I am not a morning person. I do not always take the time to get ready and do my hair and makeup in the mornings, but I am always sure that I smell good before walking out of the door. My hair may be a mess, and my eye bags might look over the weight limit, but I know I smell nice and it gives me a bit of a boost.
Within the past year or so, I decided that I wanted to have a ‘signature scent’, but in order to get a signature scent I needed to do a bit of research. I began researching notes and different types of fragrances. There is still A LOT that I don’t know/understand about fragrance, and I also don’t have a super crazy strong sense of smell, but one thing I do have is a definitive list of my favorite fragrances.
What I Look for in a Fragrance
When looking at new fragrances, I tend to lean toward warm, fresh, citrus, gourmand, skin like, and floral scents. I like my fragrances to be soft and long lasting, and have a very feminine feel. There are some notes that I always find myself loving in a perfume.
Amber
Amber is a mixture of multiple scents that come together and create this amazing warm, luxurious, sweet, and spicy smell. Amber is considered a woody note in many fragrances.
Vanilla
Vanilla is extremely sweet and warm. I feel like vanilla is a staple note in many of my favorite fragrances. Vanilla also stands well on its own.
Fruits and Berries
I LOVE perfumes that have notes of fruits and berries. They are sweet but more crisp than the sweetness you would find in amber or vanilla. They often smell very fresh and sometimes even a bit floral.
Aldehydes
This may be a little controversial. Some people love aldehydes, some people hate them. I personally think that aldehydes can add a crisp and fresh note to perfumes. Aldehydes are often described as smelling fresh, crisp, waxy, and citrusy.
Jasmine
Jasmine is a very rich, sweet, fruity, floral, and musky scent. Just like vanilla, it stands well on its own. Jasmine is used frequently to add intensity and richness to perfumes.
Fragrance Oil or Perfume?
After deciding what notes and types of scents I am attracted to, I wanted to figure out the difference between fragrance oil and eau de parfum. Is one greater than the other? In my opinion they are each amazing in their own way. The main difference is the perfume oil concentration and longevity. Fragrance oils are 100% concentrated perfume oil and will last 8+ hours on the skin while perfume is about 15-30% perfume oil and lasts between 6-8 hour on the skin. In my opinion, fragrance oil lasts way longer than 8 hours, I often can still smell the fragrance oil on my skin almost a day after application. While perfume does not last nearly as long as fragrance oil, I still love perfume because you can get a wider variety of scents and notes in a perfume than in fragrance oil.
To settle this dispute- I use both! Before applying perfume, I will apply a fragrance oil that compliments the perfume of my choosing. Once the perfume has worn off, I am still left with the fragrance oil! I think that layering the perfume on top of the fragrance oil enhances the scent of the perfume.
I also would like to add that absolutely none of this is sponsored. (I completely wouldn’t mind a little sponsorship or affiliate link but I love these products so much I don’t care!) Now that we have laid the foundation, let’s get into my favorite fragrances!
Favorite Fragrance Oils
There is one brand of fragrance oil that I trust over all overs: Nemat. Nemat fragrance oils are absolutely phenomenal. You can check out Nemat’s website here. I want nothing more than to purchase each and everyone! They are smooth, extremely concentrated, and affordable. A little goes a long way with these oils so they last forever!
Vanilla Musk
I absolutely adore this oil. It is sweet, musky, and extremely rich. This oil is great for layering underneath gourmand or sweet scents.
Click here to purchase from their website.
Amber
This oil is perfect for layering underneath skin-like, sweet, fresh, or woodsy scents. On days where I don’t feel like going too crazy, I just put a bit of this on and call it a day.
Click here to purchase from their website.
Favorite Perfumes
Here is what you have been waiting for! As stated earlier, I lean heavily toward fresh, clean, crisp, skin-like, floral, gourmand and citrus scents.
La Belle by Jean Paul Gaultier
This is described as an intense, gourmand, and sensual scent. Some of the notes include bergamot, green pear, and vanilla pod. It is very warm and a bit citrusy. The scent is strong and long lasting. I personally feel like this perfume should be worn between November to March- and preferably in the evening. I love this perfume, but since it is so intense I tend to wear it only in the evening or if I am going out. There is a hefty price tag- $146 for 3.4 oz. If you want to smell seductive, sweet, warm, and spicy this is the perfume for you and would be worth the spend. I may be a bit too soft spoken and shy to truly embody the scent of this perfume, but I love her nonetheless.
Click here to purchase from their website.
Good Girl- Carolina Herrera
This perfume was actually my first high end fragrance. When I first received it, I wore it nonstop. The scent is very floral and ambery. Some of the notes include jasmine, amber, tonka, almond and coffee. To me this perfume can be worn year round but is a nighttime scent. As I said earlier, I might just be too soft and shy to embody the strong femininity, confidence, and attention that this perfume calls for. (Not saying I am not those things- I am just a homebody and tend to keep to myself!) Since this is a high end perfume, it comes with a high end price tag of $122 for 1.7 oz.
Click here to purchase from their website.
Glossier You
I absolutely adore this perfume. It is understated, soft, clean, and skin-like. It has notes of ambrette seeds, iris, pink pepper, and ambrox. It is a fresh and crisp scent that blends seamlessly into your skin. If I want to smell good- but in the way people can’t put their finger on it- this is what I will wear. I want the candle, I want the body butter, and I want it all!!! You can get 50mL for $78.
Click here to purchase from their website.
Glossier You Reve
This perfume was a very pleasant surprise. From looking at the notes, I was anticipating to fall in love with Doux, but as soon as I smelled Reve I was shocked. This scent is sweet, gourmand, fresh, warm, and musky perfume with notes of buttercream, plum butter, toasted almond, white sandalwood, iris, ambrox, and ambrette. It is the sweet sister of Glossier You. I haven’t been able to stop wearing this perfume and I’m not sure I will anytime soon. You can get 50mL for $78.
Click here to purchase from their website.
Sparkling Sugar- Clean Reserve
I decided to save the best for last. This is my absolute favorite perfume and I would consider it my signature scent. It is a sweet, fresh, and crisp perfume with notes of cassis berries, peach nectar, pink sugar, ambrette, and vanilla. To me it is just perfect. It’s sweet without being gourmand and reminds me of spring and summer. I can’t recommend this perfume enough, it just smells like happiness. You can get 3.4 oz for $110.
Click here to purchase from their website.
Smell good, feel good
For now that brings me to the end of my favorite fragrance list. I am always searching for new perfumes or oils that I love and adore so if you have any recommendations I would love to hear them. I hope you learned something about fragrance and maybe you even found a new scent to try!
Smelling good starts with good hygiene and a body care routine! Stay tuned and I will be sharing my body care and skin care regiments soon.
See you soon!