What kind of notes are you drawn to in a fragrance?
I like woodier, spicier scents for sure, and I tend to like a little vanilla in the dry down to add some sweetness. Floral tends to tickle my nose in a bad way.
— Christine
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Anything with vanilla or amber notes and I’m hooked. And if they’re combined, even better, take my money.
You know when you answer the opposite of the question, because it’s a better clarifier? Yup. No candy, fruity gourmand, sweet 2015 on. Example of a ‘no’: Hermès Twilly. Pretty into Hermès DNA. The notes look fine, but it’s so girly and young that it seems odd Twilly would call Hermès home. I guess that’s what makes Nagel as good as she is at her craft. When I was a jhs /hs SLP, my most common prompt or comment was ‘Answer the question that was asked.’ Ironic.
I sometimes do the same. I hate rose, patchouli and ylang-ylang, so it’s sometimes way more easier to curate a list based on this. Especially considering how many women fragrances are rose based.
I’m on the hunt for a lasting sweet almond scent. Otherwise I like gourmands and vanillas, bourbon, and recently, cigar smoke lol. I’m willing to try odd indie scents too, like Joan of Arc, which really does smell like cold metal. I love the smell of matcha and would like to find a sweet matcha perfume.
FYI: I am no expert on notes, but I love either spicy gourmand or smoky tinged woodsy scents for our cooler season (November thru March) like Avon x Christian LaCroix Absynthe, Tom Ford Black Orchid, Maison Margiela Replica By The Fireplace and YSL Black Opium Nuit Blanche or clean, beachy florals for our hot season (aka April thru October!) like Maison Margiela Replica Beach Walk or Fresh Life.
I still cannot figure out what Avon x Christian LaCroix Absynthe is, as it is such a unique scent. It’s smokey, incencey, lush, a little bit woodsy, has a “darkness” to it and I freaking LOVE it whenever the Goth in me comes out. Which is fairly often any time of year, but especially October – April. If anyone else has used/owned this gem, please let me know?
I have not had the pleasure, but my inner Goth princess was dying to look it up!!! Here’s the fragrantica page, which may help: https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Avon/Christian-Lacroix-Absynthe-5412.html
Sounds delightfully dramatic!
Oh, it is, Natalie! But not in the way one may expect. It’s one of fragrances that gets many compliments and questions as to just what do I have on. Super unique!
I’m all for sweet and bitter gourmands, but in a fresh way, with a fruity touch. Which might seem odd, but it’s because my skin changes all the perfumes I try and makes them less sweet and sickening. There are a couple of favorite scents than I almost can’t recognize smelled on others or from the bottle. 😅 The fragrances I tend to like would make anyone else but me smell like a cake shop.
First, I absolutely love vanilla. Caramel, pear (fruit or blossom), orange blossom, bitter almond are on top of the list. Then coffee and coconut are somewhat debatable… I adore them in some perfumes and hate them in other… I guess it depends on the type of extract used.
I’m a big fan of gourmands (both warmer, “baked goods” type—vanilla, honey, coffee, hazelnut—and juicy, fruity ones—red berries, pear, apple, tangerine) as well as spicy, woody, amber-y fragrances. I’m not as well-versed in fresh fragrances, but I still tend to favor ones that are more fruity than they are “green” or “watery.” As for florals, I tend to avoid them because I hate so many of them (almost anything powdery is an instant headache), so I haven’t been able to narrow down which flowers I *do* like (I think they do exist, though! Maybe plumeria/frangipani?). I should get some kind of sampler of single notes so I can refine my nose.
Tobacco, leather, hay, patchouli, and just enough vanilla to sweeten it a whisper. I don’t want candy, I don’t want flowers, I don’t want to smell like a spa, I don’t want to smell like fresh laundry or clean skin. I want to smell like a cowboy who’s been in the fields all day. Or perhaps some kind of highwayman scoundrel.
Either bright, green, citrusy or woody, herbal scents. I wore Shiseido Relaxing for years, now it’s Philosophy Grace Bergamot or Acqua di Gioia. Currently looking for something more smoky for night, I used to wear Ralph Lauren Polo, haha, I don’t mind wearing a mans fragrance!
I also like woodier, spicy scents too, although I am not quite sure of what exactly creates them. All I know is that I really dislike sweet, cloying kind of scents.
I also know that I am drawn to expensive scents that are individual – some of the 100 Bon series available at Mecca here in Aus have my attention too.
I meant to add in yesterday’s round up of our favourite scents – Clinique’s Aronmatics Elixir – that to me is a perfect all year round perfume and I always have a big bottle of it (courtesy of my twin sister who always gives me one for Christmas or our birthday every year).
Vanilla
Citrus/fruity, beach-inspired scents, along with the white flowers- jasmine, magnolia, gardenia, and magnolia. I do have to be careful of floral-based perfumes- ever since I had my son (13 years ago), some of the floral scents can be too strong for me which is why I lean more towards fruity and beachy scents.
Milk and warm holiday spices! I hope to wear Philosophy Fresh Cream and Kenzo L’Elephant in the fall. Lately, purple flowers and fruit have been nice, too, especially a creamy lavender or shy violet.
Vanilla. I also like jasmine and some roses though rose scent can also be quite awful for me. I like some wood-y scents and some spice.
I think it’s hard to pick out what I like so maybe if I say that I used to love Shalimar before they altered it, the old YSL Opium, Black Opium and Chanel no 5, though I think it’s also altered.
Shalimar is my all time favourite and now when it’s not itself anymore I am a bit bewildered as I haven’t found any new real favourite.
I love woody scents everything from cypress to oud. I like my woods aromatic and green in the summer, warm and a bit spicey in the winter. Preferably no vanilla or heady florals for me.
I love musk, amber, aquatics, and smoky scents. I’m also big on atmospheric scents (do I want to smell like a thunderstorm or an actual forest with wet leaves…heck yeah!!). Recently discovering more florals that I like in subtler treatments.