Sometimes I want a glamorous perfume. I don’t mean a blatantly sexy fragrance, but one that oozes retro allure. Imagine Carole Lombard, swathed in silk charmeuse, warm from the bath, with bowls of roses in every room. That kind of perfume. I think of these fragrances as “dressing table” perfumes. They’re resolutely feminine and are usually dosed with rose, violet, iris, and powder. The best of them carry an animalic purr. They’d be right at home perched on a vintage dressing table with a postcard from a lover in Paris clipped to the mirror.
Here are five of my favorite dressing table perfumes. With each perfume, I add a dressing table accessory that suits it. In the comments, please share your favorite dressing table perfumes.
Amouage Beloved: Beloved is tender, powdery, complex, and expensive — the Grace Kelly of dressing table scents. Beloved is rich and full, but with a silky, powdery texture that renders it gentle despite its sillage. Recently, on a friend, I was surprised to smell a thread of incense in its dry down, but on me it’s all dark pink blush and satiny face powder with an unobtrusive chypre underpinning. I see Beloved worn with an ivory silk dressing gown and a long rope of pearls. Dressing table accessory: crystal picture frame with black and white studio photo of Darling Husband.
Dita Von Teese: Can’t afford Beloved? Try this one. Once the classic aldehydes fade, Dita Von Teese features fresh rose-violet pulled from an old wooden drawer full of cosmetics, with a pair of dirty stockings nearby. After a minute, Dita Von Teese pulls tightly to skin — tight enough that you can really spray it on and not worry what your office mates will say — but it’s also persistent. Wear Dita Von Teese with an old red and black, lavishly embroidered silk kimono with frayed sleeves. Dressing table accessory: swan’s down powder puffs and red nail polish.
Frédéric Malle Lipstick Rose: To me, Lipstick Rose is classy kitsch, kind of like Yves Saint Laurent’s 1971 collection, the one with the 1940s-influenced ensembles in neon colors. Lipstick Rose says: “Hey, I smell like Marilyn Monroe fresh from Woolworth’s, but this patent leather clutch? You couldn’t afford it.” It’s the idealized scent of the idealized pin-up’s makeup. You might try a modern, throwback dressing gown with Lipstick Rose (Prada, hop to it). Dressing table accessory: 1950s clip-on lipstick mirrors.
Chanel Misia: Misia has all of Beloved’s status, but is less maternal. If Beloved is the wife, Misia is the kept woman. She’s no ex-showgirl, though. Misia lives in a Gotham apartment with acres of plush white carpeting and nightstands paneled in beveled mirrors. Her violet, rose, and iris glimmer like a handful of cut gems. Her dressing gown is silk crepe on the outside, but silk velvet next to the skin. Dressing table accessory: marabou-trimmed mules and a poodle.
Guerlain Attrape-Coeur: Attrape-Coeur is the oddball here, not so much for its rose-violet-iris goodness, but for its sweet vanilla foundation. Attrape-Coeur smells like Valentine’s Day at the five-and-dime, like a mash-up of face powder and a box of chocolates. Somehow, that only makes the fragrance more dressing table to me. This one deserves a dressing gown as pink as a kindergartner’s cheeks after a nap. Its belt should end in a lush tassel. Dressing table accessory: boar bristle hairbrush and a plate of chocolate truffles. (Excuse me a moment while I shed a few tears that Attrape-Coeur is discontinued.)
Honorable mentions: Guerlain Meteorites (sadly discontinued), Cadolle No. 9 (brutally hard to find, but perfect with a bespoke nightgown), Lorenzo Villoresi Teint de Neige (the best kind of powder fest), L’Artisan Parfumeur Drôle de Rose, Frédéric Malle Iris Poudre.
Oh, Angela, it’s like you’ve been raiding my perfume cabinet! I have Beloved, Lipstick Rose, Attrape Coeur AND Guet-Appens in regular rotation. I would add SSS Nostalgie to the list.
And you remind me that I’ve been meaning to try the Dita Von Teese. (Too bad we don’t have a local source for Chanel Exclusifs around these parts!)
Yes, Nostalgie is a good one to add!
