I Love Layering- Even In The Summer

my kind of layers....yum

I am a bit maverick-y when it comes to perfume. I know- shocking, right? I love masterfully composed exclusive perfumes like Acqua di Parma Profumo and sweet, charming gems from the drugstore like Lady Stetson. Another thing I like to do is layer my perfumes. Some might find this sacrilege but I find some of the most delicious scents have come out of my layering experiments. It is often accidental. I will put on a perfume, then a few hours later reapply as I'm leaving, forgetting which perfume I originally applied. Most of the times, it's a happy accident. 

My scent mood rarely changes dramatically during the day, so instinctively I seem to choose scents that luckily work together. This is another reason I tend to favour simple scents. They are easier to layer! Its not always easy in this age of "a million perfumes that all smell like the same mix of a million synthetic ingredients" but it's easier than you'd think. It's not a new concept to perfume- Jo Malone actually offers layering menus on their website with suggestions of perfumes that work well together.

My layering trick is pretty simple. I try to start with a soft skin scent to work with as a "base note". Soft musks, ambers, and woodsy notes well as base notes. Creamy sweet gourmande perfumes also work well as a base. Scents that melt into the skin and make you have to lean in close to smell are the ones that make good base scents.

Then its time to look for a top note. Yes, I know perfumes are made into 3 notes- top, middle/heart and base, but I find it best to keep things simple when doing this yourself. Top and Base are really the only things you need. As far as light and airy, I tend to favour floral and green notes for the top note, as they compliment a richer base note. The base note is calmed and softened by the airy top, and the top is grounded and enhanced by the richness of the base notes.

Annick Goutal Songes, Musc Bleu, AK Musk, Sisley Eau de Campagne, Sexy Angelic, Etro Heliotrope

Some of my favourite base suggestions:

Egyptian Musk Oil: I love Abdul Kareem and Auric Blends musk oils. They have a clean woodsy note that work as the perfect base for almost any perfume. 

Il Profvmo Musc Bleu: This is the lightest cleanest musk, adds a fresh scrubbed note to any perfume.

Honore Des Pres Sexy Angelic: the soft and sweet notes hug the skin and smell amazing when topped with florals. It adds a yummy aspect to clean scents.

Etro Heliotrope: The powdery sweet floral notes in this soften any scent.

Annick Goutal Songes: This sultry and dark tropical floral adds a sensual sweetness to any perfume.

Sisley Eau de Campagne: This shimmering green shower of a perfume adds a spring shower meets green field of grass note and lightens any scent.

YSL Y, Creed  Virgin Island Water, AG La Violette, L'Artisan La Chasse aux Papillons, Floris, Guerlain

These work wonderfully when worn as top notes:

Floris Night Scented Jasmine: simple sweet and floral, this one is just gorgeous with a musk base. It becomes positively dangerous when layered with Annick Goutal Songes.

L'Artisan La Chasse Aux Papillons: Another simple summery floral, I love this one with Sexy Angelic as a base for evening.

Annick Goutal La Violette: This simple sweet violet sings like a spring day when worn with Eau de Campagne.

Then some that just work as a top or a base:

YSL "Y": This soapy green floral chypre is so beautifully composed it pretty much works with anything. I love it with a musk. It is basically like being in a shower all day. I have blown my own mind by wearing this one with Chanel Bois des Iles. WOW. This one is still available for a song online. Get it if you don't have it. 

Guerlain Un Air de Samsara: This is basically sandalwood and jasmine with a little mint tea. I use tiny amounts with any floral and adore it.

Creed Virgin Island Water: Layer this with anything that you want to smell beachy and summery.

So, there are basically no rules for this kind of stuff. As I type this I am already thinking of others....Kiehl's Musk, SMN Gardenia, Keiko Mecheri Jasmine.....I say just experiment, play, and see what works! Often if you think it will work, it does. Our nose knows....

Smell Sexy & Beautiful

Just dabbing a bit of perfume on before bed...what? Of course I wear my fur to bed, silly!

This is a tough category, as we all have our own ways to feel sexy and beautiful, and the scent we choose is no exception to that individuality. I do think there are seasonal sexy scents, some work better in warmer weather, some in cooler weather, and there are different kinds of sexy. Fall is coming though, with soft cozy sweaters and wind whispering through the leaves as they fall to the ground. This puts me in mind of warmer skin scents, the kind you like to wear to cuddle up. These are a few I really enjoy wearing. They make me feel beautiful and cooler weather is perfect snuggling weather.

Etro Heliotrope Heliotrope is a neat perfume note,  simple and soft, from the flower of the same name. It is said that the flower smells like cherry pie, and there is also an almond note. So you can imagine it drifts off into gentle marzipan territory, and even a bit of Play-Doh. My daughters love this one, and my younger one Brigit perks up her ears if I say “oh this perfume has that Play Doh note” as she loves.  Etro Heliotrope is full of many notes like  orange blossom, almond, jasmine, heliotrope, rose, tonka bean, musk, and vanilla, but the heliotrope is the star here. This perfume is soft & wears very close to the skin. Longevity is so-so but that is to be expected from a soft perfume. This perfume is comforting, cozy, and pretty but also unusual and unexpected- always a compliment getter. I wrote about Etro Heliotrope here.

Chanel Bois des Iles What can I say about Bois des Iles that I didn’t say here? This is a gorgeous stunning perfume that is always right. The sandalwood & jasmine combined with the sparkling aldehydes make Bois des Iles perfect, especially in cooler weather. Wear this perfume and watch them melt in your wake. Perfection. Since it’s re-release as part of the Chanel Exclusif collection it was only available as an edt in 200ml bottles aka jugs. I am happy to report it can be had in 75ml bottles now. They show up on Chanel’s website, but you will have to check your local Chanel boutiques for further shopping info.

