Belle's Favorite Fall Fragrances
Oct 4, 2012
During the warm weather months, I wear bright citrus perfumes and fragrances with a hint of freshly cut grass. But in the fall, it’s time for a change. Because chunky knits and tall boots don’t really pair with my light summer scents.
Last week, I took a trip out to Pentagon City for a little smell testing. After all, perfume is the one product you absolutely cannot buy without seeing (or smelling) it in person. Here were a few of the scents that I adored.
Michael Kors Rose Gold ($78 for 1 ounce) // Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay ($60 for 1 ounce) // Jimmy Choo Perfume ($70 for 2 ounces)
While I liked all of the perfumes for different reasons, I can’t stop thinking about the Jo Malone cologne. I just loved how clean and fruity the fragrance was. And the best part was that the scent was lush without being overwhelming.
Lara Ramos at The Glossarie and I definitely agree that it can be tough to recommend or review perfumes because scent is such a personal thing. But, hopefully, this post will get you thinking about a fall fragrance you want to try.
Which perfume is your signature scent?
I wear Tocca's Colette. It has notes of bergamot and violet, juniper berries, pine needles, and some vanilla in there… I'm a big Gin and Tonic girl and something in there reminds me of a G&T. Not too sweet, but not too spicy either. Love it. And the bottle looks pretty on my dresser.
My signature scent is Coco Mademoiselle, but this summer I wore Acqua di Gioa and fell in love with the scent. I was just told this morning that I needed to check out the Michael Kors scents, so this is my confirmation to do that!
I love Jo Malone. I have both the nectarine one and the orange blossom; I wear them all year long.
I love Ralph Lauren Hot and have been wearing it for a few years. It has been discontinued though, so once I have finished this bottle I was planning on switching to L de Lolita Lempicka or Burberry Bold (I think that's what it was called) or maybe Ralph Lauren Rocks but I don't see any of those on sephora's website right now.
So I guess I will soon be in the market for a new one. 🙁
Tom Ford's Black Orchid. Love, love, love.
I used to wear only Chanel No. 5 but then started experimenting. Annick Goutal figures highly these days, Prada (esp Infusion d'Iris), and my latest love is Hermes “Jardin sur le Toit”.
Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue is my favorite. It's true what people say about a scent just smelling better on someone. Me and Light Blue go perfectly together!
I am very particular about fragrances. Rarely do I find a new fragrance I truly like and commit to buying. I am constantly on the look out for a new favorite but always end up sticking to my few tried and true. But “Valentina†by Valentino is a gorgeous fragrance. Spicy, full and just enough floral. It is what I have tried to find in other perfumes and yet they never seem to hit the mark. This one does. It’s sexy and classy at the same time. The fragrance video in YouTube is pretty too. Heiress escaping her stuffy birthday party for a more casual celebration- Nice!
An unfortunate spill of an entire bottle of my great-grandmother's purfume in my early years has me militantly opposed to anything that smells remotely like musk. Thus, I've taken the less serious route toward C.O. Bigelow Lemon purfume. I might buy it at Bath and Body Works- but I'd rather smell fresh, uncomplicated and subtle than dense and heaven forbid, like my grandmother's Home Shopping Network purchases.
I love having a signature scent so I've been wearing one from Sarah Horowitz (https://www.sarahhorowitz.com/index.html) for ten years now. It can be a little heavy for summer so I sometimes cut it with Clinique Happy. Sounds bizarre, I know but they seem to compliment each other and I get no shortage of compliments (and questions) about my scent. Plus my clothes don't smell of a mix of scents which drives me insane!
Mint soap (palm oil free to save the orangutans) and homemade deodorant (works better, no aluminum, and with my own mix of essential oils). Perfume makes me headache-y and sneezy – I guess I am allergic – and I hate smelling someone else's cologne or perfume in the workplace. 🙁
I adore my Bond Number 9 made for Saks. It smells just like gardenias!
I need to brave a perfume shopping trip at some point. While perfume in general doesn't make me get a headache, smelling so much like you often can at a perfume counter or in a fragrance shop can be a little overwhelming. Unfortunately, my fiance is no help because he is very indifferent to fragrance (maybe I just haven't found the right one yet ;P).
I have tried a sample of Marc Jacobs' Daisy and I adored it but it lacks staying power and is very expensive for a fragrance that does not stay well… sigh,
Fragrance is so fascinating and personal. Whenever I smell Dolce's Light Blue or anything from Victoria's Secret (Love Spell and Sweet Pea, anyone?), I'm right back in 10th grade. It's the weirdest.
For fall, I love Michael Kors original fragrance. It just smells like cashmere and comfort. But I'm dying to find a Tom Ford scent that isnt too overpowering.
I've been wearing Hypnotic Poison by Christian Dior since 2000. It's the one in the red bottle and it smells like candy. I get sooo many compliments on it. My boyfriend said that one of the reasons he wanted to get to know me that might we met was because he caught a whiff of my perfume and loved it.
I adore Michael Kors scents. I recently picked up a bottle of his limited edition Suede and have worn it every day since. I'm a big fan of tuberose and it's a prominent note in all of his fragrances. If you also like tuberose, Fracas is the ultimate classic, that's where my obsession with it began.
I wore Burberry Weekend for a long time (yes, even on weekdays). Recently, I decided to change fragrances to correspond to a significant change in my life. I went with DKNY Pure Verbena. Love love love it but its very summery. Currently in the market for something better for fall/winter!
I've worn Marc Jacobs (the original) since it first came out. Got a tiny vial pre-launch from Sephora…been hooked ever since. I used to rotate perfumes, but after a few years I narrowed it down to the MJ. Now my husband actively discourages any experimentation with other perfumes because he and other family members really identify me with that scent.
Nahema by Guerlain-Ive worn it since 1980….. but I have a large collection. Guerlain, however is my favourite house-I have Mitsouko, L'Heure Bleue, Samsara, Vetiver, and Attrape Coeurs. I also like Chanel: Cuir de Russie, Bois des Iles, and 31 Rue Cambon, Antaeus, Caron's Nuit de Noel, 2 by Robert Piguet-Fracas and Bandit, and Oud Wood by Tom Ford. I love all of these. Being a perfume lover, I like to read about them-Luca Turin especially, read the various blogs, try many different ones and add new ones to my collection, but I usually return to Guerlain…. I wear them to suit my mood and my clothes-I like the florientals when I wear saris.
Aquolina's Pink Sugar. It's constantly derided as juvenile and too sweet, but something about my body makes most perfumes smell awful except for this one – it just smells vanilla-y and warm. There are countless perfumes that are wonderful on the scent strip, but on me they end up reeking of grandma's potpourri mixed with gasoline.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Issey Miyake!!! However, for the summer nothing beats Bobbi Brown's Beach……if you love the smells of the beach.