I wish we had Les Exclusifs closer, too, but it would probably mean I’d end up with a bottle of Sycomore and heaven knows what else.
Oh, the horror.
You must hear my wallet screaming…
This is not a category of scents represented in my “collection,” such as it is, but my bottle of ELDO Putain des Palaces (never mind the name, whether you find it funny, charming, or derogatory!) seems like it would be at home on a dressing table. I get a powdery, violety, lipsticky vibe from it.
This post has made me realize how much I have yet to explore????
Totally agree on P des P! I love it!
Agreed!
Hey, that’s a good one to add! I definitely remember a cosmetics vibe to it. Thanks!
I’m not very good at ladylike glamour of this sort. I just can’t do rose, and powder really isn’t my thing anymore… But I do adore vintage perfumes and perfumes with a retro vibe (especially the ones with a bit of a skanky edge). The darker, more voluptuous ones! The femme fatale ones! So here is my list for a femme fatale dressing table:
Bal a Versailles
Jovoy Lys Epona
Mona di Orio Nuit Noire
Xerjoff Mamluk
Tubereuse 3 Animale
Fabulous! Maybe this can be the dressing table at night, when our heroine is preparing for an evening on the town.
Great article! I have always had a fantasy that I would have a beautiful dressing table adorned with fantastic bottles of perfume. One would have to be one of those beautiful bee bottles by Guerlain, just to look at!
Hmm..for my dressing table I would have 31 Rue Cambon and No 19 Iris Poudre (this one doesn’t get much love but I find it retro-glamour)
Beloved of course-such a wonderful perfume.
Though it doesn’t fit the powder bit, La Fille de Berlin-for when you are going out with a black dress and some kitten heels.
Ha! Yes, La Fille de Berlin is the one I thought of, too, and the only one besides Beloved that I would find frequently tempting. This is not a style that suits me, as lovely and kitschy as I find these kinds of scents on others. Unless Drole de Rose is counted, but I find that one much more outdoorsy.
I never thought of Drole de Rose as outdoorsy, but now I will. I’m going to go find my sample right now…
I smelled Drole de Rose on a paper strip recently, and it had a bright, sunny orange blossom top note. Almost like an eau de cologne. It was something I had never noticed before. Could definitely see it as outdoorsy in that respect!
Nice! Now I definitely need to find my sample. (I know where it is, I simply need to dig.)
I love those choices! I could practically smell them as you listed them. They would do justice to any dressing table.
As I started to read, I was thinking that the dressing-table scents would be right up my alley. As it is, though, not-so-much! I dislike several of them, including Beloved (which approaches Habanita powder-bomb levels on me), Lipstick Rose (too literal to be fun), and Misia (the one Chanel I’ve tried which was too aloof and downright coldhearted – and I *love* No. 19, so I’m not sure what’s up with that).
I liked Drole de Rose and Dita von Teese. I’m down to about a ml and a half in my Attrape-Coeur decant, as well. Putain des Palaces is pleasant but I prefer JHaG Citizen Queen for that sort of thing. I adore Iris Poudre’s angora-fluffy drydown.
Love, Chloe maybe? I didn’t like the baby-aspirin powdery orange thing, but other people love it. Ombre Rose, too.
Yes, you and me both Mals: I love No 19, have done for years, but somehow find Misia hard to wear. It seems to sit uncomfortably between the classic rose-violet-cosmetic powder fragrances on the one hand, and cool, brisk, profession scents on the other. Neither fish nor fowl.
I’d swap it off the dressing table and replace it with Piguet’s Baghari. 🙂
I won’t quibble with a bottle of Baghari on the dressing table. It will complement the coupe of afternoon champagne.
Oh, I think Love Chloe would be a good dressing table scent! Nice catch.
It’s as much about the bottle as the juice …. A dressing table has to look the part too.
So my five would be:
Largest Chanel 5 pure perfume for the bottle
Vintage Chanel 5 dusting powder with a big fluffy puff…
Vintage Mitsouko edp for That Bottle…
Large square bottle of 31 Rue Cambon…
Amouage Jubilation because it’s so sexy…
No rose! No……no no
I like the way you think! Especially if the Mitsouko is in one of those big round watch bottles with the pointy top.
