I haven't been able to take my usual pleasure in food lately, and so I have been seeking comfort by cocooning myself in scent.

Some perfumes I have loved:

La Casa Azul (DSH Perfumes/Dawn Spencer Hurwitz) - cigarette smoke, cigars, tequila, cognac, jalapeno spice, French perfume, leather, salt, and sex. This. This is the scent I want people to associate with me. It's just so perfectly crafted, so gorgeously androgynous. There is a tomato leaf note in here that pairs fantastically with the smoke and leather facets, creating a balance between bracing and airy, aquatic, and sensually earthy.

Alice (Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab/Elizabeth Moriarty Barrial) - milk, honey, rose, carnation, bergamot. A sweet, delicate, milky rose - I love this one for spring.

Mosaic (Imaginary Authors/Josh Meyer) - hedione, petitgrain, bergamot, oakmoss, cedarwood, limestone, ethyl linalyl acetate, and artesian well water. Crisp, light, and refreshing - a citrusy and mineralic antidote to the oppressive summer heat.

Sudha Segara (Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab/Elizabeth Moriarty Barrial) - milk, ginger, honey, ambrosia. Another good one for summer, Sudha Segara is less bracing and more soothing and comforting. The ginger is almost lemony, softened by milk and honey.

De Sade (Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab/Elizabeth Moriarty Barrial) - leather. This doesn't just smell like leather to me; it also smells like a clean musk and China Moon incense, and I love it.

Leather (Demeter/Christopher Brosius) - leather. Also not strictly leather, this one has a bergamot top note and just a hint of fougere lurking underneath. But mostly leather.

Debaser (D.S. & Durga/David Seth Moltz) - bergamot, green leaf, pear stem, fig, coconut milk, iris, blond woods, tonka bean, moss. Another summer love, it smells like sitting in the backyard with laundry drying on the line, drinking a piña colada while someone mows a lawn nearby.

CK One (Calvin Klein/Alberto Morillas & Harry Fremont) - bergamot, cardamom, lemon, mandarin, pineapple, papaya, green tea, hedione, lily-of-the-valley, nutmeg, rose, violet, freesia, orris, amber, cedar, musk, oakmoss, sandalwood. This was released the year I started college, and there was nothing like it on the market at the time. It was my first fragrance as an adult, and it smells like coming of age. I don't wear it anymore, but a sniff of the bottle is transportive.

Memoirs of a Trespasser (Imaginary Authors/Josh Meyer) - Madagascar vanilla, guaiacwood, myrrh, benzoin resin, ambrette seeds, oak barrels. This smells like vanilla custard with nutmeg sprinkled on top. Nutmeg is one of my favorite scents and regrettably rare to find as a dominant note in a fragrance. Here it has center stage. Delicious.

Black (Bulgari/Annick Menardo) - Lapsang souchong tea, black leather, vanilla, rubber. Smoky, sweet, leathery. I don't wear this one anymore, but it was a gateway into a fragrance DNA I love to this day.

Déclaration (Cartier/Jean-Claude Ellena, Mathilde Laurent) - bergamot, orange, cardamom, coriander, ginger, hedione, juniper, artemisia, cedarwood, vetiver. My second "grown up" fragrance, I graduated from CK One to this. There is a clear through-line in their structures, with CK One being more citrusy and airy and Déclaration being more grounded and slightly woody/earthy thanks to the vetiver - but still zesty and fresh.

White Rabbit (Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab/Elizabeth Moriarty Barrial) - black tea, milk, white pepper, ginger, honey, vanilla, clean linen. When I think of my signature scent, I want it to be La Casa Azul - but in truth, it's this one. Simultaneously clean and comforting, crisp and cozy - a beautiful balance between the linen and tea notes and the milk and honey notes. I love White Rabbit best in the fall (my favorite season).

Whispered Myths (Imaginary Authors/Josh Meyer) - natural Cambodian oud, cantaloupe, cedarwood, muskdana, honey, salvaged shipwreck. I was hooked the first time I smelled this; it was so novel to my nose. I constantly forget its actual name and just refer to it as "Cantaloupe Shipwreck." The oud is woody and faintly decayed, and the cantaloupe is subtle and unique, lending an aquatic vibe.

Xtra Milk (DedCool/Carina Chaz) - bergamot, amber, white musk. The perfect skin scent, a light, beautiful white musk. Clean and comforting, gentle and unassuming - I could wear this everyday and fall asleep surrounded by a soft, billowing cloud of this scent.

Pistachio (D.S. & Durga/David Seth Moltz) - pistachio, cardamom, roasted almond, patchouli, vanilla crème. Like an almond and anise biscotti dipped in vanilla patchouli milk. It's heavy and heady and languid, spicy and sweet. Pairs well with Southern summers, body heat, and sweat; it blooms like a hothouse flower in humidity.

Lune Féline Extrait (Atelier de Ors/Marie Salamagne) - cinnamon, cardamon, pink pepper, cedarwood, ambergris, styrax, Tahitian vanilla, Peru balsam, musk. The cardamom note in the opening is bombastic and fantastic and leads into an almost chewy ginger vanilla that finally gives way to a sensual Egyptian musk. Sultry and gourmand, lovely layered under a sweater to bring warmth to a winter evening.

Western Diamondback (Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab/Elizabeth Moriarty Barrial) - Snake Oil (aged patchouli, vanilla absolute, vegetal musks, sugared vanilla bean, dark spices), leather, tonka bean, red sandalwood, sage. If you've ever wanted to smell like a sexy leather custard dessert, this one's for you. The tonka is so rich and delicious, the spicy leather so intoxicating. Hedonic.

Sublime (Aura Perfume/Cécile Zarokian) - iris, hedione, bergamot, citrus, vanilla, amber, tonka bean, woody notes, benzoin, musk. "Radiant" is the word that comes to mind. The combination of citrus and vanilla gives a bright, cheery comfort combined with a warm, sensual amber base that keeps it more complex, mature, and elevated.

Bastet (Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab/Elizabeth Moriarty Barrial) - amber, Egyptian musk, saffron, myrrh, almond, cardamom, golden lotus. The definition of "sensual," a beautiful, warm second skin of a scent.

No. 93 Engine (Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab/Elizabeth Moriarty Barrial) - Balm of Gilead, benzoin, frankincense, balsam of peru, beeswax, saffron, galbanum, calamus, hyssop, mastic, lemon balm, white sage. This one conjures images of oranges (although it does not smell of orange), an enormous, golden Harvest moon hanging low and heavy in the sky, and thick, sticky honey dripping from a wooden dipper. Indolent. The beeswax note is exquisite.

Saltburn Driftwood (4160 Tuesdays/Sarah McCartney) - driftwood, cool sea breeze, rock pools, yesterday’s waved washed campfire. Salt-encrusted wood drenched in sea spray with a mineralic spike, this is the aquatic I have been searching for.

#perfume #fragrance #bpal