Victoria: 2668 posts

Our “Recommend Me a Perfume” thread is open this week. You can use this space to find perfume recommendations, to share your discoveries and favorite scents, and to ask any questions about scents, aromas and flavors. Or you can just tell us what perfume you are wearing!

How does it work: 1. Please post your requests or questions as comments here. You can also use this space to ask any fragrance related questions. To receive recommendations that are better tailored to your tastes, you can include details on what you like and don’t like, your signature perfumes, and your budget. And please let us know what you end up sampling. 2. Then please check the thread to see if there are other requests you can answer. Your responses are really valuable for navigating the big and sometimes confusing world of perfume, so let’s help each other!

To make this thread easier to read, when you reply to someone, please click on the blue “reply” link under their comment.

Photography by Bois de Jasmin

The scent of sandalwood is glorious–creamy, velvety, with a rich rose nuance. It’s as if wood shavings had been steeped in rose liqueur and then drizzled with cream. I remember the bliss I felt while leaning over a vat of vetiver-sandalwood attar in Kannauj, a town in northern India renowned for its scents, and immersing myself into a cloud of fragrant vapor. I still have a handful of sandalwood chips from that trip and they retain their beautiful aroma. The combination of sandalwood and vetiver is even more spellbinding.

Of course, there are plenty of sandalwood-vetiver fragrances, from Serge Lutens Vétiver Oriental to Maison Louis Marie No.04 Bois de Balincourt. I enjoy all of them. Yet the sandalwood fragrance I wear the most is Forest Essentials Sandalwood & Vetiver Scented Body Mist. I bought it on the same Indian trip when I traveled to Lucknow and Kannauj researching the history of attars.

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With the holidays behind us and still too many winter days ahead, it’s important to find ways to add a splash of color to the grey, cold mornings. I reach for my brightest dresses and scarves and add swirls of saffron and paprika to my food, evoking sunshine and warmth. Or I rely on white floral perfumes to create a vivid ambiance.

White flowers may call to mind bridal veils, but there is nothing prim and pastel about the scent of tropical blossoms like tiaré, frangipani, ylang ylang, tuberose or jasmine. They have a voluptuous aroma reminiscent of warm skin, coconut milk and petals sticky with nectar. The synesthetes among perfumers swear that white flowers smell purple and pink, rich and saturated, and it’s true that wearing a white floral perfume makes me feel as if the day is brighter.

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“Bring, bring that musk-scented wine! That wine is the key to joy, and it must be mine… that wine is the key that will open wide the door to the treasure of rapture’s rich and varied store…” The medieval Persian reader scanning these lines by the 12^th century poet Nezami would have understood instantly the subtle nuances of the word “musk.” Since natural musk was black, the reader would have envisioned a dark potion. Also, musk was considered the most sumptuous and alluring of scents, and musk-scented wine would surely be the libation to intoxicate one to the point of ecstasy. Most importantly, however, musk evoked seduction and passion, and in Nezami’s masterpiece about star-crossed lovers, Layla and Majnun, musk is the scented leitmotif. The nights are musk scented and so is the beloved’s hair. Even the dreams about her carry a musk-tinged sillage.

Several centuries later, we also understand the association of musk and seduction, but since natural musks have been replaced by synthetic versions, the darkness of musks has paled. Natural musk, such as the one referred to by Nezami, consisted of the dried secretions from a sac in the abdomen of the musk deer. Obtaining several grams of musk took the life of a dozen animals, and when the creature became endangered to the point of extinction, the use of natural musk became prohibited. Today’s musks are more likely to be the so-called white synthetic musks, which smell soft, cuddly and evoke laundry, rather than lovemaking.

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These winter days are cold and grey, and I would like to light them up with scents. So I propose a new perfume winter training schedule. Rose, Orange Blossom and Iris will return with additional sessions, and then there will be a brand-new series of seminars devoted to opulence–Jasmine, Tuberose, and Incense. We will talk about white florals and what makes this family so evocative. We will discover what warmth and richness means in perfumery and how to attain such effects with specific notes. We will examine different nuances of our favorite notes and learn how to identify them in our perfumes. Finally, we will do various professional-level exercises to sharpen our sense of smell.

Another favorite topic that I will come in seminars next month will be the iconic fragrances. Working with the formulas, based on my perfumery work, we will study Guerlain Mitsouko and Chanel No 5. We will unravel their facets and learn how these fragrances were put together. You will discover insider facts about these fragrances and will be able to compare their different versions.

The class size is small to ensure that everyone gets attention and a chance to interact. The class is run as a lecture interspersed with guided smelling exercises. My style of teaching is personal and interactive. You will have a chance to ask question throughout the class and there will also be an allotted time at the end for your questions on any fragrance-related topics.

These classes are for students of all levels of interest in perfumery.

We will use readily available materials like spices and citrus fruit for these classes (no need to buy essential oil kits; if you already have essential oils, you can use them too.)

Perfume Fundamentals: Rose, Orange Blossom, Iris

Orange Blossom January 27th, Saturday 1:00pm-2:30pm EST/7:00pm-8:30pm CET To Book $60 per person (if you wish to pay in euro, book here)

Rose January 31st, Wednesday 1:00pm-2:30pm EST/7:00pm-8:30pm CET To Book $60 per person (if you wish to pay in euro, book here)

Iris February 3rd, Saturday 1:00pm-2:30pm EST/7:00pm-8:30pm CET  To Book $60 per person (if you wish to pay in euro, book here)

3 class package: Rose, Orange Blossom, Iris  To Book $168 per person (if you wish to pay in euro, book here)

Perfume Fundamentals: Jasmine, Tuberose, Incense

Location: Online, Zoom

Date & Time: 1h 30min

Jasmine February 10th, Saturday 1:00pm-2:30pm EST/7:00pm-8:30pm CET  To Book $60 per person (if you wish to pay in euro, book here) LAST 2 SEATS REMAINING

Tuberose February 11th, Sunday 1:00pm-2:30pm EST/7:00pm-8:30pm CET   To Book $60 per person (if you wish to pay in euro, book here) LAST 2 SEATS REMAINING

Incense February 18th, Sunday 1:00pm-2:30pm EST/7:00pm-8:30pm CET  To Book $60 per person (if you wish to pay in euro, book here) LAST 2 REMAINING

3 class package: Jasmine, Tuberose, Incense  To Book $168 per person (if you wish to pay in euro, book here)

6 class Perfume Fundamentals package  To Book $320 per person (if you wish to pay in euro, book here)

Deconstructing Classics: Mitsouko and Chanel No 5

Location: Online, Zoom

Date & Time: 1h 30min

Guerlain Mitsouko February 24th, Saturday 1:00pm-2:30pm EST/7:00pm-8:30pm CET  To Book $60 per person (if you wish to pay in euro, book here)

Chanel No 5 March 2nd, Saturday 1:00pm-2:30pm EST/7:00pm-8:30pm CET   To Book $60 per person (if you wish to pay in euro, book here)

2 class Deconstructing Classics package  To Book $110 per person (if you wish to pay in euro, book here)

Photography by Bois de Jasmin