It’s a Girl Thing

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Perfume is the indispensable complement to the personality of women, the finishing touch on a dress. – Christian Dior

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There is something about perfume that is so appealing to me, that naturally, I have become quite the collector. After all, perfume is arguably your most important accoutrement. When I was younger I liked the idea of only wearing one fragrance so that whenever I was in the room people would recognise my scent, as it would distinctively be MY scent. However as time has gone on I have come to the realisation and acceptance that there are simply too many perfumes to chose from, how could I ever possibly chose just one to stick with forever? I get such a kick out of having options to chose from when getting ready in the morning. The same way I decide what clothes to wear, I decide what perfume to wear. It all depends on my mood, my outfit and the significance of the day ahead.  Come on girls, I know I’m not the only one?

When buying a new perfume, what are the different aspects that you take into consideration? Are you only concerned with the scent of the fragrance or do you consider the brand, the packaging and the price? Real Talk: for me when it came to buying a new perfume, the scent was the last thing I use to take into consideration. It goes without saying I would never wear a fragrance that I didn’t think smelt amazing; I mean if you don’t like the scent yourself its unlikely others will, but I would focus on every aspect of the perfume besides the scent itself at first. A good example of this would be when I was crazy about Chanel No5. This fragrance is one of the oldest fragrances around, has been worn by everyone who is everyone, and is as expensive as expensive fragrances come. They have an amazing ad campaign with Giselle Bunchen as the brand ambassador, the packaging is gorgeous and overall, to wear a sophisticated scent such as Chanel No5 really says a lot about you. So you can imagine my disappointment the day I went into Red Square to finally purchase my first bottle of Chanel No5, only to find I literally couldn’t stand the smell. It made me feel quite nauseous in fact. Apparently it is a difficult scent to wear as the scent changes throughout the day. The longer its on the more it sets in and so different notes come through. So here I have been saving to buy a product that in the end was really not suited to my taste. LOW POINT.

After my Chanel No5 disaster I reflected a little bit on the type of society we live in where things like this actually matter – and how it was starting to matter to me too! Although many fashion houses will tell you otherwise, buying a perfume purely based on the image that it holds is shallow and superficial, and THAT is what says a lot about you (in my humble opinion). I quickly reverted back to my old ways and went on a perfume tangent, smelling every bottle in sight in order to find the best fragrance! Yes thats right, smelling not looking. A tip when choosing a new perfume; don’t test to many fragrances in one day. After a while you won’t be able to distinguish the difference between them and in plain english, your nose would have had enough. Its also a good idea to let the fragrance sink in over a few hours so you can get an accurate idea of what its smell is in time gone by. Rome wasn’t built in a day – the same goes for buying a bottle of perfume. Keep in mind that no matter what perfume you decide on, it needs to reflect who you are. Depending on what you identify with, you need to look for a scent that claims to be that.

By now I probably have about 10 bottles of perfumes, each one completely different from the next. Some of my favourites are; Daisy by Marc Jacobs, which is a lovely fragrance for summer. Its very light, fresh and has a floral scent. Another great summer/spring fragrance is my Be Delicious by DKNY. Its one of the first perfumes I ever bought and to this day I still love it. Then there is my Elie Saab perfume that I am obsessed with and have nothing but good things to say about it. Every time I wear it I get asked what fragrance I am wearing and it really lasts all day long. It is a very ‘optimistic’ scent. My new addition to my perfume collection (obsession) is Giorgio Armani’s Si. Its more of a winter fragrance in the sense that it is very rich and warm, but you can wear it whenever regardless. I put off getting this one for the longest time, simply because my Mom had it already and used to go on and on about how amazing it was. Much to my disapproval I had to agree, it was divine! Its never easy admitting to my Mom that she has good taste too 😉

The list of amazing perfumes could go on forever, but no matter how many I buy, the next day I will open a copy of Vogue and be bombarded with perfume campaigns of all kind and immediately my mind will start racing thinking about my next buy. Its my nature to be constantly focusing on whats next, however I’m trying to slow down a bit and enjoy what I have now. Of course I have already got my eye on the new Valentino fragrance as well as My Burberry, but I have plenty of others to keep me occupied in the meantime. What are some of your favourite fragrances and what are your tips to buying the perfect perfume?

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