I recently attended an online work meeting that opened with an "icebreaker" question: what's your favorite comfort food? I enjoyed hearing the responses, which included some sweet-and-starchy favorites but a few spicy and savory treats, too. The idea of "comfort," just like most things, can vary and shift. I'd say the same thing about "comfort scents" — I definitely have a few vanilla-based favorites that make me feel like I'm tucked into a fluffy blanket, but lately I've also been reaching for fragrances that offer other olfactory routes to calm and security. Here are just a few that I've recently encountered or re-encountered.
Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Couverture d'Hiver: This is DSH's latest Holiday edition, which takes "a foresty hillside covered in snow" as a starting point and segues from a whiff of brisk winter air, with hints of petrichor and pine, into a cozy white-cocoa-and-musk skin scent. An ozonic gourmand? Why not?! It's friluftsliv with a dash of hygge. (available at the DSH website, in various sizes priced $6-$145)
Zoologist Dragonfly: This perfume caught my interest back in 2018, but that first sample is long gone so I ordered another. Dragonfly is a quirky fragrance that balances nostalgic notes of baby powder and rice milk with shimmering aldehydes and watery-green notes of lotus and bamboo. I'm guessing it's a love/hate scent for most people. I happen to love it.
Maison Violet Tanagra: Once you get past the nonsensical promotional copy ("revealing the invisible, evocative of the unspeakable," etc.), Tanagra turns out to be a muted take on a classical theme, with a fruity-lactonic introduction leading to a heart of sheer, silky iris and an even sheerer sandalwood. It's quietly soothing but still polished. (available at Indigo Perfumery, $165 for 75 ml Eau de Parfum)
Imaginary Authors O Unknown: This pick is a little bolder than my others; Robin called it "offbeat-but-wearable," and I agree. It mixes notes of black tea and a very dry, rooty iris with a modern ambergris base. It's more conventionally "masculine" than my typical perfume choices, but it has the effect of calming me while simultaneously making me sit up straight and get back to business at my desk.
Velvet & Sweet Pea's Purrfumery Honey: This is probably the most predictably "me" of the five scents I'm listing here. I used up a sample ages ago and purchased a small bottle last summer when I found myself craving its bohemian blend of blood orange, dusky rose and earthy clove. I like dabbing on a few drops at the end of the day. (available in various sizes, $48-$195, at Velvet & Sweet Pea's Purrfumery website)
Have you been finding comfort in any fragrances that aren't "typical" comfort scents lately? Do share in the comments!
Note: top image is take care [cropped] by Hannes Flo at flickr; some rights reserved.
Hi Jessica. I don’t have anything truly offbeat to report, but on the subject of comfort, I pulled Guerlain L’Instant EdP out of the back of my frag fridge & am enjoying the floral-vanilla coziness of it. I only wear it in the winter. As I told my friend yesterday, it’s like “sprayable cashmere.”
I’ve been dying for a peach-forward scent (something more year-round & lighter than the spiced-stewed-peach-heaven that is Mitsouko), so I ordered Keiko Mecheri’s Peau de Peche yesterday after hours of research.
I hope you’re not inundated with “white rain” wherever you are. My niece in Manhattan & friend in Queens are gettin’ slammed!❄☃️🌨
I think you’ll like the KM – it’s a lovely peach scent. Much more “real peach skin” than Mitsouko, which as you say, is a different kind of heaven.
That KM sounds lovely. I also like Mousseline Pêche from Providence. The peach in Gabrielle Essence is what drew me to want it. Nice to see another peach fan…I’m not big on fruity fragrances, except for that peach note.
LizzieB, I’m so glad to know someone else likes peach, too! I tend to dislike “fruitchoulis” (except for the original Allure and what I think of as “The Queen” – – original formula J’adore EdP). But a perfume with a refreshing, non-cloying realistic peach note as the star player has eluded me. I’ll check out the Providence Mousseline Peche. Email me if you’d like a sample of the Peau de Peche, I’d be happy to send you one (ellebe with three 3’s following it at the gee-male).
Hello ElleBe! It’s been quite a snowstorm around NYC…the biggest one we’ve had in 5 years or so. At least we had warning! I’m grateful to have NO reason to leave my home for a day or two!
I like Peau de Peche, too. I miss being able to try KM at Barneys or elsewhere in NYC. I also remember liking the peach note in SMN Angeli di Firenze.
For what it’s worth, here are my five comfort scents this winter–Aura and Muresque are the two new ones.
