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Friday, July 13, 2007

5 Random Bests


Aromascope and Perfume-Smellin’ Things are teaming up once again to introduce a new re-curring feature, 5 Random Bests, in which we will offer our ideas for scents suited for pretty much any occasion and situation imaginable and will list the favorites according to various criteria. Today we present the first five Bests and we would love it if you could tell us what other Bests we should do in the future.

The first two Bests are related to the season:

5 Best Scents to Take on a Holiday

1. For a weekend of shopping and romance in Paris- one of the French-iest perfumes of all, the charming and tres refined Iris Poudre.

2. Indulging in the elegant dolce far niente on the sunny Côte d'Azur - Le Labo Tubereuse 40, the joyful and luxuriant essence of summer.

3. Scuba-diving, deep-sea fishing and mountain biking (yeah, right!) on a deceptively “simple and natural” resort in The Seychelles – the tastefully exotic, lighthearted and refreshing L’Artisan Ananas Fizz.

4. Yoga, hiking, and exploring ancient monasteries in Bhutan – the quiet, soulful and centered Christian Dior Boir d’Argent.

5. Leisurely traveling from Istanbul to Bucharest to Budapest to Venice in the old-world luxury and style of the Orient Express – a supremely feminine and glamorous classic, Chanel Gardenia.


5 Best Scents for a Wedding

1. For a traditional wedding in a church, in a big gown with a train – the dazzling and deceptively virginal Lys Méditerranée by Frederic Malle.

2. For a stylishly minimalistic, über-urban wedding in a roof garden of a penthouse - an unexpected, not obviously wedding-y, very exclusive scent like Serge Lutens Encens et Lavande.

3. For “an exotic destination wedding”, barefoot on a beach – the supremely romantic Annick Goutal Songes.

4. For “a European wedding” in an Austrian castle - the timeless elegance and hidden sensuality of Chanel No 22.

5. For a quickie elopement in Las Vegas – whatever one happened to carry in one’s purse. In my case it would probably be Dzing! (which, with its eccentric feel and the circus-like accord, would be quite fitting).


Some of the most often recurring questions are about which men’s scents are suitable for a woman and which women’s scent a man can pull off. Here are my humble suggestions.

5 Best Men’s Scents for a Woman

1. Chanel Egoiste. This tastefully ornate and exotic, honeyed-sandalwood-laden fragrance is not any harder for a woman to wear than Bois des Iles. In all honesty, I like the sumptuous grandson a tiny bit more than his refined grandma Bois des Iles.

2. I am going to cheat and count the three Dior colognes, Bois d’Argent, Cologne Blanche and Eau Noire, as one. All three are perfectly wearable for a woman, and I urge those who haven’t tried them yet to give them a chance. As far as I am concerned, they are the best fragrances to come from Dior in the recent years. (And while we are on the subject of Dior, the soft, irisy Dior Homme is also wonderfully wearable for a woman.)

3. Annick Goutal Duel. The scent is velvety-smooth, gently sweet, with maté leaves adding refreshing greenness to the composition, making Duel a great choice for summer.

4. Terre d’Hermes, with its bright grapefruit, its cool vetiver and pared-down elegance so typical of Ellena’s creations, is another summer staple.

5. Rose d’Homme by Les Parfums de Rosine is dark, husky-soft, subtly sweet…I am sure it is fantastic on a man, on a woman, however, it is strikingly beautiful.


5 Best Women’s Scents for a Man

1. An obvious choice… the leather, the sweet smokiness, the dark sensuality …Caron’s Tabac Blond should be made obligatory for men to wear

2. Another Caron on the list- the deep, fiery and patrician Poivre.

3. The dark, sensual, robust Guerlain classic, Mitsouko practically demands to be worn by a man (as do Shalimar and L’Heure Bleue)

4. Donna Karan’s woody-incensey marvel, Black Cashmere, is as far removed from being girly as a feminine fragrance can possibly be. Do give it a try!

5. The note I love to smell on men the most is rose. Dark, brooding, luscious rose …and the thing is, I noticed that a man’s skin makes even the sweetest and daintiest of rose notes drier and darker. For example, it accentuates the earthy truffle accord and woodiness of Frederic Malle's Une Rose, making the latter kneeweakeningly gorgeous.


