So I'm doing some stocktaking of music & perfumes. I hear from more experienced perfumistas that it's good to do a stocktake of your perfumes at some point to:
1. Find out if your collection has expanded to the point of gargantuity;
2. Find out what you like & what you don't;
3. Find out if you've gradually come to like stuff that you didn't before;
4. For fun.
So I'm conducting a sniff-a-thon of all my perfumes, and I've listed my impressions below. I actually lined them up in a certain order - based on my associations (olfactory or sentimental or otherwise) - to sniff. You'll find that perfumes are like a mood, or emotion, or landscape, or even a story to me, sort of like a piece of music, or a book. Here's to an indulgent examination of my olfactory preferences & associations, & here goes nothing!
I have 6 categories of scent:
A. Comfort/Nostalgia/Girly Scents
B. Comfort/Gourmand Scents
C. City Scents
D. Country Scents
E. For the Rich & Glam
F. The Hard to Swallow
A. Comfort/Nostalgia/Girly Scents
1. Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely (100ml) - This was the one that started it all, the result of my 1st search for a 'signature scent' that led to a lot of perfume-related research. It has a slightly herbaceous scent that I like, but is still sweet and mild enough to be fairly conventional, so this is a comfort scent for me. I like wearing this scent with my light blue sweater (the one I bought when I was 13, so most of my friends should know this sweater). They just fit together. Lovely also doubles up as a pillow spray because of the comfort factor. I'm not sure I would buy this perfume now, but not a bad 1st methinks.
(Ok wait, actually my 1st buy was Anna Sui Dolly Girl, but it gave me such a headache because of the saccharine factor, I gave it to my sis.)
2. Lanvin Rumeur (sample) - When I bought SJP Lovely, my alternative was Rumeur. Rumeur doesn't have the herbaceous undertone, and is a flirty, feminine, pretty perfume. I think 'Rumeur' is a bad name for the perfume though, because the scent is too pleasant.
3. Hermes Kelly Caleche (miniature 15ml) - Like Rumeur, Kelly Caleche is a 'pretty & girly' scent. However, Kelly Caleche has a teeny bit of 'soft leather', so it's a bit more sophisticated than Rumeur (sort of like a young gentile woman in her chic town clothes instead of her summer dress).
4. Bvlgari au The Vert (miniature) - Ah another comfort perfume. This is basically green tea & mint, and I really like this scent. It's easy to wear, a crowd-pleaser, but more importantly, it's a nostalgic perfume that reminds me of my JC days. I don't really know why - maybe I used a green tea shampoo back then? Or maybe the colours I associate with the perfume (green & white) are also associated with my JC?
5. Body Shop Magnolia (50ml) - Actually, before SJP Lovely, I had a few bottles of scent (usu bought by Mum), but the only one that is still left in my cupboard is Magnolia. It's a simple, unassuming, comforting floral scent, slightly uninteresting for my taste now. Also serves as a good (& cheap!) pillow spray.
B. Comfort/Gourmand Scents
6. L'Occitane Miel & Citron (shimmering version- 100ml) - This is also a comfort scent, though a very different type. Sometimes (esp in stuffy environments), the smell can be overpowering (the honey!). However, I like to wear this to sleep, because when I crawl out from under my comforter in the morning, the warm scent of skin mixed with this perfume is delirious (and makes you want to go back to sleep). Don't like the shimmer though.
7. Diesel Fuel for Life (miniature) - On the same foody/gourmand theme. Fuel for Life is like a brutal candy attack on your nose - cloying & overpowering, it is like a childish caricature of a gourmand perfume.
C. City Scents
8. Bvlgari Black (75ml) - One of my favourites. To me this perfume is all about the city, the smell of rain with exhaust smoke & cars with a dash of vanilla, like walking past a traffic jam at orchard road on a rainy day, knowing that soon you'll be popping into a mall, out of the rain, for warm drinks, dessert & some retail therapy. It is also one of those smells that lingers on your jacket and smells so good that way (it's the mixing with skin scent thing again!)
9. Lalique Encre Noire (miniature) - Like Bvlgari Black, this is also a 'city' perfume. However, while Black is edgy & warmn, Encre Noire is edgy, cold & remote. Definitely not a perfume that lifts your spirits. On my skin, it smells as if I've been smoking 10packs/day, & there's also an earthy/woody & sourish sweetness to it. This should be a perfume worn with a perfectly tailored suit, & plenty of aristocratic aloofness. Can you tell that I love this scent? My only problem is it doesn't stay very long on my skin.
(A note on Lalique - I found to my surprise that my mum has an old collection of Lalique miniatures, & based on a sniff-test, their perfumes are plenty good. Worth looking into.)
10. BLV Notte pour femme (miniature) - Another city perfume, though BLV Notte is like a 'pop' version to the 'alternative' Bvlgari Black & Encre Noire; while Black & Encre Noire evoke 2 different melancholic & urban atmospheres, BLV Notte just reminds me of clubbing. What does it smell like? Chocolate & vodka. I turn to Notte when I don't want to think too much, but it's not a favourite.
11. Prada Infusion d'Iris (pour femme) (miniature) - A perfume the diametric opposite of Notte, this is the classic office scent. It's both sophisticated & contemporary, and all crisp white blouses & pearl earrings. It's a cool floral scent that does not assail your nostrils. That said, it's not a flirty perfume. It is something I would wear if I have a management meeting, & need to appear feminine but in control & professional. Very easy to wear & easy to love.
