What's your favourite perfume?

January 22, 2024 2:49 PM

I'm on the hunt for a signature scent and love talking about perfume. What are your favourite scents and why?

I am inclined to get headaches with quite a lot of fragrances, below are the ones that have worked for me:

J'adore Dior - fresh peachy floral shampoo scent

Prada Infusion D'Iris- dry, mature, calming and unobtrusive, great for the office

I like tea scents in general but find they don't have good longevity. I love the drydown of Rive Gauche.

Oh, and I adore jasmine!

posted by Sunflower88 to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (30 answers total)

i also love jasmine and i very much like tom ford's jasmine rouge. i'm wearing it now, in fact. also, gucci's gorgeous jasmine.

i also love tom ford's neroli portofino, stella by stella mccartney, pear splash and marc jacobs by marc jacobs, carnal flower by dominique ropion, skin by clean reserve, 002 by bon parfumeur and tobacco vanille by tom ford.

i went on a bit of a perfume bender for xmoose, but haven't tried those yet.

i love the hermes scents, but they last about 5 minutes on me, so i've not spent the money on them. this makes me quite sad.
posted by koroshiya at 3:04 PM on January 22

I wear Guerlain's Mitsouko. It was developed in 1919.
Everything about it is ME.
Data point: Mitsouko was the favorite perfume of Jean Harlow.
I should add that it's not jasmine-y but the main notes are peach, bergamot, cloves, and other things.

Sometimes, in the dead of winter (like now) I wear Chanel's Coco. (NOT Coco Mademoiselle.)
It's heavy and heady enough to get me through winter, but I would never wear Coco in warmer weather; too, too much.
posted by BostonTerrier at 3:18 PM on January 22 [5 favorites]

Patchouli… mmm… so I can smell like a hippie bookstore, that’s karma by Lush

If I want to smell like dainty money… Chloe

If I want to smell like a bouquet who’s out to get you while wearing cat eye makeup because you know what you did (aka Taylor swifts song Vigilante shit) flower bomb by viktor Rolf
posted by St. Peepsburg at 3:32 PM on January 22 [1 favorite]

"Cashmere Mist Perfume by Donna Karan, This fragrance was released in 1994. A lovely powdery floral perfume with refreshing bergamot at the top. This creamy blend will captivate you." This is my favorite perfume.

My former husband loved Coco Chanel's Mademoiselle on me. I think it can be a little strong, but I do like it when it fades a bit.
posted by annieb at 3:46 PM on January 22 [1 favorite]

I hardly ever wear perfume anymore, but I still swoon for reading descriptions and reviews at LuckyScent - you might enjoy them, too!
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 3:51 PM on January 22

I also can't tolerate strong fragrances and I liked B. Balenciaga, which has an iris note and smells like a fancy genteel lady to me.

Flowerbomb does what it says on the tin, I got a tester card and the smell was too strong for me even with it inside my purse.
posted by momus_window at 4:14 PM on January 22

Maybe try DS&Durga Jasmin Yucatán. It is good but doesn't last very long. There's some jasmine to it but not cloying.

Seconding Neroli Portofino as something citrusy and maybe slightly soapy in a good way.

DA&Durga also has a scent called Debaser which I think is a fig-based thing that, in addition to being named after a top-ten Pixies song, is nice and does last a bit.

Serge Lutens Feminit Du Bois is kind of flowery and peppery but settles down a bit once you've put it on.
posted by kensington314 at 4:22 PM on January 22

My all-time favorite is Chanel No. 22 as it was when I first bought it in the late ‘70s. It was much, much more widely available and more reasonably priced until the late ‘90s.

Now, I wear Lili Bermuda fragrances. I have most, either full or sample size.

My favorites are Petals, and Lily. I don’t wear them a lot because they are very strong on me. I also layer them, and that smells divine. I love Coral, too. It is their most popular scent and the one I wear most often. Check out their Fragrance Library for Her, and their Legacy Fragrance Library. The latter includes Jasmine.
posted by jgirl at 4:34 PM on January 22

I basically never wear perfume but if I did I would wear Hermes Terra, which is a unisex scent and smells kind of like dirt in a really good way.
posted by mai at 4:36 PM on January 22 [1 favorite]

Previously on jasmine products.
posted by jgirl at 4:40 PM on January 22

My all-time favorite and daily fragrance is Mugler’s Alien, which has jasmine top notes.

