Perfume Hunt
A candle girly looking for a floral perfume
I am a huge candle person I love smells. My mom jokes that it she loses me in a store to check the candle isle. So to me, a special perfume for my wedding is something I’ve justified investing my time and money on.
I normally like warm cozy scent anything from sweet, woody, coffee or leathery.. I love it.
Perfume Journey
I’ve tried scent bird in the past and it was fun for a while but ultimately I never keep subscriptions for long. My favorites that I discovered were Milk+ by Commodity and Cherry Punk from Room 1015.
I recently ordered a full size Milk+. I have missed it since my sample ran out. To me it is an empowering spicy fall smell. The commodity site describes it perfectly as “Milk's warm notes of marshmallow, tonka bean and mahogany wood emblazoned with the unexpected smoky depth of Firewood and Amber. A smoky, sweet and inviting scent to be worn with confidence.” Admittedly I finally broke down because I also got a free sample of their new scent Juice with it.
If this had a cherry note I would get this one too. It fully embodies a strawberry summer.
I think I will continue to look for a cherry perfume. The leather in Cherry Punk was a little to artificial/sour/aldehyde for me. It gives rocker girl vibes which is very fun. I’m just not cool enough to pull off. I think anyone who was a Ed Hardy Girl back in the day should try this.
I am back on the perfume game because I am determined to find a bridal sophisticated floral perfume that lasts all day. The problem… I don’t normally like floral perfumes.
I use to wear a Lollia perfume that I got from Anthropology that was sorta floral and “old lady” I prefer to call it a classic smell. Wish is a very bright honeysuckle smell. Good for spring? It’s listed as having vanilla bean, rice flour, sugared patille, jasmine, yland ylang, and amber.
I also went through a black opium phase which objectively smells good its just too sexy for everyday wear. No matter what anyone says about it being overrated, it gets compliments. This is so long lasting on me. The original Black Opium by YSL is a warm spicy smell which are my favorite scent profiles. The scent notes listed are black coffee, white flowers, vanilla, warm spicy gourmand. An excellent date night perfume.
For a year I accidentally became a Sol de Janiero girly for a while because I had it and it was easy to use. I had planned on it being a hair spray and would like to rebuy it to actually use as a hair spray. I think I preferred the 62 it is a warm tropical smell. This is basically glorified bath and body works body spray.
What I’ve Tried
Tocca
Tocca was recommended on a bridal perfume list. I got the mini discovery set. I looks like they already switched what’s in it. My favorite was Maya but nothing was impressive. I quickly moved on and have only reached for Maya once when I dressed up for a graduation. Its just not what I’m looking for and was not long lasting on me.
Jo Malone
I tested quite a few Jo Malone’s at a Nordstrom counter and I wasn’t impressed, which was disappointing since I had heard so much about their florals. I might have felt different if I took some home. My favorite was a Earl Grey & Cucumber cologne. Overall no hits for my bridal perfume.
Upon some investigating Jo Malones are famous for having short wear time apparently cologne means the oil content is very low creating short wear. Dodged a bullet?
Vilhelm Parfumerie
These are gorgeous bottles but the perfume doesn’t last long enough to justify the price to me. I love the notes of so many of these perfumes I thought this would be a home run.
Poets of Berlin: Sophisticated vanilla. I love this and want to get a full size someday. The bluberry opening to a warm vanilla dry down is.. chefs kiss just not the floral I was looking for.
Purple Fig: It smells purple? Mediterranean heiress being fed grapes.
Darling Nikki: Smells like a sweaty Russian tough guy poured pine cologne on himself. Nauseating Pine-Sol. NO
Smoke Show: Has the same sour note as Darling Nikki. I had o try to wash it off.
Modest Mimosa: Orange play dough
To My Father: Smokey whiskey man smell. This is very wearable and nice masculine scent.
Others I wanted to try but since they aren’t very long lasting I decided to move on.
Okus Kore, Moon Carnival, Room Service, 125th & Bloom, Oud Affair, and basically all of them.
Ex Nihilo
Lust in Paradise: Apparently this is Hailey Beiber’s signature scent. I’d describe that as a powdery modern floral for an upper east side it girl.
Love Shot: It smells like lipstick in a sexy way. This gives Barbie vibes, its very girly and would be an awesome signature scent if this is your vibe.
Atlas Fever: Woody spicy scent that I thought would be a good in between for spicy floral. However all I can smell is incense which is a no from me.
Gold Immortals: Ethereal. This smells like a golden goddess. This is it for me. It had good longevity, floral, sophisticated, and luxurious amber. The musky amber made it feel like me, the peony gave it a floral, and its is truly a golden goddess scent.
Top notes: pear, bergamot
Heart: lysylang, peony
Base: tonka bean, musk, amber
What Would Have Been Next
I’ve achieved my goal and found my perfume. Thank god I was starting to get a little worried. I’ll will be shifting my budget to other wedding things. These are what I had planned to try next.
Perfume de Marley: This whole line should be accessible at Sephora or Ulta and I’ll try them next time I have the chance.
Armani Pivoine Suzhou: Highly recommended by a perfume influencer I’ve been following and trust her taste.
