Perfume Happy

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic by 1 person | Log in to rate

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Perfume Happy

It all started with an allergy doctor. After years of going around with an impaired sense of smell due to chronic low-level allergies, I suddenly got antihistamines. Then I got a bottle of cologne at the drug store.

There is nothing worse than a reformed anything and a person who suddenly realizes she's been missing out gets fanatical. It did not take me long to become a Perfumista.

I have eclectic tastes in perfume. Actually, I have no taste. I never find something I don't like, even if I like some things more in theoretical ways than actually wanting to wear them.

My perfume habit was fueled when I discovered that most people are happy when they talk about fragrances or when they get to sample new scents. Soon I was hanging out with the hardcore Perfumistas.

Did you know that last year in the U.S. more fragrances were brought onto the market than any other year in world history? I have a feeling it's more than just me that's Perfume Happy.

Sniffapalooza Event! 

Grab Your Scarf and Zoom Into the Big Apple

Ladies of fragrance, grab your Hermes scarf and your oversized sunglasses and that new bag from Coach and zoom on over to New York City. It's the Spring Fling by Sniffapalooza.

This is the April event that makes perfumistas swoon. It's two days of perfume lovers being introduced to and wooed by perfume makers in New York City.

Look out, I'm going! If you think you might be interested in all the perfume you can inhale in two days (plus goodie bags plus tons of new finds that no one else will know about ...) for $165, visit the site.

http://www.sniffapalooza.com

But hurry, this event (which is something that happens only once a year although its producers, Team Karen, sponsor other perfume wingdings as well) books up early! Team Karen is very strict. When it's sold out, it's sold out.

Duty-Free Perfume 

What does that mean, really, and do we want any?

If you travel out of the country by cruise ship, airplane, or other conveyance, you may be offered all sorts of so-called "duty-free" luxury items. Perfume is usually high on the list.

But what does that mean? You don't hear people talking about "duty" in terms of perfume otherwise, so why is this stuff suddenly duty-free?

There is an advantage to buying duty-free perfume if you're getting the real stuff (no knockoffs). It refers to the fact that you won't be paying sales tax or value-added tax or any other fiendish attempts by the government to cause you to divert some of your hard-earned perfume money into their hands.

For instance, let's say you had the great good taste to buy a bottle of Chanel's Chance perfume. The eau de parfum in the smaller size costs $65, pretty much everywhere (except in Europe where the dollar is getting pounded ... but that's an economics lesson). Let's say you're an American woman buying stuff in America and you want Chance. Figure it's going to run $65.

But here's the rub. If you buy it here in the great state of Texas, you will end up paying another $5.36, so it's really over $70. In other parts of the country, sales tax can be even higher. Women in Canada and Europe pay even higher taxes on such items.

But if you're out of the country, you can buy duty free perfume. No sales tax or other related tax. If you're on a cruise to, say, Cozumel, buy what you want in Cozumel. They never heard of sales tax. If you're on a business trip to Montreal, don't buy perfume in the stores, but if you can get to a duty-free shop (usually at the airport), buy it there.

Now chances are that Chance is still going to run you $65. But you won't pay the tax.

A Few Notes on Fragrance Basics 

Why Fragrance is Smellable Music

Most fragrances come in layers. There are top notes, which are the smells that hit you when you first open the bottle or in the first minute after the perfume hits your skin. Then come the heart notes. They emerge a couple of minutes after the perfume starts to dry down. They last for a couple hours, sometimes longer. Then come the base notes, the last lingering scents that emerge.

Most perfume manufacturers spend a lot of time and trouble to get the right top notes. And a lot of perfume buyers will pick a perfume based on top notes. As charming as top notes can be, they are deceptive. They fade away quickly.

That's one reason why perfume in the bottle can smell so different from perfume after you've had it on for a while.

The heart notes appear next and then transition into the base notes as you wear the fragrance. This period is called "the drydown" in Perfumista lingo and for a perfume fanatic, it's all about the drydown. That's why you always want to try a scent before you decide what it smells like.

