How would you describe your fragrance style?
I like intense, heavier scents with strong wood elements, often boozy and resinous.
— Christine
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My style is two words : Dior Addict (cobalt bottle) Fresh but dark. Lovely! Even the flankers are good. Bliss!
Well…
My current loves are Armani Sí, Mon Guerlain, Mugler Aura, and Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Mandarine Basilic. I also like Nirvana Black, Mugler Alien, Berdoues Assam of India, and Dior J’Adore.
A few fragrances I dislike intensely: Shalimar, Flower Bomb, La Vie est Belle, and Tom Ford Black Orchid.
I’m not sure how all of this translate into a style!
I meant to type…
I’m not sure how all of this translates into a style!
I prefer sweet warm scents. Sometimes I’ll wear something floral as long as it has an element of warmth to it. I don’t like wearing anything with musk in it because it makes me smell like sweat and that’s not okay with me, lol.
Sweet, floral, light and girly. I’m probably getting too old for it, but I don’t care.
I don’t believe in “too old,” so good for you! 😀
I tend to like a floral scent and if it has notes of musk, amber and tobacco or wood smoke then that is a plus. For years the only scent I wore was Joy by Jean Patou. I have branched out a little but always come back to something floral scented.
I like somewhat sweeter scents and citrusy scents, but nothing overly sugary/fruit smelling for a perfume. I am not a fan of floral scents at all. I don’t prefer woodsy scents on me personally if they aren’t tempered with a citrus scent, but my candles tend to either be completely woodsy or fruity.
Some perfumes/sprays that I’m currently using and enjoying:
– Lancome La Vie Est Belle
– Coach Poppy
– VS Cosmic Wish (apricot, woodsy)
– Catherine Malandrino Style De Paris
Salty aquatics and citrus in warmer months, vetiver and mineral in the winter. I do select men’s/unisex/indies more often. Old, classic florals/chypres have their place as well, but I seldom feel …or dress…girly enough.
I like fresh scents that are either fruity or floral. I don’t care for overly sweet or musky scents.
I really like Marc Jacobs Daisies, Chanel Chance (the green or pink one), and Bvlgari Omnia.
But my top picks are Jo Malone Wild Bluebell, and Bvlgari Au The Blanc.
Varied and very millennial.
I like aggressively clean scents like Juliette has a Gun Not a Perfume and Gentlewoman, the latter of which can definitely read as a medicinal neroli.
I also love heavy gender neutral scents like Tom Ford Tuscan Leather and Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur.
Sometimes I love hyper femme scents like Mugler Angel, Piguet Fracas, and TF Shanghai Lily.
And finally, I do love the sweet unisex vanilla-leather-wood crowd pleasers like MAC Velvet Teddy, Maison Margiela Replica Jazz Club, Commodity Leather, and most of all the first perfume I ever fell in love with, the long DC’d MAC MV3.
While I don’t like the vanilla-leather-wood scents, I’m oddly attracted sometime to take a sniff of them; the same applies with tobacco based scents.
I had as free samples all the MAC perfumes, there’s nothing I liked (My Heroine and Ruby Woo are more leather-wood, Velvet Teddy is more tobacco to my nose). Reading just the notes, I really believed I would like Velvet Teddy (it has bergamot, vanilla, honey), but it’s too tobacco-musky for my liking.
Replica Jazz Club is definitely a complex scent, true to the name, great to sniff and just imagine a story… but I won’t wear in a million years. 😆
That’s so interesting to me! Jazz Club and TF Tobacco Vanille (which a lot of people view Velvet Teddy as a knockoff of) are the two fragrances I think of first when I want compliments. I’d wear them really sparingly to a party. But maybe they’re just the ones people comment on rather than the most popular? So fascinating to think about!
Personally I’m usually not complimenting people who just smell nice or wear a perfume I would like to wear. I’m more inclined to compliment someone when they wear a perfume that suits their look and the location, or a perfume that intrigues me. I probably won’t ever compliment someone wearing Black Opium or Secret Garden, but I would compliment someone wearing something complex and full of personality like Jazz Club and Tobacco Vanille at a opera or concert house, or a jazz club.
I used to wear the hell out of Angel and Alien so I understand. ; )
Rich. Whether it’s in the vein of YSL Black Opium Nuit Light, Tom Ford Black Orchid or Christian La Croix Absynthe for Avon during the less hot, sometimes chilly “winter” season here, or Fresh Life during summer. These all have a heady richness to them.
