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.
