Perfume: An Essay

Your perfume proclaims your presence before you do. It leaves the last word. It evokes moods and creates memories. You wear it on your skin and though you can’t see or touch it, you can sense its presence always. Nothing can be more personal or speak more directly to your personality.

After a string of fragrances I thought were Totally Me, beginning in my impressionable tween years,I finally began to find my stride. My taste, my flavor, my scent. This led to Chanel’s icon of femininity: Coco Mademoiselle. Awash in warm musks and soft florals, Mademoiselle oozes ladylike sensuality. It is warm on the skin, courtesy of vanilla musk and vetiver. Jasmine, orange and rose then come to complement the earthy tones in an amalgamation of delightful smells. I have worn this perfume more than any other over the years, and it has come to represent a certain phase of me. However, ever maturing, so too have my parfum choices.

Today my vanity is cluttered with a mélange of cut-glass bottles containing oils and tonics, including two of my favorites of the moment: the inimitable Fracas and my most recent addition, Balenciaga’s Balenciaga, Paris. Perfumier Robert Piguet’s iconic scent Fracas is a heady blend of lilac, tuberose, and lily of the valley, tempered with sandalwood and vetiver. A ladylike smell, Fracas sets pleasurably on the skin and evokes a sensuous mood for its wearer.

In a time of immense personal growth my individual style is undergoing a natural evolution, and this includes which perfume I am inclined to wear. Feeling matured and stretching my vines in a more sophisticated direction, a scent that is both cultured and womanly feels in order. A slightly more musky and subdued floral, Balenciaga, Paris merely suggests itself, hinting at it’s presence in the air. A unique blend of violet leaves, pepper and cedarwood, one feels calmed and empowered upon its application. The fact that the chic, minimal bottle adds a simple glamour to my collection just makes me more enamored of this Parisian classic, that will always recall for me this period in my young life.