Well her mother, Alva, had the cash and forced her to marry the impoverished Duke!)
Sounds like the perfect fragrance to wear while watching Downton Abbey!
So many “old money” folks seem to keep the hairstyle and general style they had during their college years. I wonder if it the same with scent and whatever they wore at Smith or Cornell is what they wear for the rest of their lives.
Chanel Bois de Iles, 19, Critalle, Pour Monsieur, and Cuir de Russie all smell like money to me as does Guerlain Derby and the classics like Mitsouko, Jicky, Chamade, and L’Heure Bleue. Many of the old Lauders smell like country club money: Private Collection, Aliage, Azuree, and White Linen.
I thought about Chamade when I was writing the post, then I decided it was too romantic and open-hearted to smell rich. Not that it smells cheap at all!
Plenty of Chanels smell “rich” to me (and very few of them work for me – peasant blood will out! 🙂 ). But 24 Faubourg is the scent that immediately comes to my mind when you say “rich.” I must be defining rich as elegant!
I think it’s the aldehydes in those classic Chanels. You’re so right about 24 Faubourg, too.
Hi Angela,
I agree that frequently, going traditional and using fragrances that you can smell the quality or “authenticity” of ingredients is an easy way to smell like money.
I also think that when you are scented correctly with the occasion is a key.
I tend to opt for fragrances that have more of a “body” that requires confidence to wear without being weighed down by it and only having low to moderate spillage because, I feel elegance and class should never be “in-your-face”.
I don’t wear this often but a cheaper choice I would suggest is Infusion d’Iris from Prada (discounter price of course 😉 ).
Oh yes, that one does have a rich smell about it. And if it came from a discounter, so much the better!
I love wearing my Profumo by Acqua do Parma, Vol de Nuit extrait, Shalimar Ode a la Vanille, 24 Faubourg EdP for the “million effect”. 🙂
I adore Vol de Nuit extrait. It’s so comforting to me, and gorgeous.
I never had the pleasure of smelling them but I somehow think that Aedes de Venustas smells expensive.
Amouage my gosh I need to just smell one. None of these fantastic creations are obtainable where I am. Kind of a shame really 🙁
Or a blessing for your bank account…
Great topic and post, Angela! My vote would go to Vol de Nuit, Cuir de Russie, and Parfum Sacre, although there are scores of others that fit the bill as well.
I remember reading an interview with J. P. Guerlain about Plus Que Jamais. He said he was trying to achieve the metallic scent of money in that fragrance. To my nose he achieved his goal, and that metallic scent is what kept me from loving it!
You’ve listed some of my favorites! That said, I don’t think I smell exactly like a million bucks. More like $49.99.
How interesting about Plus Que Jamais!
LOL! I agree, except you won’t find any of them for $49.99 (not sure about the Caron – I only have a sample).
True! Sadly.
DS & Durga had a fragrance called “$” that was supposed to smell like money.
To my nose (I only have a sample), it smells of tuberose and leather, and it smells good!
If only money smelled like tuberose and leather! I’d get all my legal tender in ones just to amplify the effect.
First by Van Cleef & Arpels. Quelques Fleur by Houbigant. These are my picks.
Great picks for two different sorts of fancy women.
To me scents like Promesse de L’Aube, 31, Rue Cambon and Infusion Iris Absolue smell rich in an elegant and understated way, whereas, Invasion Barbare for example very directly projects: I am rich.
And I find some of the By Kilians smell quite rich due to their opulence especially Liaisons Dangereuses. And the Hermessence line smells rich to me too due to its exceptional refinement.
You’re definitely talking about tasteful rich!
Fragrances that I think smell expensive (or perhaps luxurious conveys more closely what I mean) are, in no particular order:
Chanel: Cuir de Russie, esp. in extrait, Chanel No.5
Amouage: Gold
Divine: Divine “a lovely animalic floral that smells deliciously expensive and isn’t”
MDCI: Invasion Barbare, La Promesse de l’Aube.
I keep forgetting about Divine, but it fits right in with that tingly whiff of aldehydes and lovely floral heart.
Parfum d’Hermes in extrait smells extremely expensive to me: an incensey floral-oriental chypre, rich, dense, plush, lush, luxurious in a way that nothing is any more. The reformulations have none of the original’s impact, alas. I have a half-ounce bottle that I am using very, very sparingly.
Oh yes, Parfum d’Hermes. That is such a gorgeous fragrance and it gets so little attention. I’m going to have to dig out my sample.
Mille (1000) de Patou
Yes!
I second this!
I really want to smell 1000 now that Patou has been sold to a company that really seems to be taking good care of the fragrances.
For me, Bond No. 9 Wall Street makes me think of money, or at least people that work with finances (would be office appropriate and can be worn by either gender). It has that crisp scent of new bills.
This was one Brice Terrible named, too!
