In theory, I’d love to be one of those people who stick to a single scent . You know the sort: they will usually have a signature lip colour, perhaps a wardrobe whittled down to a few colours that combine well, maybe they even operate a one-in, one-out policy when it comes to products. These people intrigue me enormously, and I’d like to be among their ranks.
Only I’m not. I just can’t; to my mind different occasions demand different Madeleines to go with them — complete with a scent to direct my mood and complement whatever I’ve gone for, vibe wise.
Seasons also influence this. In the summer I am one sort of creature, all sunshine and energy powering me through the day, while the autumn sends cooler air to encircle me while I walk around London, and I need a warmer, more comforting hug of perfume to brave it all.
These deliver, but without going down the hackneyed route of straight up smoky or musky. In fact, they all pack a bit of a punch, on the one hand drawing you in to their molten depths, on the other sprinkling unusual and often more piquant elements that elevate matters.
The thing they all have in common, my loving them aside? They’re seductive, holding you in their thrall.
It would be impossibly to wear this wooded whiskey and not want to go to a jazz club. In fact, the scent practically demands it, while adding surprising shimmers of raspberry and patchouli that flirt through the haze of oaky, smoky base notes.
When L’Interdit was created for Audrey Hepburn, she inadvertently named it when she forbade Givenchy from releasing to the general public - a decree ignored by the fashion house. This latest incarnation takes the classic florals of that original and underpins them with intriguing lavender and cardamom.
Hiding out under all that rich, resonant oud and truffle: LOEWE’s new Accord, drawing on Spanish Rockrose wildflower to add a liquid, amber warmth that renders this instantly the perfect choice for autumn.
A clash that proves two disparate elements coming together can be unequivocally a good thing, Desert Dawn derives its power from smoky vetiver and cedarwood mingling with sweet, warm rose petals and cardamom.
To be whisked away on an olfactory trip to the Mediterranean, try this one that evokes sea breeze carrying cool, oceanic clary sage and enlivening pink peppercorn hugging hot, earthy stone.
Orange, rum, ginger, cardamom, and tonka bean may call sumptuous confectionary to mind, but they here combine forces to make this spicy, sweet, moreish scent that feels like the scent equivalent of slipping a velvet cloak on.
Just like the defiant, rule-breaking Elizabeth-Charlotte of Bavaria, aka the ‘Princess Palatine’, this is an unexpected scent, marrying sweet, terrifically seductive violet petal and herbal, crisp lavender, one whispering recline and the other rousing the senses.
Given that Virēre is derived from the Latin for ‘to be green’, it’s unsurprising that this is calls an armful of herbs and plants to mind - but the sweet fig and homely hay tug it out of being even a little bit predictable; once on the skin it morphs between aromatic and sparklingly verdant.
Rather than pair tobacco with its more common bedfellows like leather or oud, Centaurus casually adds fizzy starlight via cinnamon and pink pepper, adding a sense of galloping, untamed joy to this sensual scent.
Rounding out The Liquors collection, Kilian have worked their magic to make the Scotch whiskey at the heart of an Old Fashioned covetable by tugging threads of woody barrels and lighter floral aspects around its robust core.
Dior La Collection Privée Rouge Trafalgar Esprit De Parfum
The revered perfumer Francis Kurkdjian playfully upped the ante here by bringing ripe cherry with hints of spice to the fore, letting it take the reins from the medley of roses.
Jo Malone London Hinoki & Cedarwood Cologne Intense
This medley of woodland scents hinges on the titular cedarwood for warmth spiked through with lemony Hinoki. The resulting cologne is clean and serene and airy - think sauna rather than damp earth.
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