I have always been drawn to warm & spicy, in particular warm & sweet gourmands (Mon Guerlain, Angel, Black Opium). If you put vanilla in something I will like it 9 times out of 10. And I have recently realized I like some warm florals (Maya by Tocca, Chloe Nomade). Maya was my summer scent. I’ll admit that when I saw in Sephora last Spring I asked for a sample because it’s my daughter’s name. But when I put some on and wore it around the mall I had to go pick up the full size along with the rollerball before I left. I became obsessed with it very quickly and wore at constantly. It’s so fresh and clean and whenever I was out and about on a hot and sweaty day a quick application made me feel instantly fresh and clean myself. I’ve even put it on during the winter when I need to run out in public without being able to shower first. People complement it all the time by telling me how, that’s right, clean and fresh I smell.
Your preferences are so interesting since I like warm & sweet gourmands (especially Black Opium), but I just hate all the perfumes from the Chloe line (especially Chloe Chloe and Chloe Nomade), I smell to much rose in them; Maya by Tocca is… meah… I somewhat like Stellar. 🙂
Scents are so complex…
I looooove Angel. Even though we’re still being pretty directly influenced by it, I think of it as a retro scent and the star of its genre, like Fracas or Shalimar or Chanel No 5. I’ve tried to like other Mugler scents but…. I hate them lol.
I like warm woodsy scents. Notes of amber, vanilla, sandalwood. I love Elizabeth and James Nirvana Black, Viva La Juicy, Atelier Vanille Insensee. I love smelling like a camp fire or my daddy’s pipe:)
I tend to wear lush, soft and complex perfumes. My favorites are Shalimar, Cashmere Mist and Tabac Blonde.
I appreciate clean, sharp fragrances, but I can’t wear them myself. They all smell like soap with my body chemistry. I’ve tried very floral scents and while I like them when I put them on, after a few hours they begin to annoy me for some reason.
I did go through a phase where I wore nothing but Fahrenheit which is a men’s cologne. I liked the sharp spiciness of it.
My favorites are Burberry Brit and By the Fireside by Maison Margiela. I love most things that are warm, spicy, and vanilla.
Love both of those. 🙂
Eclectic! I think so much depends upon the season of the year because the weather can definitely affect how a scent develops on my skin. I also think it is important for the scent to be in keeping with the images we associate with particular seasons. Winter, I lean towards orientals/florientals. I’ve worn Musc Ravageur for years and have worn Tom Ford’s Noir Pour Femme ever since it was introduced. Spring, it’s all about the Florientals I adore Ford’s Shanghai Lily. Summer, I’m all about light, sparkling scents like Tom Ford’s Mandarino di Amalfi. Autumn sees me reaching for gourmand scents like Armani’s Sí.
I agree totally! My scent choices are strongly related to seasons. I love Angel but one hot summer day I went out with a friend who chose to wear Angel. The caramel and chocolate notes were too cloying for the summer heat and humidity. (Ack!)
I mentioned Shanghai Lily and Musc Ravageur too. Twinsies. Seriously though they’re both amazing. Both extremely sexy and sophisticated, and in such different ways.
I agree scent is affected by season. In winter I gravitate toward smokier woodsy scents. Summer I prefer cleaner lighter scents. However mostly what scents I like depends on allergies. A lot of scents make me sneeze esp really heavy florals that are strongly gardenia. Just too much and I don’t tolerate them well!
Have you tried By The Fireplace or Jazz Club from replica? Theyre fantastic woody fragrances. So is the new-ish Gucci Guilty Absolute Femme, the one in the purple bottle.
I just bought By the Fireplace. Love it. I will keep the others in mind?
For day to day, I like lighter, fresh such as leaning to citrus, ginger, tea. Feminine but not especially fruity or floral-sweet.
For last few years, my daytime scents have been Bulgari Au the Vert (green tea) for all seasons except winter; Bulgari Au the Rouge (red tea) for winter; Origins Ginger really anytime. For winter evenings, I break the pattern by using Kiehls Musk Oil.
I’m not sure what to call my style. Mostly dark, spicy, exotic, amber, woods, chocolate, black tea, and clean musks, sweet lavender, and sweet patchouli. I also love vanilla, pear, citrus (especially orange), white florals, lilac, and berry notes. I detest heavy florals, “perfumey,” and baby powder or talcum scents. I detest “moldy” leaning herbals, musks, lavenders, and patchoulis. I’m usually am not into wearing overly sweet sugar or foodie scents, though I am fond of Pink Sugar.
