smell this: Guerlain Vétiver

IMG_6122I already mentioned Guerlain Vétiver in a winter fragrance picks post but it bears further mention. Summer mention.

Nutmeg, citrus, and cedar are the notes–aside from the pure, central vetiver–that stand out to me in this superb, bright vetiver. There is balance, though, and none of these dominate. Guerlain’s is known as a benchmark vetiver; what you smell to teach your nose about these indispensible grassroots. Once you learn to recognize that distinctive vetiver scent (it smells like nothing else) you will smell traces of it everywhere – it appears in the base of nearly all western fragrances.

Fresh and light, just the kind of scent I want to put on early in the morning.

Love the sillage on this; I smell it as I shift and turn all day. I had about 5 different fragrance strips sitting on my desk one day and GV was the only one I could smell at a distance. It blends well with everything. Everything I’ve tried! It smells great in every season, in every context. There is something so reliable about this scent, to me – like it would never let me down.

Ladies! Take note. This is a men’s classic (1959) but would smell fantastic on you. It has for me zero outdatedness, and age is no factor. Gentlemen, put down the stonking aquatics and try this. Everyone else: it would smell good on you, too.

smell this: Chanel Coco Mademoiselle

IMG_6115Well, it doesn’t smell as good on me as it did on the guy who made me want to buy it, though I was drunk at the time I decided I would buy, and he must have bathed in it. Lesson learned in testing on self [Always test on self!]. And inebriated scent assessment.

Pleasant vanilla, citruses and rose florals anchored with patchouli –  not too sweet, esp in the drydown, so it smells good (definitely good…not quite inspiring but solidly good, I can see why it sells so well) but rather boring to my nose. Would be a fitting scent for a particularly charming baby or nursery was my initial thought [though you aren’t meant to put perfume on babies, I know]. Can layer to sweeten or temper a masculine, is how I’ve been consoling myself about it. I find that it plays very well with others, after a couple of years of experimenting with it now and then. Especially like it over something musky, like the C.O. Bigelow musk oil. This also keeps it from being so recognizable, and helps with that ideal of having a unique scent for oneself.

Though it is not my favorite I often reach for it (alone or somehow layered) when I don’t want to think too hard about smelling nice–not only nice, but ‘pretty’, nice in a sense with feminine mass appeal–and I want to speak, inconspicuously, effortlessly, to a broad range of tastes. Perhaps if I know I will be meeting new people, for example, and I’m in a rush. I almost always get positive comments.