For a rainy day: Filligree and Shadow āI made you a mixtapeā (green apple, cannabis, petrichor)
For a chill day when I want something that stays close to the skin: Eātat Libre DāOrange āJasmine and Cigaretteā (powdery examples of titular notes)
For fall and winter and/or when Iām feeling cozy: Pearfat āBread and Rosesā (toasty delectable and bright all at once, a miracle scent)
and despite loving it I donāt wear perfume in the summer instead opting for nice clean smelling moisturizer. (Iām using a Lush one rn)
From exploring a range of styles I find I like unusual gourmands or florals paired with light earthy accords. I also have come to recognize the habits I have around perfume, itās something I use to create or maintain a vibe, I donāt need an every day scent and Iām not drawn to big scents with a wide throw. I prefer a perfume thats detectable only within a foot and makes me feel a certain way. Remembering these things about myself makes trying new things more approachable.
That being said! You might find the opposite is true for all of the above and can narrow your taste from there. I also like all the brands mentioned for their range and price point. Happy hunting :)
Related Recs
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Obsessed with perfume. For a while I was searching for a signature scent, but then the hunt just became too much fun, and now Iāve ended up with a full on vanity tray in my bathroom piled with a different smell for every mood. I used to wear only China Rain, a rollerball scent my mom got me in high school from a perfumery in LA called Spiritbody. I still have a bottle of that, but when I wear it Iām transported to a more insecure time lol. Right now I love Shadow in the Water from Diptyque for when I want to smell clean and romantic. I wear Smudge by Heretic almost every day because itās colder out and it makes me feel so warm and cozy, like iāve been sitting by a fire all day, and like I give good advice and paint landscapes. Perfume is definitely a splurge, but it lasts for so long, and I think itās really special to have a beautiful scent that people can recognize you by. I am going to gatekeep my secret combination of Byredo perfumes that I wear constantly, and Iām sorry about that. Itās just too good and too me.
Dec 20, 2022
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I used to exclusively wear only one perfume at a time until the bottle ran out. This era I wore:
Misia - Chanel
Smells like a 1920s dressing room with powder and violets and roses everywhere
Red Roses - Jo Malone
Just the most beautiful rose smell. I would always get asked by taxi drivers what I was wearing when I had this on.
Now I've gotten into nicher perfumes that are more unisex and a bit weirder so I rotate them depending on season/occasion/time of day.
Current Spring rotation
For the office: Morning Chess - Vilhelm Parfumerie
It's woody and leathery but also very fresh and green. The creator says it was inspired by mornings in a cottage on the swedish coast. Smelling this at my desk makes me remember the world is a bigger place than emails.
For the evening: Mississippi Medicine - DS and Durga
Smells like old churches. Based on the rituals of a death cult from the 1200s. Heavy on incense, cedar and frankincense.
For walks outside: Sakura - Lush
Super clean and refreshing. Feel awake when I smell this. Smells like jasmine and orange blossom and salt. Like being near the sea but also delicate flowers.
I used to really love having one singular signature scent (whenever anybody would tell me I always smelled like roses I would reply "yes, so when I'm dead and you smell roses you'll think of me") but the older I get the more I feel like I have more facets of myself to perfume. I like that I can change my mood with fragrance or have some kind of escapism from reality with it.
Apr 6, 2024
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echoing a lot of what has already been saidā¦
1. Try on a ton of perfumes. Sephora, department stores, etc have testers. Donāt spray it onto the paper, spray it on your skin and pay attention to how it fades or stays through the day.
2. Think about what you like. Both in general and on you! As you try perfumes you will start to figure out that some notes work and some donāt. I love citrus smells in my house but not on my skin, for example. Gardenia smells awful on me and now I can avoid all those perfumes! Think too about other scents you already like to wearā maybe in hair care or deodorant for example. Looking at the notes in my fave old spice deodorant helped me pick my first perfume!
3. think about the effect you want to have. Do you want the scent to show up when you walk in the room? Do you want it to be a more intimate smell? are there people In your life or workplace with sensitivity youāll want to pay attention to? Some scents are more piercing, and some have higher sillage Which will make them more noticeable.
4. Dip into social media but donāt take it too seriously. There are tons of perfume tiktokers with huge collections and lots of advice. This can be helpful but ultimately, fragrance is so individualized and you canāt smell it on you nor do most of us have influencer budgets for enormous fragrance collections (also, itās just not practical imo).
5. If you can afford it, consider buying a discovery set from an independent or niche perfume house. This is a good way to try a bunch of scents and support smaller businesses! if you are interested in more designer mainstream scents, there are a ton of discounted name brand perfumes at tj maxx/marshalls type places, or you can get a rollerball/travel size at sephora to see if a perfume is one you will like wearing daily.
most importantly, have fun with it!! Enjoy!!
Apr 17, 2024
Top Recs from @champagnefluke
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the best creative writing on the internet is on fragrantica.com
I could spend upwards of 3 hours scrolling through this website. Iām so obsessed with finding perfumes with notes I like (at the moment my favorites are bubblegum, sea water, and incense). I like to go to Scentbar (strictly the Hollywood location) and hand them my phone and show them all the perfumes on my Fragrantica account that I want to smell. I knowwww a scentbar employee hates to see me coming
12h ago
7h ago
1d ago
literally take notes.
also her recent architectural digest photo shoot is amazing, sheās serving scandi minimal in her garden and has a cute ass bob. pamela renaissance is so on.
5d ago