No rose, huh? You’re not alone, I know.
I love your article, as always. It makes me wish very much that I liked violet more than I do. Roses I have covered, but sadly I lose interest when violet is in the mix.
When I think of myself traipsing about in a Art Deco-style bedroom, dressed and maybe even looking like Carole Lombard (dream life!), the perfumes that come to mind and are “dressing table” to me are of a completely different style than those you’ve mentioned above, and may be entirely out of line with the type from that period in history.
I think of scents I might save for when no one else is around, things that I feel warm and cozy for when I can be comfortably un-self-conscious in private. At the opposite end of your powder – Diva by Ungaro and L’air de Rien even. Very different, I know, but that’s what I want to be wearing when I’m lounging about in a peignoir.
(Note to self – acquire a peignoir.)
Oooh – and Bal a Versailles.
The bottle alone is worth it!
Yes, do get yourself a peignoir! You’re perfectly allowed to customize your dressing table with whatever perfume makes you feel the best–and you chose some great ones.
My sweet ihadanidea: Carole Lombard does not hold a candle to you! Have you looked in the mirror? You are BEYOND GORGEOUS!
It’s true!
You are too kind 🙂
Aww- that’s so sweet of you to say. Thanks Hajusuuri!
This is a genre I’ve been totally obsessing over lately. Haven’t had the chance to try Misia (not even sure where I could find it these days), but given that I LOOOVE Attrape Coeur and Lipstick Rose, it sounds like I also need to try Beloved and Dita Von Teese.
Some part of me thinks sunscreen/lotion perfumes would be an offshoot of this category since they represent heavily fragranced beauty products. Dressing table scents for the summer home!
Naturally! Your summer home has a dressing table, right? (ha ha ha–my summer home is my winter home)
I have to echo Bal especially in vintage form. I would have to add Shalimar and LBH as well.
I’m surprised to see Bal a Versailles coming up so much, and yet, thinking about it, it’s a fabulous fit!
I love FM’s Iris Poudre and Lipstick Rose – lots of powder. I would add Guerlain’s Cruel Gardenia as one of those dressing table scents – I get lots of rose, violet and a peachy, “powderiness” but not a lot of gardenia.
Oh, Cruel Gardenia. For name alone, it belongs.
Lovely Dior Homme would not be out of place. My favorite and only lipstick iris perfume.
Dior Homme is one of the few masculines that is a great fit for the dressing table. Such a lovely fragrance.
I have been thinking about the Chanel choice. It is pretty with a capital p. I have not met the others but maybe will sniff them at some point. I love things with violet in them.
Once again, I realize how out of trend I am. I haven’t heard of Chanel Choice. Maybe Chance? My niece adores that one, and she would have it on her dressing table no matter what!
Choice was a typo I have no idea how it got there, sorry
No apology necessary! I actually think it would be a great perfume name.
I would add Oriza L. Legrand Jardins d’ Armide, a violet rose powder bomb.
Growing up, I remember my mom’s black dressing table with inlaid mother-of-pearl, but nary a perfume bottle to be found because she cannot stand perfumes. She locked-up all her make-up but naughty me knew where she kept the key ;-). I used to sneak use her face powder which came in a booklet.
I haven’t smelled that one, but “violet rose powder bomb” convinces me it’s a perfect fit.
I love your description of your mother’s dressing table! I want to go through the drawers. It’s too bad she wasn’t a fan of perfume.
I often get a touch of incense in Amouage Beloved, so I’m not surprised that you discovered that facet.
The old Annick Goutal bottles and accessories had a boudoir look, and I’ve always thought of classics like Heure Exquise and Passion as boudoir perfumes. The decor would be warm ivory with tasteful, feminine touches of gilding.
I’d also like Chanel Coco with elegant black satin lingerie, elaborate gilded mirror frames, and black coromandel screen.
You have a knack for great description! I can definitely see Goutal bottles on the dressing table, and Heure Exquise would be especially terrific. I love your riff on Coco, too.
A wonderful post Angela and so fun. I really enjoyed reading everyone’s comments. The only fragrance that I can think to add is Moulin Rouge. I guess more of a showgirl’s dressing room scent and doesn’t get much love.
more of a red satin bustier with fishnet stockings then elegant peignoir.????
