Aromatic Finishing Touches
It might sound crazy, but I’ve always said I’m not completely ready until one final touch.
I can have the face on, the hair on, the gown and all the jewellery, but until that spritz of perfume, I’m not really ready. It’s essential and I’m not complete without it. So much so, that I’ve always got an emergency mini spray with me in my makeup box and another in my leather jacket so that even if I’ve forgotten to bring the night’s fragrance with me, I know I’ve got at least one of my signature scents close to hand.
Smell is incredibly powerful. With one whiff, we can be transported through time and space into a distant memory, sometimes even one we’d forgotten. Just as smells can trigger memory, they can also make us feel things, like that feeling of comfort when you smell a particular smell, or arousal at another smell. There is actually such a thing as ‘happy smells’ – think of the smell of fresh baked bread or some delicious cookies or your favourite meal being cooked. You’ll no doubt start to feel a little hungry but also happier and reassured, because this smell is associated with pleasant feelings and memories.
If fragrances can make us feel things, then it’s no surprise that they can do things like boost our confidence or make us feel extra sexy. In fact, there’s a multi-billion pound industry centred around just that! Every department store and pharmacy has a fragrance section. Every designer label has an entire house of fragrances. It’s a big business! You probably got some for Christmas not so long ago, so it’s widely acknowledged that fragrances are powerful. It could also be some of the use of imagery in their adverts that instils a vision into us when we smell that particular smell, as perfume ad campaigns are some of the most stunning in the world!
So, I thought I’d share with you some of my signature perfumes that I wear while I’m performing or going out. They’re the final layer of armour for me, along with being an aroma of sexiness and intrigue when I walk by someone or hug someone. But above all, they’re for me. Obviously, I’m not going to wear something I hate. These few fragrances are somewhat of a signature for me though. They’re part of my identity.
The first is the classic, highly unique, inimitable ‘Angel’ by Thierry Mugler. You’ll know it by its beautiful blue off-kilter star shaped bottle and stunning advertising campaigns. Love it or hate it, it’s got a sweet, fruity and almost chocolate infused aroma that just screams indulgence and glamour. It could be the food lover in me that it appeals to with all those foody, indulgent notes, but it’s just beautiful. Launched in 1992, it was the first in a new classification of fragrances, known as the ‘Oriental-Gourmand’ – Since it’s inception, it’s become a legend in the perfume industry and has spawned sequels and spin-offs (or whatever the fragrance version of those may be), such as the lighter Angel Innocent, Angel Muse, Eau De Star and my personal favourite ‘Angel Eau Sucree’ – This is one of my absolute must-have perfumes that I think captures me perfectly! It’s intense, sweet and almost edible but also full of mystery and promise – just like me!
Mugler also released a men’s companion fragrance known as A*Men, which I wore years ago, but it just seemed too heavy for me. It’s a stunning fragrance too, but on someone else!
One I used to wear, again a Mugler, was Womanity, which I’ve heard has been re-released. Obviously, you can tell I’m an enormous Mugler fan here! Womanity was also sweet with edible notes of fig and caviar (work with me on this, seriously – it definitely works). It was superbly exotic and fresh and was my ultimate confidence boosting perfume. When I wore that, I felt like I could do anything. It’s bottle stands loud like an architectural column with otherworldly embellishments that are part art-deco and part alien, reminiscent of Fritz Lang’s classic ‘Metropolis’ film. One the side of the bottle is a face that always reminded me of statuesque singer Grace Jones. It just oozed power. I’m excited that it’s apparently made a return and I’m very eager to get my filthy mittens of a bottle.
A Hallmark of Mugler’s fragrances is the bottles. These themselves have become collectors items with different variants released annually. The only Mugler fragrance I’m not a fan of is one of the more recent ones, ‘Aura’, which had intense medical tones to it and actually gave me a headache. There was, however, no denying that the green, heart-shaped bottle was beautiful though.
Still on Mugler, the new one that’s become my ‘thing’ is the ‘Angel Nova’ in a neon pink star. This has some base noted of the original ‘Angel’ but is more dominated by passionfruit and lychee in the first smell and almost points the mind in the direction of tropical cocktails at a beautiful beach resort. What’s not to love about that?
So, moving away from Mugler into the others in my collection. An instantly identifiable bottle in the shape of a woman’s torso with the kinds of curves I can only dream of. This is as classic as it’s name, ‘Classique’ by the ‘enfant terrible’ of French fashion, Jean-Paul Gaultier. This one screams class, sophistication and opulence and, above all, refinement. It’s got a timeless, feminine elegance to it that is just so alluring. It’s bursting with orange blossom, rose, vanilla and amber, which all come together with some subtle spicy notes to create a perfect blend. I’ll always be a fan of the original ‘Classique’, but the gold version of the bottle, ‘Classique Intense’ is my go-to. It’s got all the glamour and sophistication of the original, but with an extra, empowering punch. There’s a beautiful floral note over the top with hints of patchouli and jasmine to bring extra exotic-ness to the olfactory experience.
I used to love the men’s counterpart to this fragrance too, ‘Le Male’, but unfortunately my dentist started wearing it, so that completely ruined it for me. I have, however, met a couple of men since who’s sin chemistry makes it intensely irresistible. It’s just not one that works for me.
Sticking with Gaultier, another favourite of mine is Jean-Paul’s ‘Scandal’ (the original rather than any of its variants). It’s dome-shaped bottle supports a pair of silver legs kicking playfully on top and when sprayed, reveals a surprising, fun aroma that’s fun but decadent, flirty and mischevious, but also strong and sexy. It almost evokes a torrid love affair in a sweet shop on a sweaty summer night, if you’d care to imagine.
Once upon a time, Gaultier made another fragrance that I loved too, called ‘Fragile’ – The box was made to look like a wooden packing crate, with the ‘fragile’ stamp emblazoned in red, which contrasted beautifully with the pretty design of the bottle once the box was opened, revealing a black and gold snow globe with a tiny statue of Audrey Hepburn inside alone with gold glitter to shake inside the globe. Absolutely stunning.
My final one is ‘Missoni’ by Missoni. It’s another gloriously sweet fragrance with some fruity notes. You can probably sense a trend here with me and sweet, indulgent fragrances, but I just couldn’t not buy this one. A friend noticed it and we tested it and we both went nuts over it. She described it as boy-me and Vida in one bottle and she’s absolutely right! It’s one of the newer ones in my collection, but it’s definitely going to be a regular.
Honourable mentions go to some of my ‘boy-me’ fragrances, though the lines of gender are as blurred as you’d expect from me. Some of my favourite other ones are ‘Fierce’ by Abercrombie and Fitch, which is light and fresh and pure horniness in a bottle, then there’s the cardamom-rich ‘Spicebomb’ by Victor and Rolf, which is delicious and masculine and finally, ‘Jazz Club’ from the ‘Replica’ series by Manson Margiela, which seeks to evoke particular times and places and has heady aromas of bourbon, vanilla and tobacco.
That’s the thing, there clearly is a trend here with the types of fragrances I gravitate to, but that’s another expression of who I am. The qualities in all of these fragrances reflect aspects of who I am and the qualities I may want that I may not feel I have are boosted by the fragrances I choose to wear. They’re a power suit or accessory that sends out a message just as much as a physical piece of an outfit. An hey, if you want to feel like you can take on the world…. Well, find your power fragrance and spritz it on with abandon!
What are your favourite fragrances? Have you got any that give you a good boost and make you ready to face anything? Or maybe there’s one that you love so much on someone else that it drives you wild? Tell us in the comments and until next time…. Stay safe, stay sane and smell… Vidalicious!
