I’ve had a curiouscat for years and have long been frustrated by its 400-character response limit. (In case you hadn’t noticed, brevity is not where I shine). Lately I’ve been getting some amazing questions that I can’t answer with the accuracy I would like in so short a space, so I thought I’d answer them here.
If you would like to send a question or just to chat, my curiouscat is here. I will also answer any questions left in comments on articles like this one.
Q&A
Q: are there any books/videos on what perfumes are favored by country? wondering if it's a local cuisine situation where certain perfume ingredients are chosen for availability, or if preferences vary wildly by climate, or top-sellers are mostly known luxury brands because of brand recognition
A: This is a fascinating question that I immediately knew could be an entire article (I did want to touch on this topic, which is a very important one in perfumery, in my Le Lion article, but had to cut it. Yes, I do cut things!). The short answer is: no, there is no literature on this issue in English. There may be in French, which is where the bulk of fragrance writing can be found, but my French stopped in high school so it remains frustratingly out of reach for me.
I wish there was a book about this because I find the topic fascinating - perceptions of scent are so different from culture to culture. The most obvious example is the love of scent in the Arab world, but it is well known that different parts of the world value different things in fragrance. For example, in the Far East Asian market (China, Japan, Korea, etc), light and translucent scents are big sellers and many lighter flankers are made specifically for this market like Chance eau Tendre and eau Fraiche. Jo Malone is also massively popular in these countries. This has been connected to the emphasis placed on respect of others in public spaces in these cultures - it’s considered rude to have a perfume that projects too much and disturbs other people.
Then there are certain notes that are popular in certain countries. Probably the most famous is the love of ‘soapy’ white florals like orange blossom in the American market. American women love aldehydic, clean floral scents - this has been connected to the value American society places on being clean. In the Perfect Scent, perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena is quoted as saying:
“There are two great poles of perfumery,” he says. “Latin and Anglo-Saxon. Seduction and hygiene. The Latin wants to seduce; he says, ‘See how sexy I am, I’m coming to you.’ The American says, ‘See how clean I am, you can come to me.’” (page 227)
Brazil, which is the largest fragrance market in the world, is primarily served by local mass market brands that make inexpensive ‘body splash’ that people use in volume. This is similar to Turkey, where kolonya is so much a part of the culture it is considered the country’s ‘signature’ scent, and is so potent in alcohol that it doubles as hand sanitizer.
I wouldn’t say availability is as much a factor as the big fragrance oil houses have a strangehold on raw material supply lines - mostly everything is going through IFF, Givaudan, etc regardless. But cultural experience with raw materials is definitely a huge factor in perfume - see oud. Climate is also a factor - see the priority placed on light, fresh scents in Brazil. Top sellers in the Western world are almost always luxury scents (Chanel is always in every top 10), but it’s not the same in parts of the world that are essentially priced out of the prestige market. But you better believe every brand is trying to get in on profitable fragrance markets like East Asia and Latin America, at cost.
Neil Chapman writes about the fragrance culture in Japan (where he lives) in his book In Search Of Your Signature Scent, Kafkaesque has an article on the massive fragrance market in Brazil, here is a history of Turkey’s kolonya, and an old but still wonderful BBC documentary on the perfume touches on the different perfume markets.
Thank you for this wonderful question!
Q: First things first, you're an amazing writer and it's only a matter of time before the internet catches up with you and hopefully that will be a good thing for you and your readers! I have learnt more about perfumery from you in a week compared to years on the internet - thank you so much.... I particularly enjoy your candor when it comes to discussing the snobbery, price gouging and inexplicable reformulations that even premium brands suffer from. I have one question and one request, here goes - 1. Why almost all premium-designer/niche perfumers are unable to make potent, lingering perfumes like they did a decade ago? Everything's neutered & nice or obnoxious & cheap... 2. Loved your House Overview of Le Labo. Take a bow! Anxiously awaiting a similar treatment of Creed and Tom Ford, the only two houses I love - there's a distinct premium-signaling attribute they have much like the Guerlinade you brought up in the Le Labo coverage. Much love & respect, MV Philippines
A: My goodness, how lovely this message is! You’ve made my day a little brighter. There is a lot of cloak and dagger when it comes to perfume and even perfume reviewing. There is safety in only talking about what you love but I believe that a deeper analysis of products and practice is warranted, especially at the luxury price point. And snobbery is something in perfume that definitely should be fought against. Now, your question and your request:
IFRA regulations. The International Fragrance Association has essentially gutted the use of naturals in perfumery such as oakmoss and civet, which were instrumental in creating long lasting drydowns in classic perfume. Their replacements are synthetics that a portion of the population will be anosmic to and that other people will find too overbearing and ‘headachey’. If you smell too much of these synthetics, you start to go nose blind - and because of regulations, synthetics such as iso-e super and ambroxan are found in nearly every modern perfume. This isn’t to say that all synthetics are bad, because they’re not - hedione, a synthetic discovered in the 1950’s, is crucial to modern perfumery and present in nearly every perfume made for the last 70 years - it’s just that all the truly great perfumes from Jicky onwards have been a balance between synthetics and naturals, both bouncing off each other to create something magical. Not all brands are IFRA compliant - Rogue Perfumery is the most famous, well, rogue - and a spectacular drydown that lingers can still be found if you hunt for it. But in mass market perfume it’s getting harder and harder to find.