I’m not sure if it still has this reputation or not, but I’d always heard that people hate the smell, it’s strong and off-putting, etc. When I started wearing it, I was worried some of my colleagues would hate it because they would always comment negatively on some other folks in our building that wore perfume. But, to my surprise, I get tons of compliments! And, most importantly, I checked in with my coworker who is sensitive to some fragrances and it doesn’t bother her.

Of course YMMV, but it might be an interesting one to check out!
posted by miserable-mild at 5:43 PM on January 22

I tend to like cheap perfumes, honestly (I liked layering a couple of scents from Target's Mix:Bar, but they stopped making Glass Rose. I still like Vanilla Bourbon, but not on its own).

My most indulgent fragrance is Ellis Brooklyn's Sci-Fi. I had a full bottle a few years ago and I have no idea what happened to it but the travel size does me well enough. There's something weird and sexy about it for me. It does fade a bit powdery on me, though, but not in a bad way.
posted by edencosmic at 5:47 PM on January 22

Tom Ford - santal blush. I get a perfect dupe for a fraction of the price from oilperfumery.com and I get compliments everytime I wear it.

I also love Kai which is nice for summer - smells like clean skin and light florals.
posted by figaro at 7:03 PM on January 22

Shalimar affects me deeply, even after 50 years.
posted by LonnieK at 7:18 PM on January 22 [4 favorites]

Years ago, whenever I wandered through the perfume department, I would spritz myself with “Trussardi for Men” because I just loved the scent. Years later I figured out that it was bergamot that was the magic note in it. Anything with bergamot I will buy.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 7:45 PM on January 22 [1 favorite]

I wear Creed's Jasmin Imperatrice Eugenie and nothing else comes close.
posted by Ardnamurchan at 7:46 PM on January 22

Please buy this one (background; more background) and then tell me how it is.

"In the spring of 2003, 70 of my scents were included in the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum’s Triennial exhibition. This is the first time in history that a major art museum recognized that scent is DESIGNED."

posted by amtho at 8:02 PM on January 22

Guerlain Samsara. In the late 90s/early 00s, my mum got a lotion from this line. It was just so good that even I, for whom most perfumes are indistinguishable from one another, knew it was special.
posted by Didnt_do_enough at 8:13 PM on January 22 [2 favorites]

Clinique Happy. It really does lift my spirits.
posted by SageTrail at 9:05 PM on January 22 [1 favorite]

I have a stupidly large collection of fragrance but there's two I'm become very attached to the past couple years.

Commodity Milk+, because it's a compliment magnet and smells like milky chai and woodfire. Very edible and super comforting. Unseated my previous daily fragrance of Tom Ford Black Orchid EDP and turned me into a gourmand/indolic lover.

Attaquer Le Soleil Marquis De Sade by Etat Libre D'Orange is my other most coveted... though I cannot truly wear it in public because many absolutely hate it. But I love labdanum, and on dry down it smells almost filthy in a sensual way. My ex said it smelled like "sex in a damp forest" and I cannot disagree.

If you love jasmine try Good Fortune by Viktor and Rolf. Super rich and wet floral jasmine and vanilla, easy to wear.
posted by Pemberly at 9:45 PM on January 22 [2 favorites]

We absolutely love the perfumes from Ormonde Jayne. Their Discovery Sets are a wonderful way to get a small selection of samples, although I don't see them on the official website.
Included are the three that we decided to invest in, Frangipani, Ormonde Woman, and Ormonde Man.
And if you want to experiment, you can buy Iso E Super, which is an ingredient in many perfumes, but is very interesting to use by itself or as a layering/ fixative for other perfumes. Amazon should have it. And it is inexpensive.
I strongly recommend you pick up a copy of "Perfumes: The Guide" by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez. An amazing resource.
posted by Tunierikson at 10:37 PM on January 22 [2 favorites]

I don’t wear scents either, but it would have to be sandalwood, hands down. For a perfume, I used to like Lauren, I gather it’s been reformulated, though. Woodsy, earthy, and sweet (but not too sweet) = comfortable, homey, calming, uplifting (and now I sound like a weed store menu, sorry).
posted by cotton dress sock at 10:53 PM on January 22 [1 favorite]

I love jasmine and one of my current favorites is the ridiculously named Sex Bomb. On my skin to my nose it smells like the best body odor ever. Not for everyone but for people like me who want to live in the armpits of their loved one it's a dream. Some people say it smells like nothing or like soap and some people are repelled by the muskiness.

