Where do you start looking for a new perfume? Start by thinking about what you already use or what you think you may like. It is almost impossible to just walk into the perfume department of a big store and find something worthwhile. So here is how I do it, using two current perfumes as examples.
For men there are three main classes of scents (generally). These are Fougère, Oriental and Chypre. The feminine fragrances can broadly be classed as Floral, Oriental and Chypre. Marine, Green, Citrus and even Savoury do exist, but often these are difficult to place initially.
Masculine fragrances can be woody, leathery, spicy (pepper, cloves), citrus and often amber (resin, incense). Modern fragrances include aldehydes that can mimmic marine smells, like sea breezes etc. Sounds a bit esoteric, but yes, chemistry is amazing. You have to decide which of the main classes you like more: Oriental smells (like musk, spice, amber) or Fougère (ferns, lavender) or Chypre (sandalwood, oak, moss). I like woody smells, so the dry-down must have wood as a base note for me. Having chosen the Chypre class, the next step is to decide if it must have leathery notes, or if it must be fresh (mint) or citrus, or combinations. And here is the problem: Modern perfumers tend to mix lots of weird things together because they know most people will buy something that triggers an immediate recognisable ‘nice’ smell. But remember, this becomes part of your dress routine and lives with you for a day. So nice may not be good at all.
The people at the perfume counter (if they have a bit of training) will give you ideas of good perfumes if you can tell them that you like a woody, and fresh (but not too lemony) perfume. Well known fragrances in this group that I have described now include Fahrenheit by Dior, CK One by Calvin Klein (with a wee bit too much lemon for me), Declaration by Cartier (citrus, but not lemony) and perhaps even Armani Pour Homme.
One of my all time favourites for dark, cold nights is Grey Flannel by Geoffrey Beene of New York. This is a fresh Chypre with a powdery dry down over cedar. It is distinctive and some would even say it has some amber notes. And finally, one of the discoveries for me some time ago, I love Guerlain Homme. It starts with a mint and lime note, changing into a soft floral and aromatic mid tone on a long lasting wood base. It works well for me here in New Zealand, especially in Dunedin where the wind is chilly and clean. It just fits.
As is to be expected, the feminine fragrances are way more complex. Again, you can start by deciding if you want Floral ( with key notes of green, fruity, fresh aldehydic or sweet), or Oriental (amber and spice) or Chypre (fruity, animalic, woody, fresh, or green).
Floral scents with a green and fruity tone include Chanel No. 19. A floral scent with a fresh fruity mid tone is Laura by Laura Biagiotti, similarly the original Escada, Tommy Girl, with Anaïs Anaïs (Cacharel) being green, with floral tones and some spiciness. Coty added vanilla to the powdery and fruity notes over a musky and woody base to create Ex’cla’ma’tion. 24 Fauburg by Hermes is a Floral scent with an aldehyde content to generate a old world powdery note, accentuated by a very faint vanilla and perhaps sandalwood dry down. A more pronounced floral aldehyde is Chanel No 5, with woody notes, powdery white flower mid section and an amber, almost sweet resin dry down. This one works on your skin or it is a dog!
The Oriental spicy group includes Lauder’s Youth Dew (very spicy, with only singular notes of wood and even incense in the dry down. Opium, by Yves St Laurent, is a similar scent (pepper, coriander, cloves, jasmine, carnations, incense and cinnamon, in a sweet powdery mix), and it is one you love or hate. Other scents include Coco by Chanel, Dioressence and Angel by Thierry Mugler (I pick up chocolate on this one, combined with spices).
A success story in the Oriental amber group is Shalimar by Geurlain (1925). It has resiny notes over powdery jasmine mid notes, incense and leather, nicely balanced with mandarin citrus notes. The dry down is filled with cedar wood and even musk. Joop! and I guess Obsession by Calvin Klein may fit into this bracket, having had a smell of them recently..
Chypre fruity would include Miss Dior that utilises aldehydes to generate a green woody top note with a floral note that is difficult to place (gardenia, roses?), while the woody focus is best demonstrated by Aromatics by Clinique. The Chypre green perfumes (woody, with juniper, rosemary, ylang-ylang) include Lauder’s Private Collection and believe it or not, 4711 (and I say this on the strength of a few books I am consulting, because I have not seen it in a shop here and have never looked for it in South Africa).
Some of the perfumes I’ll describe in future are ones that I have brought for Chrissie over the years, based on her preferences and how they changed. That will demonstrate the evolution of a signature. What is your favourite perfume at present and what does it smell like to you? Can you describe it in terms of the Cheat Sheet in my first posting? What do you like about it and if you could change a thing, what would it be? Let me know and I can blog about that in future too.
Happy perfume hunting.
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