Essential Faith Aura (my new favorite ambery vanilla musk oil)
Chanel Coco (classic spicy)
DSH Muresque (blackberry musk with all the leaves and branches)
Bvlgari Black (smoky tea with rubbery vanilla–weird, but wonderful)
Fendi Theorema (orange spicy musk)
They all sound wonderful, springpansy. I’ve never checked Fendi out – – need to explore.
And, of course, that one (Fendi Theorema) is long discontinued, but sometimes you can still find a bottle of it.
Yeah, Theorema is a good one…! sigh
Oh I love Bvlgari Black. I often turn to that one. I first get the rush of rubber tire but it quickly settles down on me.
I’d pick
Bvlgari Black
TF Tobacco Vanille
Aqua Flor Penumbra
Frapin 1270
Pacifica Tibetan Incense
These 5 are in rotation during the harsh MN winter.
Ooh, I have a wee sample of Muresque in my “to try” box of samples! Will give it a spin!
I usually crave for my comfort scents at the end of my working day. This winter I have been wearing a lot:
1. Gallivant Istanbul, a very comfy amber, vanilla scent that becomes powdery on my skin in the drydown.
2. IUNX Talc, the ambrette, orris and rice notes are inviting and embracing. It reminds me of a scent from my childhood and I am deeply in love with it.
3. Montale Full Incense.
4. Chanel Paris-Venise.
5. Guerlain Encense Mythique D’Orient.
I need to revisit Istanbul! I do love Amsterdam and Bukhara…
Bukhara is gorgeous! I haven’t tried Amsterdam yet, but looking forward to it.
My ultimate comfort scent is the original Hanae Mori. Berry-sandalwood-almond yumminess. My best friend’s mom growing up used to wear it and I thought she was just the coolest lady ever. She used to do our nails with the coolest floral designs, I felt like the most elegant 13 year old ever. Reminds me of simpler times.
Oh yes!! I remember trying that one in Sephora over and over. With the butterfly, right?! A really fun “fleurmand.”
Yes! I think it was retroactively called “Butterfly” to differentiate it from scents they came out with later.
I mainly like to take advantage of cold weather to wear my favorite vintage and natural perfumes, but I did have a chance to try the CdG Series 10: Clash Radish x Vetiver.
It’s definitely unusual but more wearable than it sounds. Looking forward to wearing it to an art exhibit someday.
Noz, I don’t think I’ve tried any of Series 10! and I do like CdG, in general…
You’re right, vintages do smell great in cold weather when we can let all their rich/mossy/animalic notes unfurl without overwhelming us…
I’m so jealous of all you City Mice, having all those fabulously-stocked stores at your fingertips! Here in The Country, we have a small, thinly-provisioned Macy’s with hardly anything to sample, plus a Belk, Sephora & Ulta, all with limited test sniffs. I heard you’re having a blizzard there, Jessica. My niece lives a block from Central Park on East 86th. She just got home from driving from work in NJ in over a foot of snow! Stay warm & safe! ☕🌬🌡
ElleBe, I spent a lot of time on that block, waiting for the crosstown bus after work! It was a LOT of snow and I’m grateful that I didn’t have any need to go out on Monday or Tuesday. I do miss perfume-shopping…I haven’t done any in person in nearly a year. It’s been all online sample orders for me in the era of Covid!!
It’s entirely possible that you & my niece/godchild stood right next to eachother at that bus stop, Jessica! I just heard a great “This American Life” the other day about coincidences (or, as I call them: ko-inki-dinks).😄
Things will hopefully be back to some level of normal soon. I’m thinking this summer, perhaps. On both NYT & WaPo online, I track the covid ups & downs in the States daily. It appears that ~1.5 million people are being vaccinated per day, which seems like a lot, but 25M down, 315M to go… We’ll get there! 👍🏻
I have been wearing Madar by Poesie Perfume a lot.It is a sweet,cozy scent.
The notes are Creamy Basmati Rice Pudding flavored with orange flower water,saffron, cinnamon, cardamom, dried rose petals and sugared pistachios.
Sounds delicious! I’ve been reading a lot about lactones lately. More complicated than I’d imagined!🍑🥛🍦
Wow, that sounds PERFECT for me. I will have to look it up; I’ve never even heard of the house.
That does sound good!!
Mine are all utterly predictable, Jessica: LAROMATICA Kulfi, Hermes Ambre Narguile, Arielle Shoshana Sunday, Kyse Confit de Rose, and Diptyque Tam Dao are probably my five biggest comfort scents
Nothing unexpected about those!
“Predictable” comfort scents are important, too! and Arielle Shoshana Sunday fits the bill perfectly! I love that one. And some sandalwood (Tam Dao) is always necessary.