There’s something affirming about having a perfume you truly love, one that becomes so imbued in your memories, stories and moments that it is a part of you.
Fragrance is the ultimate beauty statement – but at the same time, it’s something that we all connect with on a deeply personal level. The best perfumes have the ability to boost our mood, conjure emotions or act as a form of olfactive time travel, transporting us to a place or time we treasure. And sometimes there’s nothing like wearing a fragrance that generates admiration every time you wear it. Tell me a higher beauty compliment than someone asking what perfume you’re wearing… I’ll wait.
My relationship with perfume started off a bit rocky. As a teenager, I subscribed to the idea that more is better. My goal was to be the kind of person who smelled good from five feet away. Drenching myself in The Body Shop’s White Musk every single day of my school years was fairly inoffensive, but when I went to college I wafted around in clouds of Dior’s Poison that could choke a person at a hundred paces.
But subtle fragrances have never done it for me. They may waffle on about floral top notes of ylang-ylang over base notes of Alaskan samphire, but when I sniff them I just think of a taxi air-freshener. Or washing up liquid. And I’m not interested in paying gold-dust prices for featherlight toilet waters that disappear 35 seconds after you put them on. What is the point? I want something that imbues my clothes for days and follows me around until it is part of my genetic make-up.
I adore dark, spicy, sexy scents that have an air of mystery to them. No matter the season, lean in for a hug with me, and you’ll be met with a woody fragrance. Autumnal perfumes are my entire personality. These indulgent scents linger more than most, which means they have the power to set the tone for the entire day. It’s the heady caramels, sultry vanillas and buttery musks that go hand in hand with a mulled wine and a snuggly cashmere blanket in front of a crackling fire.
I’m a signature scent kind of girl – a fragrance monogamist, if you will. I don’t play the perfume field. But I’m not immune to the hype of a cult scent. Fashion and beauty editors fawn over Le Labo – you’ll most likely find one of these apothecary-style bottles on their desk or dressing table. Santal 33 is one of the brand’s best sellers, perhaps because it smells so luxuriously expensive yet understated. In fact, it was so popular in New York at one point that articles were written about just how many people were wearing it. So yes, it’s everywhere. But the enduring appeal of Santal 33 is undeniable, especially come autumn when your dusted-off leather jacket is calling for a haze of that familiar cocktail of iris, cardamom, cedarwood and sandalwood.
I’m a signature scent kind of girl – a fragrance monogamist, if you will. I don’t play the perfume field.
Scroll through any in-the-know influencer’s grid and you’ll spy a bottle of Byredo amongst their collection. The black-domed bottles have become somewhat iconic thanks to their dream-like names and brand founder Ben Gorham’s abstract yet intriguing interpretations of scent. A modern classic, Byredo’s best-selling Gypsy Water is another aromatic obsession whose ubiquity is worth ignoring for a dose of feel-good freshness. Who wouldn’t want to be enveloped in notes of amber, pine needles and sandalwood, with an energising hit of citrusy juniper and bergamot?
Like anything, it’s most important that what we wear makes us feel good. I’m a sucker for a smoky, comforting scent – the olfactory equivalent of a cosy cashmere jumper – and the one I keep reaching for is Maison Margiela’s By The Fireplace. This one is rich, woody, spicy, and sweet all at once with a complexity that cloaks you in the scent of crisp bank notes. (Figuratively, of course. Actual money doesn’t smell so great.) The best part? It’s totally unisex so you can share it with anyone who’d also like to smell rich. Needless to say, it’s exactly what the best autumnal perfumes should smell like and yes, it is best worn while curled into an armchair beside by a blazing fire.
Tom Ford is one luxury house that has mastered its fragrances. They scream luxury, whilst the tongue-in-cheek names add a playful tone (what other perfume house could name a fragrance F*cking Fabulous?). The juice inside the bottles is just as lust-worthy. My gateway fragrance way back was Black Orchid – the perfect balance of sensual and edgy – but I soon became addicted to the intoxicating combinations offered by the Private Blends collection. I dallied with Noir Noir for a while, but when I was introduced to Ébène Fumé, it was love at first sniff. Imagine a hypnotically smooth blend of palo santo, sweet resins, glossy dark woods and incense. Is it sweet or is it spicy? By some kind of black magic, it’s both. The whole effect is spare, streamlined and alluring. The scent smoulders and projects around you like a swirling veil and attracts compliments like a magnet.
It’s a scent that feels sexy and unusual and has that “who are you and what are you wearing” quality. Plus, it’s zingy and intoxicating. It’s the HIIT class of the perfume world, a wakeup call for the senses that transforms a sluggish mood. It’s wonderfully grown-up. I always feel like I have my act together when I wear this. Simply put, I adore it. I wear this perfume almost every day, and I still get excited when I spray it on.
It’s perhaps ironic that my favourite beauty product has no effect on one’s appearance, but that is precisely the joy of perfume – it’s egalitarian. You don’t need to be skinny, or beautiful, or young, or very rich to smell fantastic. Spritz on a mood or persona for the day and you feel you could be anything you want to be. Isn’t that the true joy of beauty?
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This article originally appeared in the Autumn 2024 issue of IMAGE.
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