Portrait of a Lady. It always makes me think of the huge John Singer Sargent portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner hanging in the Gardner Museum in Boston. Hard to live up to that one!
Both the portrait and the fragrance are bigger than life, really–and both beautiful.
Amouage Tribute Attar makes me feel like a million bucks. There’s elegance in the simplicity of the bottle and the attar is just so luxurious.
A few people had already mentioned Prada Infusion d’Iris Absolue. I always feel like TWO million bucks – beautiful GOLD bottle and wonderful gold juice.
The Tribute Attar does cost a million bucks–approximately! The Infusion d’Iris Absolue is a bargain, though, for that rich iris. To me, it’s a worthy substitute to the much more expensive Xerjoff Irisss.
If I wanted to smell rich, I would definitely go for a Chanel; which one would depend on the occasion. Puredistance I would also do very nicely.
Chanel seems to be consistently chosen as a millionaire’s perfume house.
I watched The Queen of Versailles recently, I remember thinking why Jackie Siegel did not carry a Hermes bag if she was loaded. Instead she carried many gaudy handbags. I felt sorry for her in the movie-she was absolutely clueless, and her husband was just awful to her. I hoped they changed their ways after they saw how they were depicted in the documentary .
Anyway what does a rich person where…hmmm…how about Chanel’s Cuir de Russie. Those Hermes handbags are way overpriced, but they are sure beautiful. I always think rich people smell like pomegranate, expensive soap from Santa Maria Novella.
Wasn’t that a shocking movie in some ways? My mouth was hanging open during most of it. I just kept thinking of how that money could better be spent.
Cuir de Russie is getting a lot of love today! I’m glad, of course, since I love that one.
Angela,
I could not believe the dog poop on the floor in their mansion. Seriously? It does not matter if you are rich or poor–everybody suffers. My mother in law said she couldn’t stand to see people behaving stupidly. I just felt pity, and I felt so sorry for her children. They seemed much smarter than the parents! I wish the children much happiness after growing up in a family like that.
But rich, trashy people don’t wear Chanel. She would wear a celebrity scent-I’ll give her Paris Hilton.
That sounds about right to me.
It really was shocking. I love animals, too–but I certainly house train them.
Not many gourmands have been mentioned. Why is that? Plenty of chypres, florals and orientals … but do we not associate wealth with foodie fragrances?
For my money 🙂 , leather smells of money so I agree with those who suggest Cuir de Lancome and Cuir de Russie. And just about anything by Hermes.
Oh, now that’s interesting. Maybe vanilla is seen as childish somehow.
For me Hermes Terre d`Hermes for men show a class – smell like a reach life…And for women I would take Bottega Veneta – the first parfume..
Both luxurious choices!
Late to the party, but I think that there’s a few that need to be added to this list (unless I just didn’t see them…)Diva! How can it be left out? Fendi, (the original one. of course) or her little sister, Krizia’s Teatro alla Scala.
Any big rich chypre, really.
For men, Amouage Jubilation XXV or Interlude, or my favorite, the obscure and hard to find Héros, form Uomo Parfums (Didier Calvo)
from…. darn typing fingers!
Oh, you’ve chosen some lush “rich” fragrances!
I just love this quote: “Sadly, you can spend hundreds of dollars to smell like a fifty-cent hooker.” Yes. And sadly I’ve spent hundreds of dollars on first sniff and then 30 minutes later smelled like a fifty-cent hooker. (Yes, there’s one particular Seattle perfume shop guilty of this. Yes, I’m looking at you…you know who you are, perfume shop in a boutique hotel near Pioneer Square.)
For me, money smells like 31, Rue Cambon. Maybe Gold. But I don’t tend to own many other “traditional” scents that would smell like money in that rich, privileged, not weird sense.
Well, you aren’t alone in making that mistake. Sometimes I swear fragrances are engineered to seduce you immediately with little thought to the next four hours of wear. I’ve been victim to it, too.
31 rue Cambon and Gold have been getting lots of mentions as good “rich” perfumes!
I always feel that artificial, overly sweet and powdery perfumes smell really cheap.. Thierry Mugler’s Alien comes to mind.. Other perfumes that I initially enjoyed, like Chloé by Chloé really lose their appeal when they get over-hyped and you can smell them around every corner.
A perfume smells like pure luxury to me, when it is rather simple and classic but still alluring. With classic I mean it’s not too artificial and extravagant. The base has to be warm and grounded.. Like cedar, sandalwood and musk, this combined with Mandarine or Orange, Bergamote, Yasmin..
I’m currently using a very cheap perfume “Jovan – Island Musk” it’s under 20$ but smells amazing!! It reminds me of summer on the Côte D’azur or the Amalfi Coast.. back in the 50s/60s. But it’s timeless actually.
And now I must smell Island Musk! Thank you for recommending it. (And a summer on the Cote d’Azur wouldn’t be too bad, either.)