I have personal favorites and a signature.
I also do very much like to familiarize myself with everything there is on the shelf, even if I am not always a citrus person for example, I will still be curious to smell it all.
Now, If you want to buy a new fragrance and are going out with the intention of doing so. On the day, remember to not apply any perfume beforehand. Every perfume sits differently on different peoples skin when it blends with their body chemistry, some may suit you, some may not, all of them will smell the same on a piece of cardboard.
When trying a new fragrance, try it out on a card first, if it pleases you, apply it on your skin and wait a few seconds for the alcohol to dry down then whiff away. I would suggest you wait around 30 minutes, walk around and smell it again to see what the fragrance has transformed into. If you are convinced, then and only then should you make the purchase.
I'm a beleiver of independant perfume houses but sometimes I will make an exception.
Make way and open up your mind for these bad boys I'm going to write about:
So Im going to start with L'Artisan Parfumeur. An independant french perfume house that understand perfume as an art.
- Dzing, by l'artisan parfumeur took me years to find but it is me. I live and breathe it and everyone recognizes it as me as I am incredibly guilty of dousing myself in litres of the potion.
It is important to remember, there can be so many perfumes you find incredibly pleasant but don't match your personality.
Dzings little logo is a lady riding a tiger. Check, totally me.
The idea behind it was to capture the chaos of a circus, yet there is a sweetness to it.
There are leather, ink and cotton candy notes to start off with and later dries down to a strange vanilla note.
Safran Troublant is another fragrance by L'artisan parfumeur. I hadn't heard of it until a friend of mine had purchased it recently and I was immediately interested when I heard the word saffron in it. I asked her to wear it and meet me aswell as researching it thoroughly (I'm a geek like that.) The result was wonderful. Safran troublant is an oriental and soft floral scent, it draws you in and transports you to Morocco's spice market. You have notes of saffron, fresh red roses, honey, vanilla in this beautiful fragrance, and it will make you feel just that much more feminine.
Kisu by Tann Rokka is not for everyone, but as I am demonstrating my favorites and variety, this one is a woody scent. In fact I would call it the Queen of all chypre scents as you have notes of cedar, patchouli, ylang ylang and musk. It is incredibly deep and sensual and has an oriental feel to it.
Etat libre d'Oranger are just the enfants terribles of perfumes. With their incredibly provocative, controversial, naughty, and lets say interesting concoctions they have gained a lot of attention. When I first heard of this brand I went searching for it in Harvey Nichols in London and spent a good 15 minutes looking for it with no avail, when I finally asked a sales assistant I saw that the bottles had been turned around as the packaging and the labels on them were too offensive.
Ok so E.L.D.O. may have very sexual themes, but their results are still human, interesting, and for the curious people out there its always an option.
Side note: Rossy de Palma and Tilda Swinton have done collaborations with the perfume brand.
Vierges et Toreros by Etat Libre d'Oranger
Why this one? Because it contains leather notes AND floral notes. It is a man, a bullfighter, and a sweet virgin, in one scent. Its beautifully unisex. From the range, I choose this one.
Fleurs d'Oranger by Serge Lutens.
Sometimes I wish I were a different person so this would match my personality. This orange blossom fragrance isn't like every other one you find. I haven't found any other one that compares, nor will anyone ever. This one echoes the south of spain yet has a strange note which makes it what it is. Cumin. Every other orange blossom perfume I have smelled lack the warmth that this one has, making them feel sterile compared to this one with cumin. I see this as a wedding fragrance, its absolute happiness.
Fracas by Robert Piguet made a huge comeback a while ago, Marilyn Monroe used to wear it. Speaking of body chemistry, I use my father as a guinea pig sometimes, testing nail varnish on him and perfume too, Fracas smells so good on him and like cleaning products on me. It is a bottle of white flowers and I will not deny how instantly recognizable it is. Most women who use this do end up feeling like a million dollars. I'm not here to sell you Fracas though, I'm here to talk to you about her leather wearing, chainsmoking sister, Bandit. If Fracas was Monroe, Bandit is Bardot. I used Bandit before I knew about Dzing. How to describe it? Leather and bunch of flowers. Hard and soft.
1000 by Jean Patou is up there at the top of the perfumes list. It is a classic, along with Joy. A green floral fragrance. It really does feel like 1000 flowers in a bottle.
I discovered Memo perfumes years ago, I tried on one of their fragrances called Lalibela, a sweet and curious fragrance that had me thinking about it for days. With notes of orchid, coconut, rose, peony, jasmine and patchouli, its magical.
The concept of this perfume house is to capture the feel of a certain place.
Another fragrance they have called Sundance really did make me laugh. I don't know if it was just me, but I have tried it many times and the opening notes are those of a very green illegal plant you find at lots of festivals. I am not sure if this was intentional or not, however it does work well with a name such as Sundance. Thankfully the marijuana opening notes dry down very fast and you're left with pear, tuberose and pimento.
Memo Perfumes are hard to come by unless you live in Paris. Here is the website. http://mymemo.com/
The House of Creed are best known for their Love in White and Love in Black perfumes. Aqua Fiorentina is their fruitiest fragrance. It is lemon trees in Italy. It is the hottest day in summer.
My recent discovery has been Narcotic Venus by Nasomatto. The name really does do the fragrance justice. It does have a sleepy overpowering quality to it, lots of tuberose, hyacinth and jasmine too. This scent is amazingly sexy and beautiful. If you're a perfume lover I suggest you check this one out, it is haunting, mesmerizing. A new favorite.
An unusual fragrance for men, which I personally really love is Shaal Nur by Etro. Yes it does smell slightly Middle Eastern/ Oriental, No it does not smell like Oud. I always say it smells like Johnson and Johnsons baby powder and Lemon with some spices. I know it sounds strange but it really is wonderful, and different.
Acqua Di Genova, you can't get more vintage than 1853. Cologne water that is still being produced and sold under the same name. A tradional cologne that many men would appreciate.
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