Finally—my passion for perfume has returned!
It’s been a long year-and-a-half, right? So much has changed, so much has fallen to the wayside, and so much of our day-to-day looks different now. On the more superficial side of things, perfume has barely crossed my mind since the pandemic began (other than the handful of occasions that I wanted to make sure I still had my sense of smell).
In retrospect, I can see a few reasons for this… First and foremost, you could say I have expensive taste in perfume, so I couldn’t justify “wasting” it on my husband and son when we were essentially locked in the house together for months and months on end. When I actually did leave the house, it was usually for a doctor’s appointment, and I always avoid fragrance when I’m going to be in close quarters with someone for a period of time. Any other excursion was essentially a mission to achieve some rather important goal (that couldn’t be delivered), and perfume wasn’t on my radar (or seemed extraneous).
Even more, my scaled-back pandemic social life has pretty much been limited to my or someone else’s home (other than that one gleeful month at the beginning of the summer when it was apparently OK to pretend everything was normal and go to packed restaurants and bars). Through all of it, I never felt the need for that extra spritz of perfume before greeting guests or walking out the door to head down the street to our neighbors’ backyard.
But that changed yesterday.
I was doing a little tidying up in my office and came across some perfume samples I had forgotten about. One of them was Maya Njie’s Les Fleurs and after a few sprays, I couldn’t stop smelling myself all afternoon. (I might have to buy it.) This led to my annual get-ready-for-fall ritual (which was cancelled in 2020) of swapping out the perfumes on the tray in my bathroom. I bid adieu to my summery Tom Ford Neroli Portofino and By Kilian I Love the Way You Feel (which was a limited-edition release in 2018, but you can get it here). Byredo’s Gypsy Water was allowed to stay.
Fall is in the air!
Pictured above is my more extensive edit for Fall 2021, because I’m finally feeling the fragrance vibes again. (I’m linking to each scent’s Fragrantica page so you can read more about the notes yourself.)
Byredo Gypsy Water: If I really had to choose, this would be one of my two signature scents.
SCENT Costume National: I love amber, and it was love at first sniff almost 20 years ago.
Kiehl’s Original Musk: The least fancy of the bunch by far, but I love it for every day nonetheless.
Helmut Lang Eau de Parfum: I was a fan since the early 2000s and devastated when this scent was discontinued, but jubilant when it came back.
Fracas: When I go floral, I go FLORAL. This is just a classic that is meant to be worn with cashmere.
Mona di Orio Les Nombres de’Or Musc: By far the most obscure of the bunch, I see myself wearing this powdery perfection forever (and my grandkids saying it smells like Nana).
Le Labo Santal 33: The second of my signature scents, there’s really nothing like it (even if every beauty editor in the world wears it).
For shits and giggles, I opened every one of these pages to see the commonalities… As if I didn’t already know, I generally lean toward woody, aromatic, musky, spicy—and genderless—scents.
Amber is a consistent note as well, and it reminded me of the Histoires de Parfum Ambre 114 I wore many, many moons ago. (I have a list of every perfume I’ve worn—ever—going back to my elementary and middle school years, BTW).
This brings me to my new fragrance purchasing approach now that I’m back in the game… I can’t exactly buy every bottle of $200+ perfume I want, and since I like to switch things up it makes more sense to buy smaller sizes that are sure to keep me stocked for at least one season. (If I run out, I know it’s worth investing in the full size.) I just bought a travel-size of the aforementioned Histoires de Parfum Ambre 114 (for $35) and Frederic Malle L’Eau de Hiver (for $55), which is another long-standing, totally unique favorite that translates to “winter water.”
Interestingly enough, L’Eau de Hiver is not listed on Fragrantica, but the intoxicating blend of white heliotrope, iris and honey initially sparked my interest/obsession about the parfumers who create these otherwordly scents, since Frederic Malle is one of the only fragrance houses that gives the creator (aka the “nose”) credit right there on the label. After reading countless books and doing more than a little research about the noses behind my favorites, it turns out a handful of parfumers are behind several of my favorite scents. They are artists, and their olfactory work totally resonates with me.
So with that, I am beyond thrilled to be finding excitement in fragrance again! It looks like COVID isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so I might as well enjoy the aroma I surround myself with every day. And, of course, each morning spritz confirms that I still have my sense of smell!
