From the moment I started using perfume (so, age 12 or thereabouts), I’ve had more than one bottle of the stuff in use at any one time. This idea of having more than one scent on rotation is often referred to as “the perfume wardrobe”. I currently have around 70 scents in mine, give or take a few. Here are the bottles I finished in 2012:
Daim Blond photo via Luckyscent
Daim Blond by Serge Lutens. It’s a unisex dry apricot wrapped in white suede. Absolutely glorious on my skin and I kept saving the last few drops until I had to give in. Serge Lutens is one of the perfume brands I really clicked with straight away. I don’t like all of their scents but this one hit me like a long-lost memory. It’s as though I had known it in another life and here it was, my perfume, home again.
Alien by Thierry Mugler. I ran out of this last year, too. I wrote about that the other day. When my Alien EdP was running low, my husband very kindly bought me a replacement (only it was the new EdT instead).
Mandragore photo via Luckyscent
Mandragore by Annick Goutal. It’s a play between anisic sweetness, aromatic ginger and bitter citrus. It has a translucent, fresh quality which is just so perfect for hot days or when you’re simply in the mood for something uplifting. The scent feels like it’s cleansing the air around you and making you think more clearly. I love it and reach for it often.
Terre de Bois by Miller Harris. Unisex, although probably more aimed at men, this scent reminds me of a herbal boiled sweet. Possibly not the most elegant description of this wondeful green scent but the sweetness of fennel and earthy tones of patchouli stop this being a straight-forward “green” perfume and add a unique twist. Citrus is present but doesn’t dominate. It seems that there is an aniseed-fennel-citrus bridge between Mandragore and this, so if you’ve tried one but not the other, perhaps you ought to explore.
Narciso Rodriguez for Her photo via Escentual
Narciso Rodriguez for Her. This feminine musk perfume is pretty, very wearable and widely available. It’s accessible without being trashy. Although there are hints of typical fruity-floral-shampoo of modern mass-market trends, the effect is not shrill and childish. It’s a subtle, sexy fragrance that would probably suit most women.
I tend to have about a dozen scents out on display at any given time and the rest are hidden in a dark drawer in the bedroom. This way I can “shop” from my own perfume collection when I get bored of my current rotation and the scents won’t deteriorate as fast as they would if I had all of them out at the same time. Generally, it’s a good idea to keep your perfumes away from light, temperature changes and moisture. Once you get to the last few drops, though, it’s no point saving them up because they will just spoil faster the emptier the bottle becomes. I often dream about a perfume, smelling it in my sleep and wake up wanting to put it on. I’m hoping to avoid Daim Blond, Mandragore, Terre De Bois and For Her dreams until I am able to re-stock. Incidentally, running out of a scent doesn’t automatically mean a re-purchase but in the case of all these, it does.
Volatile Fiction 