Sometimes, when I’m exhausted by work, or feeling anxious, or the moon is pulling strangely on my brain, I take special measures. I draw a hot bath and dig out an old magazine to keep me company in the tub. For dinner I have a bowl of pasta and maybe a generous glass of wine. And I choose a comfort fragrance to wear as the evening winds down.
A comfort scent is calming and not challenging and generally stays close to the skin. You should be able to go to bed in the scent and not be disturbed by it. With a comfort scent, you don’t feel compelled to sniff your wrists every few minutes to follow the fragrance’s development, you just relax into it and let it boost your sense of wellbeing.
For some reason, a lot of the scents that comfort me smell like food. S-Perfume 100% Love comforts me because it feels like a sheer blanket of cocoa and roses with the slight tingle of mandarin orange. I can spray it liberally and never feel that it intrudes, even when the summer heat magnifies every odor. Ormonde Jayne Tolu and Annick Goutal Eau de Charlotte, although they’re different in a lot of ways, share a thick creaminess as they dry down. Tolu is especially creamy, verging on powdery, like falling asleep on a bed of sweet roll dough. It would be a great winter comfort scent. Caron Farnesiana is another warm, creamy comfort scent with its honey and almonds. Some perfumes are a little too foody to be comforting. Hermès Ambre Narguile, for example, would have me running for the apple pie.
Another kind of comfort scent smells more along the lines of fabric softener. These scents are more linear and not always easy to tease apart. Rochas Tocade, a Luca Turin fave, is one I think of right off the bat, although I think it would smell better on a blonde. (Am I the only one who thinks Turin tends to favor perfumes that smell best on blondes?)
Perfumes with a lot of incense or spice, although I love them, don’t seem as comforting. L’Artisan Tea for Two, for example, is a staple when it’s cold and rainy. But it has too much personality to deal with when I just want comfort. Perfumes with distinct wood can go either way for me. I find Hermès Eau des Merveilles’ wood to be too dry to be comforting. But the wood in the drydown of Chanel Bois des Iles or Balenciaga Le Dix is creamy and gentle, although because of their aldehydes I probably wouldn’t reach for them first.
I know everyone may be comforted by something different. For me, the right perfume — along with a hot bath and healthy dose of starch — packs a lot of comfort. And come to think of it, it’s a deal compared to the cost of a shrink.
See also: The Fragrance Wardrobe Part 1, Part 3 ~ Scents for Business and Special Occasions, Part 4 ~ Perfume for Seduction and Part 5 ~ All The Rest.
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You're so right about that, Angela: A wonderful fragrance, a soothing bath with a good read and comforting food are a great deal compared to the cost of a shrink. And, you don't have to talk, listen or respond to anyone…just indulge yourself in heavenly sensations!
Hugs!
It's saved me many a frantic day, I tell you.
Great choices! You're comment about Tocade was interesting… I am very blonde and for me it's Etro's Heliotrope. Actually I just want to smell like a cookie and be eating a cookie so anything with lots of vanilla does the trick. Plus I swear the smell of vanilla makes my husband come running to bed… sometimes that ain't a good thing!!
Have you tried Hanae Mori (I may not be spelling it right)? It is cookie heaven, and it lasts a long time. I like Etro Heliotrope a lot, too. I get a weird metallic note in it, though.
My ultimate comfort scent is Ambre Narguilé. I simply adore it.
This isn't really in response to this comment, exactly, but it won't let me log in otherwise. I was just going to say that it's very interesting, the blonde comment. I don't think of Tocade as a blonde scent at all (though I admit it somehow doesn't say “red-head” to me.) Certainly I think Turin uses a lot of blonde imagery, let us say, when mentioning past loves (his Vetiver wearing amazon crush) or metaphors for who would wear the fragrance (Angel as a blond drag-queen with stubble for example.) I have to say though, that the imagery sometimes doesn't work for me – I see the wig as being blond and the stubble and real hair dark, if you get what I mean. Further, I think of many of his spicier, woodier or edgier (mostly) Oriental faves suit brunettes better (Eau D'Histoire, Black, Bois de Violette, Chinatown etc.) While they are among my own favourites – and I'm dark – I think of the androgynous recommendations like Jicky and Third Man as blondes.