Our final category is 5 Best Retro Scents. By retro scents we mean the fairly recent creations that, whether by design or unintentionally, smell as if they were created not a couple of years but almost a century ago. These opulent fragrances with luxurious sillage seem to pay homage to the lavish perfumes of the past.

1. Parfumerie Generale Bois de Copaiba. If someone told me that this sumptuous creation was a forgotten old Guerlain, I wouldn’t have been surprised.

2. Czech and Speak No. 88 is said to be based on an original Elizabethan recipe, and the plush, dark and smooth composition does indeed prove the claim.

3. Parfum Sacre by Caron. There is just no way that this complex, lush potion with a magnificent depth was created in 1990. No way!

4. Andy Tauer’s Le Maroc Pour Elle is a romantic and dramatic perfume that could easily have been scenting a glamorous star in the Golden Days of Hollywood.

5. If Bois de Copaiba could have been an obscure Guerlain, Iris Poudre, created by Pierre Bourdon for Frederic Malle’s Editions de Parfums in 2000, isn't hard to imagine as an unknown Chanel perfume. The shimmering aldehydes, sumptuous feel of iris the sandalwood, and the classic structure create an aura of timeless elegance and impossible sophistication.

Please visit Aromascope to read Ina's Random Bests.

Image sources, forbes.com, brides.com, verushka.net, stevenkenny.com, britannica.com.

30 Comments:

Blogger tmp00 said...

How about 5 best scents for a cold winter night?

10:25 PM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Tom,
Cold? Winter? Such exotic concepts are not familiar to me.
*slowly dying of heat*

10:29 PM EDT  
Blogger Unknown said...

Encens et Lavande for a bride ? It smells quite serious and 'dark' to me with that dominant smoky lavender accord.

The super fab Creed Virgin Island Water is perfect for a (beach) holiday; everytime I wear it, it reveals some facet of its latent depth...sometimes its the rum, sometimes its the musk, sometimes its the ginger + coconut mix, and sometimes its all mandarin+coconut.

The Hermes smash hit Eau de Merveilles is very appropriate as a womens scent for men, and Terre D'Hermes borrows quite a lot from it (with a few changes ofcourse).

10:40 PM EDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Marina, I have a pressing "top five" that will not be answered in time, as the event is tomorrow/Friday: "Best five scents to wear to a job interview." I wore Iris Silver Mist to my last one and didn't get the job, but I'm not blaming Serge. :-) Then for when one has a job: "Top five scents to wear to the office." It depends on the sort of office, I know.

I agree with you about Le Maroc pour Elle. It has such depth and glamour. Not in a divaesque way, of course. ;-)

I wish my DH could wear Poivre. His skin does something awful to it.

12:36 AM EDT  
Blogger Unknown said...

Top five office scents (mens) - my current list is:

Gendarme/Gendarme Grabazzi
Terre D' Hermes
Creed Original Vetiver
Nina Ricci Signoricci
Chanel pour monsieur

1:02 AM EDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mitsouko, you WILL be mine!

6:45 AM EDT  
Blogger elle said...

Love these lists! I want to be on the Iris Poudre vacation right now.
I *wish* I'd worn Encens et Lavande or Dzing for my wedding.
I'd like to know the five best scents for having an affair w/ Claude Marchal...not to be specific of anything. :-)

7:22 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Faizan,
This is for an unconventional bride who despises the traditional notions of femininity and what is considered suitable for a wedding ;-)
I can't believe I forgot Eau des Merveilles, good call!

7:45 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Maria,
Keeping fingers crossed for you!!!
I think the tiniest drop of something subtle worn for courage and comfort is the best for an interview.
5 Best Office Scents is a great idea, adding it to the list for the next.

7:47 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Faizan,
I am unfortunately not familiar with Grabazzi, but great office list!

7:47 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Leopoldo,
I am so happy to hear that :-)

7:49 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

L,
LOL! Well, it would be to easy to make that list, there are exactly 5 scents in his line, after all :-)
I am dreaming of an Iris Poudre vacation too. Or at the very least the Gardenia one.

7:50 AM EDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh, I love this new joint project! What a wonderful idea. How about 5 best scents to wear when falling in love? Or 5 best brooding scents?

9:16 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Minsun,
Ooh, ooh! What great ideas! I hereby appoint you The Official 5 Bests Criteria Creator :-)

9:27 AM EDT  
Blogger rosarita said...

