Mood Scent 4 : Perfumes That Work For Everybody Else But You

, , , , , , 8 Comments

 

It’s Mood Scent 4 time again! Tara from A Bottled Rose, Samantha from I Scent You A Day, Megan from Megan in St Maxime and I are all writing on the same subject every couple of months. This time we write about fragrances which work for everybody else except us. It might be due to skin chemistry, hormones or just personal taste. You can find the links to the others blogs at the end of this article.

I have chosen two fragrances very much loved amongst many perfume lovers: Parfum d’Empire Azemour and Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle Portrait Of A Lady. Unfortunately both don’t work for me, here’s why.

Parfum d’Empire Azemour Les Orangers Eau de Parfum

Notes: orange, clementine, tangerine, grapefruit, coriander, cumin, black pepper, pink pepper, blackcurrant, galbanum, neroli, geranium, orange blossom, rose, hay, moss, henna and cypres (as of to Luckyscent)

Fragrance Family: Mossy Woods / Chypre (as of Michael Edwards)

Azemour was introduced in 2011 and created as a tribute to Morocco where it’s perfumer Marc-Antoine Corticchiato was born and raised. The Eau de Parfum is said to contain all the parts of the orange tree from pulp, fruit, peel, leaves, to bark and earth. I found the use of all parts of an orange tree very appealing as I love everything from the orange tree. Azemour has had many positive reviews online (Bois de Jasmin, The Scented Hound and Olfactoria to name a few).

Orange Tree

Azemour starts very promising on my skin with golden sweet orange to continue quite rapidly into a very sour citrus. The glorious orange shines through from time to time showing a glimpse of the chypre I would like it to be but the dusty moss/hay and sour citrus notes ruin this Eau de Parfum completely for me. I was given a tester bottle when I purchased a fragrance a few years ago and used Azemour from time to time hoping for the better but alas the dusty moss/hay and sour citrus notes make it rather difficult for me to wear. My partner wore Azemour this summer and it smells amazingly warm bright and golden on him. I wish it smelled like this on me. My skin and Azemour just don’t match.

Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle Portrait Of A Lady Eau de Parfum 

Notes: rose, blackcurrant, raspberry, clove, patchouli,sandalwood, frankincense (as of the official Frederic Malle EU website)

Fragrance Family: Mossy Woods / Chypre (as of Michael Edwards)

Another well loved fragrance among many perfume lovers which doesn’t suit me is Frédéric Malle Portrait Of A Lady (often called in short PoaL). PoaL is said to originate from an accord of Frédéric Malle Geranium pour Monsieur. Some describe PoaL as a jammy rose with incense or as a dark rose. On my skin PoaL is very much about patchouli which I am not very fond of when it plays a prominent role. I get whiffs of jammy rose but mostly of very earthy patchouli which I can appreciate at certain moments but not for a whole day. Unfortunately the rose is not too noticable on my skin.

Bottomline: A perfume might not work for you due to personal taste, skin chemistry or hormones. Parfum d’Empire Azemour didn’t work due to my skin and probably hormones and Portrait of a Lady due to the prominent patchouli. So always test on your skin before buying a fragrance and monitor how it develops during the day. If you can test a few times.

You can read the choices of perfumes which don’t work for Tara from A Bottled Rose, Samantha from I Scent You A Day, Megan from Megan in St Maxime by klicking on their names.

Are there any perfumes which seem to work for everybody else except you?