Thanks to Celia for today's question!
What notes would your dream fragrance have?
Amber, vanilla would be the two notes I could distinctly recall, but then something woody, a little spicy, and warm as well.
— Christine
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Maybe something citrusy like lemon & sugar, or green like ferns & wet earth.
Now here’s an area where I know darn well I haven’t got a clue what I’m talking about at all!
So there are some notes I really love, but I’m fairly sure that they do NOT go well together in the same perfume.
I love bergamot, orange blossom, absinthe and other woody notes, orchid, patchouli, vanilla, tuberose. So my best guess is that whatever the heck it is, it would either be very warm and complex, or smell like Pepe La Pew!
I almost had coffee coming outta my nose Nancy T – Pepe Le Pew! Good for a Sunday morning chuckle!
Hi Glenda, glad I was able to give you something to have a good giggle over! We all need one of those every now and then???
Sandalwood
Jasmine, salty sea air, beeswax,
I’d have to test out some stuff as a lot of time pairing scents is quite tough, but I put a handful of each notes I tend towards, and it’d be some mix of some of those
Top notes: Bergamot, lavender, mimosa, nasturtium, vetiver and/or rosemary (basically floral, herbal or grassy notes)
Heart notes: Neroli, jasmine, lemongrass, cardamom and/or ylang ylang (citrusy or spicy notes with some deeper florals)
Base notes: Sage, cedarwood, musk, tonka bean, amber and/or oud (wood, spice and musk-type notes)
I actually got to play around in a boutique perfumery back in the day in Santa Cruz, and it is waaaay more complex than I had thought before then.
That sounds similar to Prada Luna Rossa. It’s a men’s fragrance but I’ve read a lot of reviews with women wearing it.
Patchouli and vanilla for me !
I also like warm amber and vanilla, preferably paired with a little sweetness and fruitiness.
something with lavender and vanilla, and it would be a light daytime summer scent
My dream fragrance is basically The Body Shop’s Honeymania edt! Delicate, sweet, floral honey and wildflower notes.. I just wish it was more long-lasting ):
Vanilla, orange, bergemot, cinnamon, clove, ginger, pink peppercorns, cocoa, cardemom, nutmeg, myrrh, incense, amber, white musk, white floral. Exotic, spicy, and sweet.
When I was in college I spent a semester studying in Valencia, Spain, and I wish I could have a perfume that came anywhere close to the scent of blooming orange trees. Neroli is orange blossom essential oil, so I try every orange blossom or neroli scent I come across (and I have Prada Infusion Fleur d’Oranger, it’s nice but not what I’m after), but I’ve not come across one yet that truly smells like my memory. That would be my dream fragrance!
Artisan Perfumer made a fragrance called Seville a l’aube that was inspired by this story:
“I am in Seville, standing under a bitter orange tree in full bloom in the arms of Román, the black-clad Spanish boy who is not yet my lover. Since sundown, we’ve been watching the religious brotherhoods in their pointed caps and habits thread their way across the old Moorish town in the wake of gilded wood floats bearing statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary. This is the Madrugada, the longest night of Holy Week, and the whole city has poured into the streets: the processions will go on until the dawn sky is streaked with hunting swallows. In the tiny white-washed plaza in front of the church, wafts of lavender cologne rise from the tightly pressed bodies. As altar boys swing their censers, throat-stinging clouds of sizzling resins – humanity’s millennia-old message to the gods – cut through the fatty honeyed smell of the penitents’ beeswax candles.
I remember people on Fragrantica from Spain saying that it is the exact scent of Seville and its orange blossoms. You can find samples on luckyscent if you can’t find a bottle in stores to test! Hope you like it. It’s on my list to try as well!
http://www.luckyscent.com/product/15288/seville-a-laube-by-lartisan-parfumeur
Thank you, Ashleigh- I will definitely check that out!
Have you tried Serge Lutens Fleurs d’Oranger? Seville a l’Aube is also fantastic!
Adding that one to my list, too! 🙂
I hope you find your dream orange blossom!
Yay, I love this question! I’m unsure how it would combine together, but my favorite notes are coconut, honey, chocolate, patchouli, neroli, and ginger. Perhaps I would have to make two dream fragrances, one lighter and one heavier. 🙂
Mine would be leathery, floral, and somewhat animalic. Moody and highly sensual. Strong musks, sandalwood, ylang-ylang, orchid, violet, nightblooms, honey, coconut, lots of amber, and suede. Maybe some peach and fig in the top notes to mellow. Both very witchy and slightly powdery, super old-school. Like Mitsuko meets Shalimar meets L’Heure Bleu meets Black Orchid. Velvety, purple, and noir. Skin scents and romance and nothing cloyingly sweet. It would dry to a warm, amber-laden, opium smell with hints of red lipstick.
You should try Cuir Ottoman by Parfum D’Empire.
Jasmine, anise, rose, musk, violet, vanilla… Basically, my HG fragrance, Lou Lou by Cacharel. It has several other notes, as well, but these are my favorite, and they are very apparent in the perfume.
Have it already 😀 Made for me in Sweden by fave Parfumerie
I’m terrible at picking notes out of fragrances, unless they’re very simple and familiar fruity or food-y notes, like citrus or vanilla. I’m better at describing how a fragrance makes me feel or what it reminds me of! But I have noticed that some common notes in fragrances I love involve blackberry, vanilla, orchid, or sandalwood, or lighter “green” scents mixed with descriptions like “rain” and “ocean air.”
christine you just described kenzo jungle l’elephant…one of my fav scents
Rose, jasmine absolue, iris, bergamot, musk and patchouli.
