Luxury Scents: My Perfume Collection

My current collection

I am a lover of great scents and believe in investing in them. As Coco Chanel once said: "A woman who does not wear perfume has no future." I believe that all impressions, especially first impressions are made using most of our senses. You cannot taste a person, but you do listen to them, you can see them, you can smell them and if they let you, you can touch them too.

Nothing introduces you into a room full of people like the way you smell, when you approach a crowd, or when you hug someone, they immediately create a story about you in their heads. The story can be that you had a long day, or that you just took a bath or that you smell heaven sent. And with that in mind, I have always been in love with perfumes, how they make me feel and how people respond to them.

Firstly, lets start of by differentiating between Eau De Parfum and Eau De Toilette. According to theperfumeexpert.com , Eau De Toilette has a concentration of 4 - 10% perfume oil while Eau De Parfum has 8 - 15% perfume oil. Because of its high concentration of perfume oils, Eau De Parfum should be spritzed sparingly as it can be overpowering and vulgar when overdone. One can be a little more liberal with an Eau De Toilette as it is much lighter in scent and does not last as long.

The key areas to apply your perfume are; behind your ears, your décolletage, your wrists and the insides of your elbows and knees because they are points that release the body's scent. Not all at once as the scent will no longer linger but overwhelm people.

I decided to go through my own perfume collection and I had a lot of fun doing this mini photoshoot with my current collection of perfumes.


1. Acqua Di Parma - Peonia Nobile (Eau De Parfum 100ml)

Acqua Di Parma available at Apsley House Hyde Park

This is the new baby in my collection. This perfume smells like heaven and more. It leaves me absolutely speechless. It is floral, alluring and it is many things but subtle. Although it is not harsh and overpowering, it leaves the next person inquisitive and they will most likely ask you about it. It is exclusive and doesn't really smell the way that most floral base perfumes smell. It is a combination of amber and peonies... It is truly an experience.

The brand Acqua Di Parma is an Italian luxury brand with a collection of leather goods, personal and home fragrances and home collection. The website describes the Peonia Nobile as "A celebration of asserted femininity." The Peony flower based fragrance has accents of black pepper, amber, patchouli, geranium and raspberry notes. It is definitely captivating and unforgettable.

This perfume has become my favourite child and I am quite unapologetic about that.


2. Carolina Herrera - Good Girl (Eau De Parfum 50ml)

Carolina Herrera available at Edgars

That heel!!! That is the first thing that came to mind when I got this perfume as a gift. The packaging is sassy and has a lot of attitude. It says a lot about the perfume and the woman wearing it. This scent envelops and captures those around you. It is one of those musky and cool scents that could be described as silent seduction. I wear this perfume on a night out when I don't have much to say and I let it do the talking. My 50ml bottle is so portable, it can fit into my bag. There is no need to take it along with you though because it lasts all night long and leaves your clothes and the clothes of those you hug smelling great.

Carolina Herrera has to be one of my favourite women in fashion. She is beautiful and powerful. She has also managed to stay relevant. The Carolina Herrera website describes The Good Girl perfume as : "A weapon of seduction for the woman who wears it. Reveal your good side through the luminous facets of Tuberose and Jasmine Sambac. Indulge your bad side through the addictive notes of roasted Tonka beans and Cocoa.".


3.  Tom Ford - Velvet Orchid (Eau De Parfum 100ml)

Tom Ford available at Edgars and Stuttafords
*I lost the perfume bottle cap!!!

If you know me then you would know that I am mildly borderlining wildly obsessed with the man Tom Ford. He is one of the greatest men in fashion today. Everything about Tom Form is provocative. From the creative directions of his ad campaigns to his fashion collections (previously for Gucci and now for Tom Ford the brand). So it comes as no surprise that his perfume collection would be provocative too. This is one of my classic perfumes. This perfume is dizzyingly seductive. It seduces you and your audience. The intense notes linger long after a good wash and create memories wherever you go. I also love the colour of the bottle. A very deep purple. Royal in everyway.

Tom Ford is one of those dark and alluring brands. The Tom Ford woman is a woman in control and I would like to think of her as a black widow spider. Absolutely domineering and consuming. The Velvet Orchid is described as an "oriental floral scent that evolves the grandeur and seductive power of the iconic Tom Ford Black Orchid into an uber-feminine fragrance lavished with notes of cool citrus, dramatic petals, honey and rum." - Tomford.com


4. Tom Ford - Black Orchid (Eau De Parfum - 50ml)

Tom Ford available at Edgars and Stuttafords

The Beyoncé of all perfumes. This is Tom Ford's Iconic Black Orchid. When I wear this perfume, I know that I command attention. With just a spritz, it becomes quite difficult not to get intoxicated in your own sense of power. I do believe that Black Orchid can bring out your alter ego. It is after all a unisex scent that is basically Robert Greene's books (The Art of Seduction and 48 Laws of Power) personified. Black Orchid will always be that one scent that I could never let go of, regardless of how many other perfumes I fall in love with. Just like the Acqua Di Parma, it is irreplaceable and unforgettable. I also enjoy the Tom Ford Oud. What a dangerous smell!!!

What I love most about this unisex perfume is that it tends to smell slightly different on everyone. It picks up your natural scent and creates a concoction that leaves no prisoners behind.

"A luxurious and sensual fragrance of rich, dark accords and an alluring potion of black orchids, and spice, Tom Ford's Black Orchid is both modern and timeless. Bottled in fluted black-glass, Black Orchid makes an unforgettable statement of iconic style and worldly glamour." - Tomford.com


5. Marc Jacobs - Decadence (Eau De Parfum 100ml)

Marc Jacobs available at Edgars

I was on my way to buy my predictable choice of perfume, Black Orchid  when a friend of mine asked me to just try out a new scent as she was getting a bit bored of being "seduced" by Tom Ford. I took a whiff of Decadence and I loved it immediately. The Marc Jacobs girl is such a girl's girl and that's how I feel when I wear this scent. It is beautiful, it is indulgent and it is lush. It has lingering soft wooden notes and I could say it is one of my feel good perfumes.

It would work as a "first date" perfume as it hits all the right notes as Marc Jacobs did all those years at Louis Vuitton. I think the model used in the campaign of this perfume, Adriana Lima, is also a great reflection of it; sultry, elegant and feminine.

I also love the bottle, which is once again very feminine in design. The Marc Jacobs website describes Decadence as: "a sensual, luxurious, woody fragrance, embodying the spirit of irreverent glamour.  The fragrance opens with sultry top notes of Italian plum, iris flower, and saffron. The heart opens with luxurious notes of Bulgarian Rose, Jasmine Sambac, and Orris. The indulgent dry down reveals the base notes of Vetiver, Papyrus Woods, and Liquid Amber."

My current collection

After researching all of my perfumes, I have learnt that they all have a few notes in common. I am attracted to Jasmine, Amber and Floral notes. I like scents that are alluring and mysterious. I enjoy deep and dark perfumes. The bottle and the person behind the brand sometimes influence my choice of purchase when it comes to new additions to my collection.