The base notes are usually the most mellow scents, and they tend to be warm and sensual. Heart notes are usually the richest portion of the perfume and there is often a nice zone where heart and base notes come together before the heart zones taper off.

Read More About Perfume 

Find Out What Smells at Amazon...

Here are some cool books to check out. You can't spend your whole day at the perfume counter.

Fragrance Families 

Perfumista Shorthand

Fragrances can be grouped into broad categories or families based on the dominant themes of the scent. The most common fragrance family by far is the floral which gets its character from flowers. Floral fragrances are pretty far ranging, from big bouquet type scents (Eternity by Calvin Klein) to specific flower notes (for roses, try Very Irresistable by Givenchy, for honeysuckle, I think Beyond Paradise by Estee Lauder).

However, it's hard to find any fragrance that doesn't have at least some floral elements. Perfumistas sometimes talk about white florals, which use mainly flowers like gardenias or frangipani.

A very popular category right now that is fairly new to the world of fragrance is the so-called fruity floral. In this case, food-like elements are blended with flowers. Now in a sense, this is an old formula if you count citrus. Lots of perfumes, including the original cologne (4711 from the town of Cologne in Germany) were floral bases with citrus. Great traditional type citrus scents include my personal favorite, Little Italy by Bond No. 9, but also Lemon Sugar by Fresh.

However, perfume makers today are getting more expansive in their use of fruit. Peach notes, pomegranate, watermelon, even papaya and mango are found in perfumes. Some scents today smell almost like smoothies. (Try Groove by Carol's Daughter for a peachy scent good enough to make you hungry.)

Perfume makers are getting even bolder. Angel by Thierry Mugler contains sugared almond scents and chocolate notes. Coney Island by Bond No. 9 reports that it smells like Margarita mix. A new scent called Zephyr by Neil Morris combines tangerine and papaya on top of heart notes of honeysuckle and lily.

The aldehydle perfume family relies on a synthetic scent molecule for its dominant note. It's hard to describe aldehyde except to say it smells sparkly. Chanel No. 5 is probably the world's best known aldehyde scent, but you can still find them today. Evening in Paris (a retro scent) is another. New on the market from Niel Morris is another aldehyde fragrance called Midnight Flower.

Oriental fragrances use spices and botanicals for warm, sultry, sensual scents. A good modern light Oriental is Burberry Brit. The classic Oriental is Youth Dew by Estee Lauder.

Green fragrances use lots of botanicals to create a lighter, cleaner scent. Greens are rarer on the market today. To me, Chanel No. 19 is a green.

My Favorite Perfumes 

March 2008

Right now, my most favorite perfume on earth has to be Tuberose Garden by Estee Lauder. It sounds like real old-lady perfume but it is magnificent stuff. It's a very complex floral, not too wimpy but also not too strong. Everything you can do right in a classic floral is what this is about.

Stella by Stella McCartney

Badgley & Mischka. I think that's the name of the stuff. It's the name of the design house that puts the stuff out and it's what is inscribed on the bottle. Eau de glamour girl. It's what I think Bette Davis would have worn.

New Haarlem by Bond No. 9. Wake up and smell the coffee. No, I mean it. Coffee perfume. OK, it's more subtle than I'm making it sound. Sophisticated stuff. It makes you want to put on high heels and listen to jazz on an iPod.

Storm by Niel Morris. I generally love all of the Niel Morris stuff. This is nice, very complex. I love a perfume that isn't afraid to smell like a perfume. If perfume was liquor, this would be whisky and not a wine cooler.

Speaking of which, sometimes you just want something light and youthful and fun. I still like Pink Sugar by Aquolino which is the equivalent of saying I watch re-runs of Full House while eating Captain Crunch.

Cinema by Yves St. Laurent is sophisticated. I always have though perfumes by YSL were a bit fussy. Nice, but sort of like a blouse with too many buttons. This is my "retour" to YSL and it's quite appealing.

by joannlequang

My name is Jo Ann LeQuang and this photo was taken on a day I was probably not wearing any cologne. I was on the beach in California, trying hard not...

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