How about five best scents for romance and seduction? For people who've been married a loooong time. :)
Love Miss M's choice of perfumes for brooding, too. You and Ina's lists are lots of fun.

9:51 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Anita,
Great idea! 5 Best Scents to Rekindle Passion :-)

9:54 AM EDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Love these! While I'm all for rekindling passion, + office-worthy 'fumes, what about 5 for funerals; and maybe 5 for Bar / Bat mitzvahs; 5 for baby showers; + 5 motivational scents, for those times when you need an extra little bit of help with the laundry, or clearing up after dinner, or - as in my case - rummaging through every darn piece of paper in the house bcs your husband has mislaid his passport + you're (both) going out of the country in less than a week...

10:42 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Tommasina,
Great ones, all of them, especially the last one :-)

10:51 AM EDT  
Blogger Karen M said...

Hi, this is my first time posting, but I've been lurking and loving your blog for quite some time. Love your lists today. I think I have to get Egoiste for my husband just so I can borrow it from him. How about top 5 for a spiritual rite, or top 5 meditative scents?

10:56 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Karen,
Welcome! Thank you for unlurking :-)
Great ideas for 5 Best posts, I am writing everything down.

10:58 AM EDT  
Blogger NowSmellThis said...

Would love to see "5 fragrance mistakes" too -- e.g. 5 scents you shouldn't wear to the office, 5 scents not to wear on a first date :-)

12:20 PM EDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ooh yes, I love this idea!

12:24 PM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Ah, Robin,
You are a genius!!

12:29 PM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Tommasina,
Great ones, right?

12:29 PM EDT  
Blogger benvenuta said...

Listen, it`s not nice to Ina to use that banner. *giggle* j/k After Style Spy posted this picture, I looked it up and stumbled on the story behind it.
http://www.donaly.com/don_alys_column15.html
"When I introduced her, and she bowed, graciously, in a lowcut gown, exposing her ample bosom, it reminded me of the time she bent over a table at a party honoring Sophia Loren at Romanoff’s (without a bra) and shocked the Italian actress and others in attendance. Photographers had a field day, much to the delight of men all over the world. “I have enemies who said I did that on purpose to steal the show from Sophia Loren,” she later said, “but that is not true. I guess I did show Sophia that American women also have breasts.”"

I just love this project! So fun! And I love the pictures, too. The gentleman with roses on his head looks decidedly uncomfortable - I guess he wouldn`t like Rose d`Homme.

Encens et Lavande - now that`s a choice for a wedding.
You made me imagine my own (still hypothetical) wedding, even though I`m not the type to plan a wedding long before the other party shows readiness for this step.
DBF`s sister got married at Slovak Embassy in Madrid while on a holiday there. They flown both sets of parents to Spain and had no other guests.
I like this idea. Now, I love my brother and my best friend too much to leave them out, but single-digit number of guests and a dress, which is not a white wedding dress, that appeals to me. I`m going to wear La Chasse.

Yes, Duel is lovely. I must try Egoiste. The idea of L`Heure Bleue on a man is quite original - I`m going to try all three Guerlain and Une Rose on DBF. Although I`m not sure if DBF lets me spray Shalimar on him, because he bought it for me, he likes it on me and he can even recognize it by smell only.

I very much agree about Parfum Sacre and Le Maroc. Cate Blanchett is stunning in that photo!

When I have some ideas on more bests, I`ll post them here.

1:58 PM EDT  
Blogger Unknown said...

I absolutely love your lists! How could I forget about Bois de Copaiba... could easily pass for an obscure Guerlain, you're right! I can't wait to make more lists with you. :)

2:04 PM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

B,
Ina *suggested* that photo :-D The look of Sophie Loren on the picture is priceless :-)
DH and I got married in the way you describes, with just a handful of closest friends in attendance. I did have a long white-ish dress, but it wasn't too weddingy.

2:53 PM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Ina,
And I still can't believe I forgot Bvlgari Black. Waah!

2:53 PM EDT  
Blogger priscilla said...

I love how you have Iris Poudre everywhere! It's an Uber-Best Scent, I swear.

And right on about Parfum Sacre--no way it was made in 1990! It had to have been a formula found in someone's papers from long ago...

6:46 PM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

P,
I absolutely agree with both of your statements. :-)

6:46 PM EDT  

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