My favorite notes are fig, citrus (bergamot in particular) and white flowers including tuberose. I’m not sure how they would work together in one scent though!
There is a commercial one I can’t think of that has fig, bergamot, and tuberose. I can’t recall the name though.
Are you familiar with the fragrance La Vie Est Belle by Lancôme? That fragrance has all of my favorites. Funny thing is, every time I wear it (which is almost every day) at least one person will as me if I am wearing Flowerbomb! To me, the two do not smell similar at all
Either a fresh scent like Clean Reserved Skin which I have and love or a soft powdery jasmine floral with an undertone of Amber.
It would start out with bergamot and citrus and maybe a little plum and jasmine. Then segue to a deep, spicy, rich floral with rose, jasmine, iris and carnation spiced with clove and cinnamon and maybe a touch of frankincense. The dry down would have Mysore sandalwood, vetiver, vanilla, amber and a touch of civet and oakmoss to anchor it.
Patchouli / Amber / Cardimom / Musk / Sandelwood.
I have loved Chloe for as long as I can remember. It has top notes of peony, freesia and lychee, middle notes of magnolia flower, lily of the valley, and rose, and base notes of cedarwood, amber, and honey.
I like something earthy and spicy – I lean towards sandalwood and cloves
Alternatively, I also love something green and ferny – like Aerin’s Waterlily Sun.
Somthing close to Tokyo Milks Sugar Sugar: Milk, Rice, Pistachio, tiny bit of coconut…
Somthing close to Tokyo Milks Sugar Sugar: Milk, Rice, Pistachio, tiny bit of coconut, Sandalwood…
1. Ginger, vanilla, chocolate, rum /maybe add some apple or pumpkin
2. Gardenia
3. Cherry, marshmallow, sugar
I like too many smells
I adore warm scents, they can be oriental, woody, gourmand, or strong florals like rose, jasmine, orange blossom and iris. I really hate ‘ozone’ type perfumes, they’re supposed to smell like the sea but it’s too artificial for me. Making your own perfume sounds too difficult for me but I love what I do have. Prada Amber, Thierry Muller’s Alien, My Burberry, Prada Candy, Bvlgari Mon Jasmin Noir. It’s funny, often people will buy ‘clean’ simple fragrances for me because they imagine I’m like that but they don’t ‘speak’ to me as much as these warm fragrances.
I’m on a constant quest to find a perfume that smells exactly like a fresh dewy pink rose, like one still blooming on the rosebush.
A bold white floral over a clean white musk with just a hint of spice, (perhaps some nutmeg) and the impression of dry white champagne.
I love white florals because they are so feminine, the musk & spice would balance out the indoles of the white flowers, and the scent of champagne os just pure glamour.
Tuberose, gardenia, orange blossom, jasmine, & ylang ylang would be my choice for the white florals.
If possible I would like a note of dry white champagne in there too, I love the slightly sour but honeyed floral, peach & apricot notes of dry white champagne.
Enough incense to choke a donkey. I love Copal. It’s not used enough. Osmanthus, vetiver, incense, amber, benzoin, myrrh, copal, tonka, and cedar.
I love scents that are dark but sheer like Jo Malone Dark Amber and Ginger Lilly.
I’m a big fan of scents that balance sweet or fruity notes with something earthy or herbal. And scents that invoke life memories and experiences, without banging you over the head with a two-by-four (I HATE the “pumpkin spice,” “apple cinnamon,” “laundry” and “suntan lotion” seasonal fragrance cliches). If I had a bloomin’ clue about the art and science of blending notes (not to mention the first inkling about the industry itself), I’d have created the line by now. I actually put a lot of thought into it once upon a time. A few examples:
A summer day is strawberries and cream, fresh cut grass, and wildflowers.
A summer night in NOLA is jasmine, hot bread, melting sugar, and fresh dug dirt.
Fall is crisp orchard fruits, hay, wood smoke, and the teeensiest hint off marshmallow in the background.
Relaxation is white tea, ginger, lemon, and honey (NOT lavender or chamomile!)
Sexy is sandalwood, amber, maybe a hint of carnation, and… here is where my failure at understanding notes comes in, because I know how I imagine this one would smell, but I don’t have a clue how to get there so it isn’t cloying.
GINGER!
Someday, I’ll decide what else would be perfect with ginger, until then, I’ll buy ginger everything.
(My favorite perfume is BPAL’s Shub Niggurath.)
Very difficult question. Perhaps you can help. My faves;Jasmine Noir by Bulgaria, two Pradas, Amber and another one whose name I can’t recall. Pravda Iris infusion and some light Clean fragrances at times.
Many fragrances some bad on me
Forgot,Donna Karan,Cashmere mist.
vanilla, tuberose, gardenia, neroli, sandalwod
I don’t really know much about fragrance notes, but I really like a strong, intense, warm, spicy scent regardless of the season. I do like vanilla, amber, some sweetness but not too much. I actually prefer men’s fragrances, and my favorite right now is Spice Bomb. I don’t care for citrus, light, springy fragrances on me…perfectly fine on other people, though.
I am a sucker for Chypres and the original Jil Sanders woman II is my most beloved perfume. Green, green, green with oakmoss.
Lilac and vetiver for sure!
I love hints of Sandalwood, vanilla, a tad of Musk and most def Amber!