D. Country Scents
12. Hermes Un Jardin en Mediteranee (miniature 15ml) - Ok, now we're moving from the city to lovely rural landscapes. They say En Mediteranee is a fig & cedar perfume, but I don't know what fig & cedar smell like, so there. For me, En Mediteranee is a cottage somewhere in the poorer rural Naples on a slow, warm afternoon. The sea is nearby, but not too near; just near enough to get a hear the sea gulls. There's an orange grove in the backyard, and a smouldering woodfire somewhere. There is freshly turned earth in the vegetable-herb garden outside, & an old man smoking a pipe at the front porch. Yep, all that in a bottle!
13. Annick Goutal Mandragore (50ml) - In the same village in Naples, the village wise woman/witch lives in a small cottage. In here, there are many curious and mysterious herbs and spices. We get a faint smell of something is brewing in the open-air kitchen at the back, and for some reason we know it's a medicinal cream, and is not to be eaten. There's some strange stuff here - dried lizards & fungi, big bottles containing strange, deformed shapes - but the house is very clean. The tables are meticulously wiped, the floors are swept, and the place is cluttered but neat, and there are bowls of dried flowers & fruit peel all over. Mandragore is a dark-ish, interesting scent (hey the thing is supposed to contain mandrake!), which remains clean, beautiful & non-threatening. Again, only problem is lasting power.
14. Hermes Terre d'Hermes (miniature) - If En Mediteranee brings to mind a poor village, Terre d'Hermes is a sun-scorched beach on a small island off the coast of Italy, owned by a billionaire. It's an almost unbearably hot, breezy day, so the beach is deserted. The waves lap against the huge boulders on the beach, and the sun evaporates the salt water almost immediately. Not too far away, where the sea is shimmering in the sun, there's a white yacht belonging to said billionaire. Terre d'Hermes has to be one of my favouritest perfumes. I wear this especially when I'm feeling down, or know that I'm going to be stuck in a cold place for a long time, because it is a warm, relaxing scent that reminds me of deserted, sunny beaches (but without coconuts!) & luxurious, long vacations.
15. Acqua di Parma Colonia Assoluta (miniature) - Let's now move to the more populated rural townships in the Mediterranean, to the effervescent, crowded rural town on market day. The morning starts bright & sunny with lemons & peppers traded at the market. After all the excitement of the morning though, it's home to put the fresh flowers from the market in the vase. Colonia Assoluta is another warm scent that is citrusy without being too 'detergent-like', if you know what I mean. I haven't really worn this scent much because I bought it recently, but I like it quite a bit.
E. For the Rich & Glam
16. Sisley Eau du Soir (miniature) - This is one of those classic floral scents that people might find 'old'. However, it's actually a lovely floral bouquet. A bit high-pitched, but very well-rounded, with a glamorous, sensual softness at its heart. Defnitely not something you'd wear to the neighbourhood mall. For me this is a black tie perfume, when you expect to be in a long gown, sipping champagne (no red wine!) & hobnobbing with the upper classes.
17. Hermes 24 Faubourg (miniature) - The 1st time I got a scent strip of 24 Faubourg, I stuffed it into my leather wallet, and omg it smelled so right. 24 Faubourg smells like money, a designer leather wallet full of money. Unlike Eau du Soir, you don't need an occasion to wear 24 Faubourg; you just need to look rich. I love this scent but seldom wear it, largely because me, rich???
18. Guerlain Shalimar (miniature) - Shalimar is a bit hard for me, since I've got the EDT, and I've heard the parfum is much better. Shalimar is a vanilla-ish perfume, with some citrusy (bergamot?) thing going on. This is the exotic one in this 'rich & glam' lot, like the European girl who marries a sheikh and lives in a huge airy Middle Eastern mansion with spicy incense burning all day. And it's turbulent times, with a civil war raging, & there's a whole lot of can-she-adapt-to-the-culture-&-sacrifice-all-for-love shenanigans going on. I like the EDT well enough, but I really wish I had the parfum instead.
F. The Hard to Swallow
19. Estee Lauder Youth Dew Amber Nude (30ml) - I bought this perfume unsniffed, cos I heard good things about it. The greatest thing it did for me was to demonstrate that I Do Not Like Amber In Perfumes, Amber Makes My Throat Itch Dammit. As for the juice, it's sweet in a slightly medicinal way (I don't like to smell it too often). Anyone wants this perfume?
20. Guerlain Vol de Nuit (parfum 8ml) - Ah this is the vintage/retro one. Sweet & slightly powdery, prone to accusations of 'old lady-ness'. My problem with this one is that the AMBER jumps out at me. I like this one better than YDAN, largely because there's not SO MUCH amber, but I like it only in the bottle & not on my skin.
21. Agent Provocateur (100ml) - Ok this is the sexpot flowerbomb perfume. I regret getting the 100ml bottle because seriously, I'll never finish using this if I dare only to spray a teeny little bit each time. It's like you accidentally barged into the boudoir of a... well, prostitute, and there's lots of rose-scented cosmetics, but also lots of skank. I like it in principle because every girl needs a sexpot scent like this, but. Use with caution.
I still have plenty of perfume samples, & some perfumes that I gave to my parents that are *not* strictly mine, but hey, I've already spent the whole afternoon on this. Plenty of fun though.
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