Thank you so much! I have quite a few house overviews planned - it is interesting to take a wider focus and look at an entire house’s product. I will only write them if I have smelled at least 90% of a brand’s scents, however. I don’t think it is possible to analyse a brand accurately unless you have a broad experience in their product.
Q: What are your thoughts on tabac rouge? Is it worth the money?
A: I’m going to assume we’re speaking of Tabac Rouge from Phaedon? It is certainly pleasant smelling and incredibly potent, but to my nose it is eerily similar to Tobacco Vanille from Tom Ford. The tobacco is perhaps a bit dirtier than Tobacco Vanille and brings to mind Red Tobacco from Mancera and the depressing Herod from Parfums de Marly. I like the medicinal cinnamon-spice opening of this perfume, but the honey in the mid turns more sweet than animalic on my skin and turns the whole thing very cloying. Its musk drydown is quite different to Tobacco Vanille’s tonka, and I do like it better. Overall: it’s a good perfume but I don’t believe it’s worth the money. (I don’t think Tobacco Vanille is worth it, either). There are cheaper and better tobaccos out there.
Q: Hi! I was wondering if you had any recommendations for perfumes similar to Maison Margielas Beach Walk or Whispers in the Library? I love both scents and would like more than a sample size, but... money lol.
A: I feel you! (Margiela has recently come out with fairer priced 30ml bottles, thank god. Every niche/mass market house should do this in my opinion!)
There is a whole genre of perfumes in the aquatic/coconut beachy style. For note-perfect closeness to Beach Walk, try Armani’s Sun di Gioia (the Tom Ford Soliel Blanc line is also similar to Beach Walk, but is more expensive!). Juliette has a Gun’s Vanilla Vibes is also similar, but it has a boatload of musks in the base that turns my stomach. Guerlain Terracotta is my best in show for a beachy/tropical scent, and I think the Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess line is a wonderful and affordable line of Beach Walk-y scents.
Whispers in the Library is a very odd perfume. It’s in the Spiriteuse Double Vanille genre of boozy-warm vanilla, but its longevity is atrocious - quite a feat with vanilla, which usually lingers like radioactive waste on the skin. An old Body Shop perfume called Bowhanti smelled just like it, but I think it has been discontinued - look for it local to yourself, though! Nirvana Bourbon from Elizabeth and James is also quite similar. There’s a bit of Diptyque’s Eau Duelle in Whispers as well. And for a great affordable vanilla, you can’t go past Vanille by Solinotes.
Q: what do you think of imaginary authors perfumes? I keep getting ads for them and they’re intriguing me lol
A: An interesting house that I would consider solidly middle of the pack when it comes to indie/artisan perfume. Their premise and packaging is top-notch, but the scents have never blown me away. Bull’s Blood is bracing and clever, The Soft Lawn is an amazing synthetic green (but has lately been reformulated, boo); I loathed Whispered Myths, which was an aquatic/oud abomination. But the scents are all interesting, and I would recommend you buy a sample set if you are interested!
Q: I know you're not a huge maison margiela person but lipstick on was one of my top tier perfumes and they discontinued it - do you know of any dupes or really similar perfumes?
A: I don’t mind Margiela at all, actually! Now that they have made their scents more accessible with smaller sizes/travel sprays I have no qualms in recommending them. They are good perfumes, just occasionally derivative. Lipstick On was a stunner, I agree with you! Good news: 1889 Moulin Rouge from Histoires de Parfums is pretty much an exact dupe for Lipstick On. The other obvious recommendation here is Lipstick Rose from Frederic Malle but it is exorbitantly expensive. Guerlain’s Insolence is a lovely violet, and Dior Homme is a fantastic lipstick-y iris. Avoid, at all costs, Lipstick Fever from Juliette Has a Gun - it is awful. If you’re interested in lipstick notes in perfumery, I highly recommend this article from Fragrantica.