Favorite scents are TF Black Orchid, YSL Black Opium, Elizabeth and James scents (especially Nirvana Black and Nirvana Bourbon), Lady Gaga Fame Black Fluid (DC, but I had backups and it’s still pretty easy to find), and (on a sweeter note) Couture Couture by Juicy Couture.
I’m more Angel than Pink Sugar when I want to go full saccharine, but Pink Sugar is classic for a reason.
I do like Angel, too. I have a few samples of it I wear from time to time. I actually wouldn’t mind having a bottle of Angel.
I like gourmand, woody and white flower scents . Vanilla is one of my favorite notes. Love sandalwood, jasmine, tuberose, tobacco and musk notes. I own a large collection of fragrances. My favorites are ,LeLabo’s Vanilla 44 , Frederic Malle’s Carnal Flower and Serge Luten’s Tubereuse Criminelle and Un Bois Vanille. In winter I like Frederic Malle’s Black to Black!
My style is intense, warm, gourmand, with accords of coffee, vanilla, pear, caramel, chocolate and some floral vibes (jasmine, freesia, lily, gardenia, orange blossom, magnolia, bergamot).
My skin has a weird chemistry and it somehow transforms and tones down warm and intense perfumes; many perfumes that are almost intoxicating smell slightly more `fresh` on me.
Actually my favorite perfumes are Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium (warm & spicy), Versace Crystal Noir (floral-oriental), Pinrose Secret Garden (warm & sweet gourmand), Givency Hot Couture (fruity-floral).
I love Giorgio Armani Si from the bottle, but once it touches my skin, it stinks like wine.
Armani Sí smells like blackcurrant wine when it first hits my skin, but it dries down so beautifully. The vanilla softens the fruit and then I get a little bit of a floral woodsy-ness added to the mix. The first time I ever smelled it from the bottle, I thought it would be one of those overly sweet fruity scents that I don’t like, but it isn’t like that at all. Well, at least not on me.
It’s fascinating how scents behave so differently on every person!
Blackcurrant wine is exactly what I sense on my skin, couldn’t have described it better. 😀 Unfortunately, it never dries down on me and if I’m in a humid warm climate it starts smelling like a wine transforming into vinegar, very acidic.
While it’s a nice smell experience (I like the scent of wooden barrels and wine or balsamic vinegar in a celery), I still don’t like to smell like I had too many glasses of wine during happy hour.
That’s how Nirvana Bourbon is on me. It makes me smell like I’ve been drinking in an old bar all night. Definitely not something I want to smell like!!
Ha! That’s exactly what I want to smell like! Especially if the bar were a whiskey tasting room with leather chairs and a smoking section, and big windows that open out onto a grapefruit orchard on a hot summer day. 🙂
I may have to check out Nirvana Bourbon.
Lol…definitely check out Nirvana Bourbon!
Straight to Heaven by Kilian is another one to check out, if you haven’t already, though it’s quite expensive. It’s woody and spicy with notes of rum. I picked up a sample bottle for my husband and it’s amazing. I practically swooned when I first smelled it! It’s for men, but I can see a woman wearing it, too.
Orange Blossom is a favorite of mine too. Such an uplifting antidepressant.
I like floral scents as long as they aren’t sugary sweet! I like a little bit of wood and musk and I love orris and tonka undertones, but fruity stuff tends to turn me off unless it’s very clean, like crisp apples or lemon. Gourmand scents are mostly a no go for me.
Faves include J.Lo Still (I have worn this for YEARS and I think it’s been discontinued), Dior J’Adore and Pure Poison, Floral Street Neon Rose, TOCCA Simone and Florence and Guerlain Idylle.
I don’t know how to characterize mine at all! My favorites are:
Vero Profumo: Mito edp (galbanum, magnolia, cypress)
Vero Profumo: Rubj edp (orange blossom, passionfruit, cumin)
Vero Profumo: Rozy edp (sexy/skanky rose
Vero Profumo: Naja edp (linden, tobacco, honey)
Frederic Malle: Lys Mediterranee (ginger lilies, saltwater)
Ormonde Jayne: Ta’if (rose & saffron)
Serge Lutens: A la Nuit (jasmine, jasmine, jasmine!)
Funny, I was just discussing with my friend last night my perfume preferences. I like musks, though I think I veer towards “safer” versions – I never could get my head around Tom Ford’s scents, they were too much. I dislike most overt florals, though I’m partial to citrus blossoms.