Sounds like fun! 😉
Yes!
Perfect! Very Moulin Rouge, the movie, too.
Great addition! Very fitting.
What about La Rose de Rosine? It shares that rose/violet accord you’ve cited in other members of the dressing table collection and comes from such a feminine line.
Perfect! That’s a great addition. Plus, the bottle is dressing table divine.
I guess my idea of a masculine dressing table scent would be something you could imagine a distinguished Cary Grant type wearing while sitting in their study drinking brandy and smoking a fine cigar.
I have a bottle of Oleg Cassini for Men with a red cap but I can barely find any info about anything but the Cassini for men with blue cap, but I guess that is my idea of a dressing table fragrance. It not a fine perfume by any means, ingredient and age wise, but I find it aspirational in that when I smell it, I want a smoking jacket to wear along with it. Same goes for RL Safari, YSL Jazz, and Green Irish Tweed.
*It’s not a fine perfume
I love your vision of Cary Grant’s lounging style! Any fragrance that demands a smoking jacket is definitely dressing table worthy.
The funny thing is Cary Grant was probably at a dressing table in finest french lingerie dolling himself up! You must read Jean Stein’s new book West of Eden, it mentions how Cary Grant was into dressing up very glamorously. Hollywood, the town of illusions!
That book sounds right up my alley!
Hmm, my boudoir would have Attrape-Coeur, Iris Ganache, Misia, Salome, Ubar and Beloved close at hand. Fortunately, it does! 🙂
Nice! And now I’ll try not to burn up with envy.
Oh my word, Angela, this brought back memories of a flat-share – we were all in our very early twenties, I had my own room, my flatmates shared a room – one wore Rive Gauche, the other Madame Rochas, while I wore Opium (in its original glorious incarnation) – all of us had our respective bottles, in their boxes even then, on our dressing tables. We are still in touch, thought we don’t live in the same part of the world, & back then we were all hitting 21 years of age.
Wow, that flat smelled fabulous! I can’t even imagine a 21-year-old these days wearing Rive Gauche or Madame Rochas, but they’re both glorious. I think Opium would still appeal, though.
We are talking well over 30 years ago! The fragrance world was very different then – not as many niche lines, certainly no ‘celeb’ smells in the way there are so many these days – we just didn’t seem to go for anything remotely ‘cheap’, hence our requests for decent ones from our families for Christmases & birthdays to ensure our supply! (My apologies, ‘thought’ in my original post should of course read ‘though’.)
It certainly was a different world, perfume-wise. Fragrance had a certain sophistication. Madame Rochas, for instance! *sigh*
Those black and white Hollywood photos are wonderful, and lovely to read about the perfumes you all associate with that kind of glamour.
Envisaging an array of perfumes that would go well with lace and satin, I’d definitely want to stretch out a langourous hand for Beloved, Heure Exquise and Iris Poudre. I’d want a violet rose, so maybe Aimez Moi – the name seems so appropriate for the image.
Terrific choices. The original Aimez Moi bottle would look great on a dressing table. (And I wouldn’t mind wearing some Heure Exquise right now, in fact.)
How nice! I am a big fan of the Golden Days Glamour style, used to have a cool dressing table before the kids (now I keep my goodies hidden safely in a wardrobe, but the design is no less cool I promise, peacock and marabou and all things nice:)).
Beautiful choices! You’ve inspired me to choose my daily scent accordingly, so right now I have Attrape Coeur on one arm, and Lipstick Rose ont he other. I do smell divine.
Apart from these two, I love Villoresi’s Alamut and Westwood Boudoir (obviously) of this genre, also L’Heure Bleue, and more recently (after the pineapple phase dries down) Nez á Nez Immortelle Marylin. I also think Rosine’s Poussiere, Kashmirie, and the Ballerinas would be great additions. Both the scent and those tassled bottles!
Oh to be glamorous during the everyday hassle!:)
I love the description of your glamour-stash! Great perfume suggestions, too. I don’t know why I left the Rosines off the list–so many are perfect.
Oh and the tutus on the Ballerina bottles? I’d get one just for that.