Q: what do you enjoy cooking ?
A: Gosh, lots of things! I like Italian (I made a chicken piccata last night actually, which if I might say was quite delicious) and Thai cuisine best, strong bold flavours and deceptively simple recipes. I cook a lot of Mexican too because my family love it. I also do like to make a traditional chicken roast kind of dinner on a Sunday night - or a lasange! And I both love and hate the big Christmas cook in which I make a literal avalanche of proteins, sides, and antipasto style dishes. I love really fragrant ingredients like lemon, basil (I use so much basil, you would not believe my basil budget!), and chili, and I will cook broccoli every single way it can be cooked before I die. I’m not much of a baker, I’m afraid - precision is not at all my forte - but I do make a mean carrot cake (statistically the best cake)! And I personally don’t like chocolate chip cookies (I know) but my family love them and our recipe is actually the best. The best. The majority of cooking I do is your regular dinners and things like that. I can also make a perfect bechamel with my eyes closed. When I cook for myself I get a bit more experimental (my family are fussy) and I love to try recipes from my small but growing cookbook/food journalism collection. Julia Child does not fuck around.
Q: Hi! What would your recommendation be for the best perfume with lily smells?
A: The best lily perfume - which is to say, the truest - is and probably always will be Diorissimo, done by Edmond Roudnitska for Dior. However, to modern noses it can smell unfashionably vintage. I think Liliana by Tocca is a pleasant modern lily, Comme des Garcons: Lily is a deconstructed take on the note, and Death and Decay by Lush is a very realistic and sorrowful lily and woods. Probably my favourite lily scent is Passage D’Enfer from L'artisan Parfumeur, which is the most melancholic incense and lily scent you will ever smell. Simply divine.
Q: what's your favorite 'green' fragrance? i've been looking at chanel no 19 but have seen fragrantica reviews saying the new formulation is a shell of what it used to be (seems fairly common with a lot of brands).
A: I’m afraid I’m not going to be much help here - sharp green fragrances like Chanel №19 are my most hated genre of perfumery. Most of them contain galbanum, which is the one note in all perfume that I truly loathe. My favourite ‘green’ scents are usually mossy, earthy, or dry. However! I have smelled many perfume similar to no. 19. You may like Nuit de Bakelite from Naomi Goodsir, which was a green perfume so potent that it irradiated my house and I had to hide the sample like it was radioactive waste. Green Spell by Eris Parfums is the greenest of the green. And Vent Vert by Balmain is a classic green done by the sublime Germaine Cellier.
And a note on reformulations - indeed, IFRA compliance is butchering a lot of perfumes, but Chanel is well known to be the industry standard for protecting their scents from changing too much. And if I am being honest, I have never tried a reformulation of a scent I love that I didn’t still enjoy. Try the current no. 19, you may like it!
Q: Have you read Laura Florand's La Vie en Roses series? it's romance + perfume lol
A: I have not - but it’s on my list now, thank you for the recommendation! I always love a fragrant read (anything but the odious Perfume by Patrick Suskind. That is a book about which we shall not speak.)
Q: I love your writing on perfume so much!! Do you have a favorite perfume that is very aldehyde heavy?
A: Thank you! And oh dear, we’ve hit upon another perfume style I don’t like: soapy Chanel №5 aldehydes are anathema to me. I much prefer the odd-numbered aldehydes popular in Comme des Garcons scents, or the c-14 ‘peach’ aldehyde used in Mitsouko. But probably the best traditional soapy-champagne aldehyde note I’ve smelled is in Metallique by Tom Ford. It’s almost impossible to make an aldehyde scent that doesn’t smell vintage but Metallique pulls it off, pairing it with an ice cream style vanilla and warm musk (which reads to my nose as ambrette). Andy Tauer also does an interesting fizzy-aldehydic top note, as in Un Rose Chypree. The most aldehydic scents I can think of are all vintage or vintage smelling, but if you love aldehydes have at it: YSL Rive Gauche, the underrated masterpiece that is Clinique’s Aromatics Elixir, Chanel №22 which is Chanel’s most aldehydic scent, good old White Diamonds from Elizabeth Taylor, and Givenchy Insensé.
