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Now Smell This
Ostentatious displays of luxury might not be of-the-moment, but making a big statement with your perfume is right on-trend. Sharon Walker explores a brave new world.
Red lips. Textured hair. Contouring. While the latest hair and make-up trends have been strutting their stuff on the catwalk and red carpet, a quiet beauty revolution has been taking place in those stashes of glass bottles on our dressing tables. We’re slowly but surely changing the way we smell.
In distinct contrast to the flowery, fruity scents that have dominated fragrance halls in recent years – think J-Lo’s Glow, Viktor & Rolf’s Flowerbomb and Ralph Lauren’s Romance – the new perfumes are big, complex scents that are heady, exotic, strident, masculine, or all of the above.
Uncommon scents
There’s a proliferation of smaller niche brands producing more interesting, less commercial perfumes, says Luca Turin, renowned perfume critic and author or Perfumes: The Guide (Profile Books, £20). ‘Unfettered by market research and big marketing budgets, these smaller companies are both more adventurous and creative,’ he says. ‘As a result we’re seeing perfumes that push the boundaries of what’s safe – and sellable: rich, heady, musky smells that aren’t so much butch as bold.’
What’s more, there’s a new, sophisticated audience waiting to buy them. Thanks to websites and perfume blogs, like nowsmellthis.com and The Perfumed Court, women are becoming increasingly interested in – and knowledgeable about – fragrances.
People are also placing more importance on legitimacy, says perfumer Roja Dove whose perfumery on the 5th floor at Harrods is an Aladdin’s cave of perfume and a paradise for anyone seeking out new, exotic and unusual fragrances. ‘Women are increasingly favouring more interesting, complex scents, and this places an emphasis on craftsmanship and unusual ingredients. They want something special, unique and genuinely luxurious.’
Spearheading perfume’s new it-notes is this year’s cult ingredient aoud (also written oud or oudh, and pronounced ood). Not so much new as newly-discovered, this exotic ingredient comes from the Arabian agarwood tree and instantly conjures up the Middle East where it’s been used for centuries as the fragrance of choice for everyone from sultans to serving girls. The smell, for those who haven’t yet had the pleasure, is smoky, woody and slightly tar-like. ‘It has enormous presence,’ says Dove. ‘It’s the new ingredient in perfume and it’s wonderful.’
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Next Pages
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Uncommon scents
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New notes
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A question of taste
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