//// In search of the perfect perfume #1

Posted on | October 7, 2009 | 9 Comments

Finding a good perfume is hard job — and it does not help that there are not any small brands available here in Finland. My scent choosing process always takes a while, I have to test the scent several times to my own skin to be certain that I really like it in daily use. So I have practically abandoned the idea of buying the scent when traveling abroad — there is not enough time to get properly known with the future daily companion of mine. Ordering some samples might work — and that I will certainly do if I don’t find what I’m looking for from here.

My skin chemistry twists the scents in unexpected ways. Many floral scents turn awfully sour on me — take strong rose accents (for example lovely Stella (McCartney)); they start to smell like beer on my skin. So the floral notes can’t be the main note of the scent. Sweetness of the scent is accentuated strongly on my skin, and that rules many sweet ones out of question, I don’t want to smell like a candy shop. I also don’t like perfumes that smell like perfume, the fragrance should blend.

My favorite perfume of all time was Le Feu d’Issey Miyake, unfortunately that wonderful and unusual scent has been discontinued and I refuse to pay the sky high prices asked from some random deadstock floating around. That scent was an amazing, peppery, grapey composition built around a warm amber core — and my skin chemistry worked miracles for that bringing out the complex warmth out of the composition by accentuating the sweet notes. Many people experienced this scent as quite sharp and heavy one, but the transformation on my skin was miraculously good. The scent has also great longevity, even when used with light hand — like I do.

A long time favorite of mine has been Light Blue by Dolce & Cabbana. That is my easy to go for summery everyday scent and invigorating pick-me-up fragrance. The white flowers in this work surprisingly well on me, I guess that the ample amount of citrus and some crisp apple flavour help a lot. The scent itself is almost unisex — and I like that. The negative side of this perfume is its huge success, there was a time when every other girl left a trail of Light Blue behind.

I have enjoyed the blue family — Blu Mediterraneo from Aqua di Parma. My favorite is Mandorlo di Sicilia, aromatic, sweet scent with some hidden bitterness that makes it very wearable on my skin. This does not smell like a perfume at all, it smells just good and makes me extremely happy. On the other hand there is nothing dramatic or particularly interesting in this scent — it blends almost too well — and although I love it probably more than any other scent right now it does not do it for me every day. And it is definitely not for special occasions.

There are couple of green scents I really adore — but for some reason I associate both of these strongly to summertime. Guerlain Herba Fresca smells like the summer smelled in my childhood, after a brief summery rain shower, playing under the berry bushes on my aunties garden. Again my skin’s tendency to turn the scents to the sweet side works really well with this. Hermes Un Jardin En Mediterranee is close relative to the Herba Fresca, but with very strong sandalwood core that probably makes it tad more interesting. Sandalwood with green accents is really good combination for my skin, but does not work for everyone.

I really love amber notes and one of my everyday scents is Amber from L’Occitane. That one is quite simple and straightforward amber fragrance with some sweet vanilla notes — and it blends quite nicely with my skin. And I love the scent it leaves to the clothes, clean but warm.

The problem is that since the Le Feu I haven’t been completely happy with any fragrance, I like many but none of them feels like the one. I crave something more complex and perhaps bit less sweet amber based perfume as my daily fragrance — and this is my quest to find it.

prada-ambree

My first test was Prada’s newest, L’Eau Ambree. The first trial is very promising, this is dry, and perhaps even slightly powdery amber with nice amount of that “cleanliness” I enjoy. I hesitate a bit with the rose scent in the core, when sticking my nose close the skin I certainly can catch the infamous beer aroma here… …it does not linger, though. I would guess that the trail scent of this is actually quite fabulous — of course I can’t get it fully by myself. But the problem is that I want that the scent is good when sticking the nose to the skin and inhaling the trail. Maybe this develops to the better on my skin…

The other Prada scents for women did not work for me, but I haven’t tested the men’s amber version. That will probably be the next to try…

Tags: perfume

Discussion

stellagee
October 7th, 2009 @ 4:22 pm

my scent for years now has been dior homme. i also find floral notes difficult, do like soft ambers (but none too masculine) and feel sweets become overpowered.

if you haven’t tried the basic dior homme (not the sport, there’s a detectable “man aroma” presence), i’d suggest you give it a go.
Kamicha
October 7th, 2009 @ 4:48 pm

Thanks for the hint! That will definitely go to my list.
Kamicha
October 7th, 2009 @ 4:52 pm

And BTW: that Prada thing definitely developed to good direction, the rose aroma vanished and the remains on the skin are very pleasant. This one needs some more experimentation!
sugar kane
October 7th, 2009 @ 5:39 pm

I have similar issues with scents — floral perfumes smell more like plain old booze after lingering a while on my skin. Currently, I have no “signature scent”: I used to wear D&G’s Light Blue and still like it, but it’s perhaps a bit too light. My last winter smelled of Carolina Herrera’s 212 SEXy (yeah, right), and while I quite like it still, can’t really go there right now. A new phase in life demands a new scent!

I love me a bit of citrus and a lot of freshness — the cleanliness you mentioned — but somehow even the new “green” perfumes bring way too many 90’s memories rushing back, so that’s another place I’m not quite ready to re-visit. And I’d love to make some classic perfume “my signature”! A friend uses some (new)version of Estée Lauder’s Pure White Linen, and I’m quite taken by its sickly sweet tones mixed with the clean laundry effect of the original… But on the…third or so hand, I adore “blue” fragrances too. Damn, I really need to go testing.

As a long-time Prada fan, I’d love to be able to wear their scent, so I’m eager to learn how your experiment continues!
Kamicha
October 7th, 2009 @ 5:56 pm

Oh the lifeline of the fragrance is a total mystery — I think that in the end this perfume ends up quite ordinary, lacking the richness I’ve loved in my previous amber blends. It’s not bad — I would definitely use it if I got a bottle for a bargain but I doubt that I will use almost 70 euros for 30 ml of this.

But I made a fabulous web discovery: http://theperfumedcourt.com/ sells PERFUME SAMPLES only! You can buy single samples, sample sets from different manufacturers and even sample sets based on single fragrance note. I ordered Elegant Amber sampler (and will probably write about this site when my package arrives)!
Anna
October 7th, 2009 @ 6:00 pm

Black Orchid by Tom Ford might be something you like…? Not sure if you can find it in Finland, though.
Kamicha
October 7th, 2009 @ 6:14 pm

Anna: actually I have Black Orchid. The problem with it is that it actually has quite strong ylang ylang and jasmine notes. The scent starts as a super promising one on my skin… …but ends up sour. I like to use it sparingly, for special occasion — but I keep a small cotton wipe on my purse on a tiny ziplock bag so I can refresh the scent if needed…
Kamicha
October 7th, 2009 @ 7:10 pm

Sugar Kane: I think that those Hermes fragrances (Un Jardin Sur Le Nil and Un Jardin En Mediterranee) might be worth a try for you. Those both are green, classic, pleasant, luxurious and very distinct — and from my experience work well for the people who have used Light Blue. Although I don’t count these to the same fragrance family there is something common in these, some delectable, delightful richness and great adaptability to wearer while still remaining recognizable. They are all three very fresh, but with depth and longevity.
sugar kane
October 7th, 2009 @ 7:49 pm

Thanks for the recommendations, will definitely give them a try!

What do you think?

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Location: Helsinki, Finland

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