Fragrance – empties & favourites

These past few days the weather has been textbook tempestuous – weeks of dreary fall temperatures suddenly climbed to boiling hot, and are now being fought by monsoon-like outbursts of rain. In the space of an hour the sky has changed from white, to dark, to orange, to blindingly sunny. At the moment it's raining again. I have the windows wide open and am basking in the cool breeze, relaxing noise and amazing, fresh smell of rain. I love this kind of weather. All of these sensory observations have reminded me of a post I had begun to draft a while ago about my favourite fragrances, and now I find myself in the mood to get back to it.

This is a post about both empties and favourites. You can probably tell which of these perfumes are my absolute favourites from the image – the Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche and Issey Miyake L'eau d'Issey. This is, well, true.

I've had the Chance Eau Fraiche in my rotation ever since it was released. I've been wearing it for ten years and during these ten years it's been the one constant in my collection – it's my go to summer/daytime scent, in addition to an evening/special occasion scent and an “adventurous, trying something new” scent that falls somewhere in between day and nighttime.

For a long time I would find myself wanting to just wear it and not the other two, so much so, that one year I decided to just wear the Eau Fraiche for all occasions, all year. That's when I got my first of many 100ml bottles. However, after a while I became bored with it and stopped smelling the light and fresh yet complex fragrance, and would only register a somewhat blunt vinegar and lemon concoction. This is when I know it's time for a break, for me to wear something else for a month or so. A month apart has usually done the trick and I've always fallen right back in love with this fragrance, which is why I think the Chance Eau Fraiche will always be something I have.

Issey Miyake's L'eau d'Issey is somewhat of a classic for anyone who likes things that can be described as fresh, clean, simple, transparent... The list goes on. This was one of the first perfumes I ever had and I loved it immensely, but my original eau de perfume would last less than an hour on me. It's so disappointing to like a fragrance and have it not last on you at all. Such a tease.

After that first bottle I didn't try it again until a few years ago. This time around I couldn't get my hands on an eau de perfume so had to settle for the eau de toilette, which is essentially a watered down version of the aforementioned. I fully expected it not to last even five minutes on me, but lo and behold, it lasts beautifully now! It's completely confusing, but I'm not complaining. Since rediscovering it, I'm on my third bottle.

It's such a visual fragrance, to me it smells like what a mythical cliff on the edge of the world with violent waves crashing against it would smell like. When I smell it, it physically smells like cold to me. I reserve wearing it for days when I feel edgy and cool, like I've got my shit together and no one can bring me down, and if they try – beware.

L'Occitane's Fleur d'Or & Acacia is my most recent discovery that I've become completely hooked on. By recent I mean I've been obsessed with it for the past two or three years. It was a bit of a frivolous purchase I must admit. L'Occitane perfumes come in larger bottles and aren't as expensive as designer brand perfumes, so I was intrigued, plus the name has my initials in it, so of course I had to have it.

I was quite frankly shocked by how long this perfume lasts on me. Even more shocking is that it's now become my most worn fragrance, and I can't imagine not having it anymore. But it is something I'll have to try and imagine, because at least here, it's no longer available. I managed to buy two bottles, one of which is almost empty now too, when a department store was clearancing them out, and I don't actually know if the Fleur d'Or is discontinued or just gone from my region. I'll be really sad when I can't get this anymore, because it perfectly fills the gap of a warm scent in my collection.

The Chanel and Issey Miyake are both very fresh, hot weather scents, weather that's very rare where I live. Obviously nothing will happen if I wear either of them in the winter, but to me there's something wrong with that – the texture of the clothes I wear, all the warm layers, doesn't mesh with those scents. They're the kind of scents that need to be trapped between your skin and an almost transparently light blouse and nothing else, whereas the Fleur d'Or can be worn that way too, but it's especially nice when you unwrap yourself from under a coat and a wool scarf and whatever else, and it gradually reveals itself, with hints and traces left on all of those layers for you to discover later in the day all over again.

The Guerlain Idylle is a similar experience to the Fleur d'Or, however, it does not last on me. It has that same warm quality I look for to see me through the winter months, but something about it doesn't work with my chemistry. I have another Guerlain fragrance I've almost used up, and I have the same issue with it not lasting for more than 15 minutes if that.

So, as of now, my absolute top three favourite perfumes are the Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche, Issey Miyake L'eau d'Issey and the L'Occitane Fleur d'Or & Acacia. Everything else that I try bares some resemblance to one or all of these, that I'm looking at in case something of my top three becomes unavailable and I'll need to replace it with something that's close enough. I really hope I won't need to, but you never know – whenever I have my routine/collection down to its most streamlined, simple form, things become discontinued left and right and I have to start from scratch. I don't want to be inundated with products, but I'm realizing that sticking to a very exclusive list of favourites is a stressful existence in itself.

The sky is now yellow in one corner of my window and blue in the other. I suspect there will be more rain but as I'm writing, it's quiet. The flood gates have closed. Hope this was an interesting read and happy upcoming Monday (ah, don't you wish it was the night before Friday instead? I do). 

XO-d'Or.