Guerlain Mistouko Mitsouko was created in 1919 so lets get right to the reformulated versions that are available to the average human today. Yes, you could scour the interwebs for vintage Mitsouko, it is divine etc etc. However, I own the current version in eau de parfum concentration and find it absolutely beautiful. It is a fruity chypre, with peach being the dominant fruit with a drydown to a divinely rich & complex base grounded by oakmoss. It is the Guerlain magic that happens in the middle that is so hypnotic & gorgeous. It also features bergamot, jasmine, may rose, cinnamon, vetiver, and woods and they are woven together so seamlessly it is a challenge to pick them out. The warm vanillic Guerlinade makes this perfume perfect for cool days. It is so different from what you smell on the market these days, and never fails to elicit an “Oh my gosh, what is that gorgeous perfume?” when I give someone a hug.

Ungaro Diva Ok so this perfume is a diva for sure, but it really is the way you wear it. Spray Ungaro Diva from head to toe? God, no. A few subtle spritzes on pulse points or a gentle mist before getting dressed? Drop dead sexy. This is an 80s chypre that makes no apologies for being all woman, and for roaring it from the rooftops. Yet I find in the eau de toilette formula (the lightest) and worn lightly, Diva becomes as soft as suede and melts into the skin beautifully. It is a veritable kitchen sink list of notes so I won’t even get into them all, but you can read them here. The ones that stand out to me as sexy, cozy and gorgeous though, and I just love them.  The multiple citrus notes on the top soften the multiple floral notes before softening to a gorgeous base of oakmoss, honeyed sandalwood and vanilla. It even tends to a slightly soapy feel, but not detergent soapy, more like expensive French soap soapy. Diva is not for the timid, but you can keep her voice to a whisper if you like.

Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir I've written about Pomegranate Noir here. I love it, and it is a classic beauty for cooler weather. There are fruity top notes of pomegranate and raspberry, but it is the woody, spicy and resin-y base that makes this one sing. It smells rich, and I have even had people tell me it smells “expensive”. There is something oddly compelling about this one, and in case you think fruity means for kids, it’s not. As far as Jo Malone goes, this is one of the “stronger” perfumes. The patchouli note grounds this and makes it a Grown Up Perfume. A great evening perfume.

Houbigant Quelques Fleurs Quelques Fleurs is a floral perfume, as the name suggests, and I like to think of it as velvety. It is rich and creamy, and another one with an endless list of notes. This one was also launched at the beginning of the 20th century so it is a given that the notes have changed from then. I wear and love the currently available version. The flowers come off as so soft and feminine yet manage to be rich thanks to being propped up by a base full of woods, tonka, amber and musks. It is the amber and musk that really define this one for me. Amber to me is soft, warm and powdery, and always perfect for cooler weather. The musk they use is sweet sexy and quiet, so while neither of these notes jump out, their sweetness blend perfectly with the flowers. If you love gentle sweet florals with a grown up twist, Quelques Fleurs is a must try. It is another one that smells expensive- this perfume always makes me feel polished and womanly. The sweet and sexy in this are a dichotomy but somehow work. Pop culture connection- Quelques Fleurs is one of Nicole Ritchie's signature scents. I love her boho style and find it kind of neat that she wears such a womanly grown up scent.

Creed Fleurs de Bulgarie Another floral scent, Fleurs de Bulgarie is another one that I prefer in cooler weather. It is really all about rose, but not a powdery simple rose. Nor is it the dark rose scent that is ubiquitous these days, with the Stellas & Juliette Has A Gun types. Nor is the sexy rose chypre like Diva or L’Arte di Gucci.  It is chock full of one of Creed’s beloved ingredients, ambergris, along with amber and musks, and these ingredients really set it apart. It is an odd one, and perhaps a love it or hate it perfume. I was discussing with some perfumistas yesterday how I actually hated Fleurs de Bulgarie on first sniff and couldn’t stash that sample fast enough. But the ambergris stayed with me, and when I finally tried it again, it nearly set my mouth watering. Soapy, yet not clean, and quite sexy in my opinion.

What are YOUR favourite sexy perfumes, or sexy perfume notes?

Gently Beautiful- Etro Heliotrope

Etro’s Heliotrope, with notes of heliotrope, sweet almond, vanilla, orange blossom, ylang-ylang, and petit grain, is the perfect scent to wear to when you want to feel cozy. It’s sweet without being cloying and candy-ish and warm without being redolent with spices.

Heliotrope is slightly powdery but in a good way. The scent of almond adds to the powdery softness of the heliotrope, and the vanilla makes it slightly sweeter and maybe a tiny bit alcoholic- maybe it reminds me a bit of Amaretto. Heliotrope is an interesting flower that is often talked about as having a “cherry pie” scent. I sometimes find cherry and almond share a similar scent so maybe that is what gives it that Amaretto/marzipan scent. 

Petit grain adds just enough sharpness in the dry down to keep this scent from turning into your baby powder, giving it a decidedly grown up and modern edge. The orange blossom and ylang ylang come through in the dry down as gentle delicate clean flowers.

This is a perfect perfume for the crisp days of fall.  Those clear days with fiery leaves and bright-blue skies and the cloudy grey days when the leaves are the only light around.

Funny, I wore Heliotrope in the summer and it was much more floral, with the vanillic sweetness taking a back seat. It is chameleonic that way so perhaps it will only get better as the weather gets colder. I also think this would be a wonderful scent to wear after a long day full of stress and headaches. It’s so calming and sweet, comforting, the perfume equivalent of a hug. How beautiful.