Perfumes I have loved and used include: Narciso Rodriguez EDT (black bottle, the pink is yuck) Balenciaga Florabotanica (an exception to my aversion to floral), Calvin Klein In2U Her (a cheap one I quite liked), Armani Code (I went off it after my first bottle though).
My current want is YSL Black Opium, but I struggle to swing the cost!
Good question…I like light, clean fragrances (just not too citrus-y) for everyday, but I also like deeper gourmand and floral scents sometimes too.
I don’t really like anything that is too sickly sweet or fruity. I actually used to really like fruity, but I feel like they smell much better in the bottle than on my skin.
I’m loving reading these responses! It’s funny because I was actually on fragrantica last night realizing that many of my favorites are in their ‘oriental floral’ category. I would personally describe my fragrance style as being dominated by relatively clean, aromatic florals, and I feel like my favorites all have one note that shines through. I love diptyque eau rose, mugler alien, flowerbomb, and v&r magic dancing roses.
Same here! I love reading the responses and I wish I was in a perfume counter right now, smelling some of the perfumes people mention/describe just for the experience. 🙂
Strong, spicy and unusual scents are my favourites.
I’m very eclectic about fragrances. Some favorite notes include: patchouli, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, oakmoss, leather, tobacco, raspberry, rose, tuberose, mint, and light musk.
Those are some of my favorites too! I’m so excited to get Midnight Tuberose perfume cream from LVNEA. I’m particular about the patchoulis I like. I like whatever Black Earth Botanica uses and most from Carnival Wax. I used to get a big bottle of patchouli oil from Harry’s Occult Shop in Philly and make clothing & linen spray. I never knew how much I loved wearing cooking mints until I tried Mercury from Black Earth Botanica. I wish it was a body oil. That is kinda how I use it.
I meant *cooling mints* Oops!
This fragrance post inspired me to order samples from Carnival Wax that I haven’t tried in awhile, specifically sweet scents with vanilla: Drug Lord 2, 1965, Jack Of Aces, Pearl. I forgot what else I ordered but they’re always “eclectic” and far from ordinary. I can’t get that level of unusual or mysterious from perfume counters anymore.
I like very good lavender or vetiver in addition to woody warm scents. Current favorites currently are Jasmine Noir and Black Opium
For me it depends on the season , in the warmer weather I like fresher , citrus , nerioli , white floral scents , in colder weather I like deeper , warmer ,richer scents . Right now I’m wearing Atelier Rose Anonyme Pure Perfume .
Have you tried Jo Malone Basil & Neroli? Love, love, LOVE this for summer.
Neroli is another one that though strong, I really like.
I collect florals, especially white florals. I prefer the non-gourmand types such as Gucci Bloom, Houbigant Orangers en Fleurs, and L’Occitane’s Neroli Orchidee.
My fragrance style is dynamic so I love all types of notes. But I let seasons and the weather dictate my choices. Spring calls for lush florals with musk or vanilla (Olympea). Summer is crisp, vibrant florals (Happy); aquatics (TF Oud Mineral); citrus (LIght Blue) or greens (Jo Malone Basil & Neroli). Autumn is woody (By the Fireplace) or tobacco (JM Tobacco & Mandarin) . Winter…the heavier the better for the frigid days. Lots of gourmands (Angel, Candy), spicy (Curve Crush) or boozy (Queen Latifah, Nirvana Bourbon) notes.
Florientals with gourmand notes
I like sweet, fruity, or floral top notes with a warm, vanilla heart or bass note.
But it can’t be all sugar or vanilla. There has to be something else.
I really like the idea of clean, fresh, citrusy scents, but honestly, I end up catching whiffs of myself and thinking, “Is someone in the office cleaning their desk?”
Too grassy scents also make me sneeze!
AFAICT, my fragrance style is fruity/floral/gourmand/rich/spicy.
Right now my collection includes Britney Spears Circus Fantasy, Britney Spears Private Show (it’s coffee and vanilla!!!), Lady Gaga Fame, Katy Perry Killer Queen, Nicki Minaj Minajesty, Ed Hardy Hearts & Daggers, Victoria’s Secret Bombshell (a summer must for me, because it works about as well as your standard non-DEET mosquito repellent and I’m mosquito caviar), YSL Mon Paris, Marc Jacobs Decadence, and Jennifer Lopez JLove.
If I were going to go out and buy a fragrance right now, it’d probably be either Britney Spears Midnight Fantasy or Mugler Alien.
