Finding the perfect perfume for yourself is as personal as finding the right husband (although sometimes less fun). It’s more than the sum of its parts – or ingredients – and is simply something that just clicks right down to your bones.
It’s why classic fragrances (those older than, say, 25 years) have lasted so long, because they’ve had time to successfully click with more women – plus they’re demonstrably great blends. But it’s also why buying the perfect perfume for someone else can be tricky. But if you know which ‘family’ your friend/relative/partner already likes, they’re a good bet for helping them to find their own perfume soul-mate.
Family: Aldehyde
Chanel No5 was launched in 1921, so it’s had over 90 years to prove its worth. Being an aldehydic floral, it’s more like an orchestra than a bouquet of individual notes, but it includes ylang-ylang, jasmine and rose, while the synthetic ‘aldehydic’ notes ensure that it’s not heady, heavy or cloying. In concentration terms, the Eau De Parfum, £60.75 for 50ml, sits between the pure parfum and the Eau de Toilette.
Lanvin’s Arpege is said to have been a favourite of Rita Hayworth. Originally created in 1927, it had a formulation revamp in 1993 but still smells beautifully serene and elegant with neroli, rose, jasmine and lily. Available as perfume, EDP and EDT, the 100ml EDP costs £75 from Harrods.
Family: Chypre
Guerlain Mitsouko goes back even further – to 1919 – and legend says it’s named after a mysterious heroine in a forbidden love story. It’s therefore suitably exotic with a complex blend of peach, rose and jasmine blending with spices and mossy woods. The 50ml EDT costs £54.
Clinique Aromatics Elixir is a comparative baby, launching in as recently as 1971. It is a warm woody-green fragrance with verbena, geranium, oakmoss and smoky accents and costs £37 for the 25ml Perfume Spray.
Family: Floral
Jean Patou’s Joy, arrived in 1930 when, just in time for the Depression years, it featured expensive rose and jasmine in intense concentrations, making it “the costliest fragrance in the world.” The splendid bouquet is still a best-selling superstar, but prices now start at a relatively modest £45 for the 30ml EDT, or less if you hunt out special deals.
Nina Ricci’s L’Air du Temps, which launched 1948, is still so successful that a bottle sells somewhere in the world every five seconds. Light and delicate (and famous for those sculpted birds on top), its elegant bouquet includes carnation, gardenia, rose and jasmine. Prices start at £24.50 for the 30ml EDT spray.
Family: Oriental
YSL’s Opium was launched in 1977 but is probably best known for being one of the big high-decibel perfumes of the 1980s. Its amber-rich blend of mandarin, jasmine, carnation, myrrh and vanilla makes it exotic, heady and very, very sexy. A 30ml EDP Natural Spray retails for around £48.50.
Oscar de la Renta also turned up in 1977. The award-winning lushly feminine floral-oriental mix of ylang-ylang, iris and jasmine, is sharpened by spices and backed by powdery musk, and you can expect to pay £36 for 30ml EDT.
Finally, if the person you’re buying for prefers new, innovative scents, check out those that highlight relatively few dominant ingredients, such as Jo Malone’s Wood Sage & Sea Salt, £82 or Creed’s Iris Tubereuse, £165.
However, for the newest way to wear fragrance, dominant note perfumes are being layered for the most personalised signature fragrance of all. If you want to introduce someone to this concept, The Library of Fragrance at Boots features 28 scents (including Orange Blossom, Jasmine and Baby Powder) which are ideal for combining – and at £15 each, you can buy a selection so she can mix and match to her heart’s content.
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