Someone should offer perfume bottle tutus as an after-market product!
Well, Betsey Johnson’s two bottles come with tutus: Too Too and Too Too Pretty.
I love her style. Have you seen photos of her apartment in NYC? They’re fabulous.
I made a point of checking it out and it is splendid. Thanks, Angela!
I’m ready to move right in!
I vote for N’Aimez que Moi (which I am probably not punctuating correctly).
A good one! I just wish it were easier to find. *sigh* I’d have a bottle for sure.
Yes! I treated myself to a bottle from the urn as part of my “research” into the NYC Caron boutique (R.I.P.) for my post on Undina’s blog last year. I have to do an update which means I have to go shopping, don’t I?
Sadly, you may be right…
I applaud your dedicated pursuit of authenticity, hajusuuri! 🙂
My favorite kind of “research” 🙂
I love this post i feel slightly ashamed in some of my list but i feel these fragrances for me evoke glamour atbits finest like cruella d’vil in her finest glory days and finest furs
Midnight poison by Dior
CINEMA BY YSL
ambra di luna Ramon Monegal
Chanel allure sensuelle
Miss dior le parfum
Cartier delices de cartier pure parfum
Ange ou demon the original not le secret
Nina ricci lair d temps
Tom ford shanghai lily
Fleur de bulgare creed
Kenzo flower tag (smelled like cinema)
And i wish i could think of more
Fabulous list! I like the bits of fruit and spice that have snuck in here and there. Now I want to wear all these perfumes!
I enjoyed your article very much, Angela.
I loved your choices and the gorgeous pictures of Carole Lombard.
I think I would have Chanel No. 22 on the vanity table also. Draped over the chair for the vanity would be a lovely, short silk robe that smells like No. 22.
Carole Lombard was so beautiful, and from what I have read about her, she was a very generous and fun person also.
I adore Carole Lombard. She was beautiful, but wacky, too. I think she and Jean Arthur are my favorites of that era.
And No. 22! Perfect.
Lovely sort of melancholic post, I think many remember their mother’s or grandmother’s dressing table. I love many of the scents (and have quite a few of) the fragrances mentioned. Heure Exquise is one of my HG’s. I think Mon Parfum Cherie par Camille would fit, although it is maybe more boudoir than dressing table. Chamade, in the lovely pure perfume bottle would fit too I think. Diorissimo was on my mother’s, maybe doesn’t fit this category, but I will always associate it with her.
I can completely imagine Diorissimo on the dressing table, maybe with a tiny vase with a handful of lilies of valley in it. Lovely.
SSS Nostagie is a dressing table perfume. Joy is as well, I’d say. Ombre Rose, with it’s sweet classy powderiness. Vintage L’Air du Temps. If you care to go neon pink with it, Boudoir (which is like a cartoon Marilyn Monroe).
Good ones! And I think our list has plenty of room for a neon pink Marilyn version.
Lovely article, Angela, thank you!
For my 5, to your Chanel Misia, Guerlain Attrape-Coeur, and Guerlain Meteorites, I would add vintage Balenciaga Le Dix and vintage Worth Je Reviens, both in extrait. Fortunately, I have at least a tiny bit of each of these to enjoy!
By coincidence, I wore Le Dix on Sunday and fell in love with it all over again. And Je Reviens–gorgeous.
I do love Misia, and would add Guerlain Liu to the dressing table. Not least because I’m crazy for Turandot! Liu is a lovely powdery jasmine. To be worn with a dressing gown of Chinese silk, perhaps?
That sounds wonderful! Some Puccini playing quietly in the background wouldn’t be out of place.
All of the above, please, plus a bottle of vintage Narcisse Noir (to look at but not to wear) and large bottles of vintage Le Dix, Bellodgia, and Coty Chypre. Sigh…
Terrific article!
That sounds so nice! (I love the Narcisse Noir bottle, too. That darling black carved cap…)
Sorry I’m so late to the party! I love this post. I finally read all the comments. I agree with the addition of Putain des Palaces and Chanel No 5 extrait (along with Misia). Beveled glass tray is my accessory of choice.
As long as you show up at the party, that’s what counts!
I love the beveled glass tray idea, too!