And I forgot about Tolu! A Turin recommendation you mention that is a perfect brunette fragrance. Angela, you have auburn hair, do you? I seem to remember that…
I'm so glad you responded to my Luca Turin rumination! (Isn't he married to a blonde?) It's interesting how scent conjures certain visual images–some blonde, some brunette, some with blonde wig and black stubble. I see Ursula Andress (blonde) wearing Tocade. And although Turin's description of Rive Gauche includes the goddess Diana–who I see as a brunette Wonder Woman type–it smells like an expensive mid-1970s blonde to me. Now I'll have to go through Perfume Notes and make hair color notations on the margin to see where my own biases are. Maybe my nose sees too much blonde. (And you're right about Tolu. I love it, and I do have auburn hair.)
Yummy starters! My aunt, who lives in France and is 60ish, adores Tocade and you're right — it is vanilla/foody-comforting. She's a brunette, though. My picks are Gaultier2, a creamy vanilla/amber delight, Hanae Mori for men, fruits on top of chocolate, Bulgari Black, women's Angel, Egoïste and, of late, Parure. There is something so deeply nostalgic about Parure, but strangely, it has an ever so soothing effect on me. Btw, last night I counted up my perfume bottles (decants and samples not included), and would you believe it, I've got 12!
I can see I'm going to have to start re-imagining Tocade on brunettes! I like your choices–are these just the comfort scents? I could easily live with your selection, or even with just the Bulgari Black, Egoiste, and Parure, which could take you just about anywhere.
I don't remember whether Turin's wife is blond. She is German, I think, so it's definitely a possibility.
Poor Ms. Luca. I bet everyone asks what perfume she wears. From The Emperor of Scent, it sounds like she's her own woman, which is great.
A belated thanks, I love my collection, too
Ahem, Egoïste is also my power scent, as is Magnetism, dunno if you have tried it, though its incensey and peppery woods are better suited to temperatures below 77. Also, Dior Homme sometimes falls neatly in the comfort scents category since I reach for it regardless of the weather and occasion.
A belated thanks, I love my collection, too
Ahem, Egoïste is also my power scent, as is Magnetism, dunno if you have tried it, though its incensey and peppery woods are better suited to temperatures below 77. Also, Dior Homme sometimes falls neatly in the comfort scents category since I reach for it regardless of the weather and occasion.
I'll definitely put Magnetism on my list to try, thanks!
So far it seems that Acqua di Parma Sicilian almond has become my comfort fragrance at the moment. I'm not too keen on gourmand scents anymore but this one got my attention when I tried it on. Its sweet, but not 'teen girls hanging out at the mall” sweet. But I don't see myself wearing this scent past mid-autumn….
That's the beauty of a seasonal scent–more of a reason to buy another one that will suit you better when it gets cold.
Exactly AngelaS… I just can't wait to try out the many new scents that'll be available for Fall/Winter 2006!
Tocade has such brassy, dramatic sillage that I find it about as comforting as a herald with trumpets. But I guess one woman's comfort is another woman's brass band.
As for me, when I need to pour oil on the waters, I reach for Mitsouko or Bois de Violette. I figure beauty is the best refuge.
“Beauty is the best refuge”–yes! So true. Beauty is a great reminder that me and my peturbations aren't the only thing in the world. Sometimes for me, though, beauty is too involved to be comforting.
What do you think are classic brunette fragrances?
Gosh, the classics might include some of the heavy-hitting orientals, like Coco and Opium, but you should wear what you like best!
You are so right about Turin and blondes! From 31 Rue de Cambon to Aromatics Elixir, so many of his reviews that drove me to try a scent led to the conclusion they’d work better on a blonde!
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought so. Of course, now he’s settled down with a brunette…