A couple other favorites right now are All is Full of Love (woody rose and tonka bean, warm and dry and spicy and romantic) and So White (apple and bergamot, smells like a fairy tale).

Most of my fragrances are from Lush because their scents are interesting and they don't trigger any reactions (headaches, congestion, sneezing etc) from myself or my partner. The first time he visited a Lush store he was amazed that he could enjoy the smells with no ill effects. So far every scent I've tried from them has been great in that way.

A couple of outliers in my stash are Classique X (light and bright floral, delicate and feminine) and of course Egyptian Goddess (smells like a yummy hippie, like a wedding in a head shop).

I'm looking at getting a few samples from Zoologist after reading about scents like Bee and Cow. I'm also really interested in Lost Cherry (Tom Ford) but I'm not that spendy.

Thanks for asking this question, I'm looking for more variety in my smelly life and am intrigued by several of the answers.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 6:39 AM on January 23 [4 favorites]

Order a bunch of Comme des Garcons samples on luckyscent and see how they smell and dry down on your skin
posted by tovarisch at 8:34 AM on January 23

I'm an old. The scent of my childhood was Chanel No.5. To this day, the scent makes me smile. Yeah, it's a very old-school scent, but it's just so (to my nose) perfectly adult.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:48 AM on January 23 [2 favorites]

I currently smell like Bath and Body Works Sweater Weather... but when I wear actual perfume, it's Clinique's Happy. I love fresh, citrusy scents, and Happy fits that nicely, with enough floral notes to keep it from being too much of an "I spilled orange juice on myself" scent.
posted by maryellenreads at 12:38 PM on January 23 [1 favorite]

Context, I am a 55-year-old cis male, I like sporty and formal scents.

I like Penhaligon's Douro, a terrific woodsy sporty citrus that still smells fresh, sophisticated, and very British.

I also like Creed, I know it's a bit cliche, but it works really well with my body chemistry.

Probably my favorite right now is MCDI's Invasion Barbare. Someone else wrote that it lets you feel like you are LARPing as a tech CEO when you wear it, and yes, that odd statement is totally correct.

Practical resource: If you want to test something and don't have access to a mall counter consultant with samplers, there are plenty of companies on the internet who will sell you a small amount of any fragrance decanted into a miniature container. I use Perfumed Court for this. It has enabled me to test fragrances I otherwise would not have been able to afford.
posted by seasparrow at 2:00 PM on January 23 [1 favorite]

Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille is the best thing I've ever smelled: unsmoked tobacco, vanilla, cloves, prunes, chocolate, tonka / amber, wet book pages, teeny hint of patchouli, and a little bit of white musk. It smells so warm and sweet and expensive.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 2:36 PM on January 23 [1 favorite]

Seconding Terre D'Hermes! I also like Jour D'Hermes but it is strong so I only use a small amount (floral-gardenia/jasmine/apricot). In the summer I love "Vacation" by Vacation (described as coconut, banana, pineapple, pool water and swimsuit lycra).
posted by Ipomoea at 4:04 PM on January 23

I second Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille; I get compliments every time I wear it in the office. That's usually my winter go-to in the office, and my summer one is Penhaligon's Luna, which does contain jasmine, although the main scents to my nose are lemon, greenery and fresh rose. Both of those have the benefit of good sillage and lasting a long time on me.

I don't normally like fruit or "fruitchoulis" but I also love Tom Ford's Bitter Peach. If you like a creamy sandalwood and vanilla alongside your jasmine, try Juliette Has a Gun's Sunny Side Up.

I think the best thing you can do is order a bunch of decants or samples and sniff as many as you can. I have a huge collection of samples and decants and dupes, which means if I do feel like something else, I can switch and get a bit of variety.
posted by andraste at 8:44 PM on January 23 [1 favorite]