Q: Have you watched Miss Scarlet and the Duke?? Unexpectedly turned out to be a fun victorian murder mystery/romance
A: I have! The 19th century is catnip to me - I will watch anything set in the long century, absolutely anything. I did enjoy this series but I didn’t think it was good, if that makes sense. It felt like it didn’t know if it wanted to be a static procedural/Poirot style series or a more character driven plot-based show. The constant speeches about Feminism™ were out of place and too preachy - the storylines centered around how bad women had it in the time period were doing all of that work for them, in a much more organic way. Costumes were great, and I loved every scene with the housekeeper and the neighbour. And the central relationship was good, don’t get me wrong, but the chemistry just felt a bit forced to me and Duke felt underdeveloped. I will watch the second season and hope it gets better as it finds its feet.
Q: omg miccaeli i know you hate TM Angel but can you explain why... my dad gifted it to me years ago and i like it for a night out, is my taste just basic lmfao
A: First of all, your taste is in no way basic! I wish I loved Angel - I wish I loved every perfume masterpiece, and always take it as a fault of mine and not the scent when I don’t! Angel is a glorious punch-in-your-face thing, and only gets more remarkable when you smell its derivatives and realise how truly innovative it is. Patchouli is what makes Angel and also what kills it for me. I love patchouli - and I like gourmands as a genre - but the achingly strong patchouli/ethyl maltol in Angel turns my stomach. I love smelling it on other people, and I love it in the drydown, but on first spray this Angel is much too much. It is the perfect scent for a night out - but I will always be an Alien girl.
Q: hi miccaeli! i've been looking for a scent similar to burberry weekend for women (which is $$$) but haven't found anything comparable - would you maybe know any?
A: Can I ask where you are in the world? Because I know that in Australia this perfume is quite easy to find (in the old packaging and the new) for about $50! This is a scent done by the magnificent Nathalie Lorson. I think that the original Juicy Couture (and really the whole JC) and Jessica Simpson Fancy Nights are quite close to Burberry Weekend.
Q: What are your feelings on the cotton on body//supre fragrances?
A: Similar in quality and longevity to a Zara scent, I think they are great for what they’re intended for - the tween/quick spray before gym market. I sprayed them all when I was in Cotton On and the blue bottle was the nicest, as it was going for amber and not fresh or gourmand like the others. For $7? Not bad at all. If I really liked one I would buy it to layer.
Q: There was a brief article in the North American edition of April's NatGeo on how they make attar in India and it made me think of you! It mentioned that most perfumes use alcohol instead of attar - is that true? Do you have a preference between the two??
A: This article sounds amazing! I have to go and hunt it down! Traditional French style spray perfumes are diluted in alcohol, yes - your EDPs, EDTs, etc, and these are more popular worldwide. Water based splashes or ‘body spray’ is also popular. Perfume oil, which is more concentrated but also has less projection, is the traditional Arabic style of perfumery. Perfume oils are more expensive, but they are great to travel with/easier to ship because they don’t contain any alcohol or combustibles. I like both for different occasions and different reasons, and they’re especially great to layer. I would say that my preference probably goes towards spray/alcohol perfume because that is what I grew up with and that is what’s more available to me in my part of the world. But I have quite a few oils/attars and I cherish them. It is a dream of mine to go to the Emirates and spend the whole time fragrance shopping!
Thank you for your questions! It’s a lot of fun to focus on a specific query or brief. Once again, if you would like to send a question or just to chat, my curiouscat is here. I will also answer any questions left in comments on articles in posts like this one. I am also always kicking around on twitter, though the quality of the content cannot be guaranteed.
That’s all for now!
Thank you for another interesting, high-quality post! I first discovered your article about celebrity perfumes and then read the Le Labo one -- both excellent!
I wanted to comment on the common comparison between Lipstick On and 1889 Moulin Rouge: I think I've tried every substitute for Lipstick On and I just didn't see the similarity between the aforementioned two at all. I think maybe it was the wormwood note that really threw me off, but I found 1889 to be harsh, bitter, and herbal. In spite of the alleged notes, it smelled much more like a softly spicy amber to me in the fashion of Nanette by Nanette Lepore. By constrast, to me Lipstick On is a sweet, shimmering, powdery iris with strong vanillic overtones. I got my sample of 1889 from a decant site and and have wondered more than once if they put the wrong juice in the vial. In any case, I am kindly asking what you find the major similarity between Lipstick On and 1889 to be. If it's a true dupe, sign me up!
This was my introduction to Incense and Orris and I am already a devotee. Who knew there existed such a niche in the writing world that would be so lovely to wonder through! Thank you for your intense research and beautiful writing on your subject matter! I'm officially a fan!