There’s a site called Sixteen92 that sells fragrance sprays and oils inspired by classic books, mostly Gothic literature. The names and even some of the ingredient descriptions for each scent carry the theme of the corresponding book. Browsing their permanent catalog, the two scents that appeal to me most are Vlad Dracul and I Saw Goody Proctor with the Devil.
Seriously Bombshell from Vicky’s protected you from mosquitoes before?? I’d be afraid it could attract those vampire ninjas. I’m ALWAYS seeking bug repellents because I’m sick every single Spring-Summer-into Fall I’ll buy it if it works for you.
I’m asking because I’ve been a life long bug buffet who could die from the secondary infections and inflammatory responses. Almost did last summer! The doc even put me on IV antibiotics and steroids in the ICU. ?
I love fragrances and hate having to be so cautious during warm weather months, changing my body wash, soap, shampoo, conditioner to fragrance free and products I get from Puerto Rico with ginger oil + lemongrass + others mosquitoes hate. Can’t tell you how many times I had to go to the ER for a shot and take a box of Benadryl then still need to use natural remedies so they wouldn’t wipe me out. I hope this isn’t off topic!
It actually has! Not only that, but 3 years ago a study from New Mexico State University proved that DEET is the only thing that works better than Bombshell! Here’s more info:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/eau-de-repellent-victorias-secret-perfume-turns-off-mosquitoes/
Mine is unusual, mysterious, somewhat exotic with incense, resins, ambers, sometimes roots. It’s often botanical and what most would consider unisex to masculine. I’ve been wearing more vegan fragrances that go easy on the EOs due to their impact on the environment as well as our health yet one of my favorite lines probably isn’t vegan and makes rather strong scents.
Some of the most unique intoxicating fragrances I’ve found are from Carnival Wax from the very talented Agatha Blois. They last a long time on clothing, on leather, on bedding and even on someone you hug! I love that I can order sample packs before getting full sized bottles because they really change on everyone. They smell differently throughout the day on me… I’m sniffing myself in an addictive manner when I wear them.
Favorites: Red Dragon, Black Amber 2 (Black Amber is still a favorite but it’s not sweet like 2 and it’s dirty with a strong antique patchouli), Jack Of Aces, Sugarwitch, Teaflower which is the most floral somewhat feminine one I’ve tried and even it made a friend feel altered, Clowncake (sweet booze), Nadramia “A profane church of carnal indulgence. Exquisite temple incense.”
I used to carry Pacifica’s fragrance spray in Spanish Amber to layer with these but that’s been so hard to find.
I’ve been into fragrance oils from Black Earth Botanica. She makes vegan much more subtle fragrances inspired by each planet and element also intended for ritual use. AIR + Mercury are some I tear through especially in warm weather. Fire is my latest favorite. If you’re into sweet warm fragrances Samhain and Uranus are remarkable.
I can’t wait to receive fragrance samples and body oils from LVNEA! I’m sure I’ll have more favorites soon. ?
Citrus-y, often tart (grapefruit or lemon), with dark (leather, smoke, non-sweet tobacco) or sharp (black pepper, etc.) tones, and usually light musks. Also good as additions to the previous are specific herbals or spices like cardamom and bergamot.
Can’t wear tonka, rose, or dragon’s blood as they go cloying, powdery, or weird (especially tonka — ugh!). Sweet scents (bakery, fruits other than citrus) are just jarringly inappropriate on me. I actually like vanilla and will sometimes use it in a diffuser at home, but my skin amps it through the roof — even the slightest hint of vanilla in a scent and it becomes nothing but vanilla on me, like I poured a bottle of extract over my head. Florals are also often jarring on me, though there are a bare few that actually work.
I tend to look in the men’s cologne section, as that’s literally the only place I’ve ever found scents that worked on me (or in one specific case, unisex).
I LOVE collecting perfumes, but I’m really picky about what I’ll wear day-to-day because heavy scents tend to give me headaches. I’ve narrowed down my “signature” style to aquatic-woodsy-floral. My all time favorite is Miu Miu and I love Gucci Acqua di Fiori. Honorable mention is the UD Go Naked rollerball, because it’s my perfect summer scent.
Bergamote, frankincense, patchouli (everything everyone else seems to hate so I’ve been told). Woods-like and usually warm. For example, I used to really like my dad’s Grey Flannel and my ex’s Karl Lagerfeld. Now I wear a number of the Kenzo scents and Guerlain’s Aqua Allegoria Bergamote Calabria. That said, I have been known to like Lolita Lempicka’s first perfume and Escada’s early summer perfumes.