Perfume 101: Great Perfume Brands...
For newbie perfumistas there is a world of perfumes beyond top brands. So if you ever start getting bored of the back-to-back releases, relaunches, flankers and seasonal editions from your fashion labels, perfume giants or even, ahem, top niche lines, have hope. There are chic perfumes yet to be discovered! These are some perfume brands that are slightly off the radar. But name drop one of these to a serious perfumista and you’ll either get major points or a major eye roll for having mentioned something so widely loved among the scent-discerning crowd. Though these brands are hard to find, their popular fragrances can be found for a discount on Scentiments.com.
Paco Rabanne, the brand behind the Spanish-French designer, boasts a collection of sweet and unique fragrances. Paco Rabanne Ultra Violet is a sweet and spicy scent. Unique notes make Ultra Violet difficult to place. Peppery pimento and creamy osmanthus make Ultra Violet bright, fruity and soft. With the added amber and vanilla, Ultra Violet offers lively accords of apricot and even fennel at times. Paco Rabanne Black XS for Her is another difficult-to-place scent. It is a heavy, sweet and fruity. It’s both cozy and dirty-animalic at once. A unique mix of candied praline, cinnamon spice, patchouli and sweet vanilla makes Black XS stand out from the run-of-the-mill fragrances.
Van Cleef & Arpels , the famed jeweler of sparkling fancies, also does perfume. And they seem to do it rather well! Van Cleef & Arpels Feerie is one of their top perfumes. Causing a stir with their daring bottle design, Feerie’s scent is undeniably lovable. Feerie is a sweet violet fragrance that is touched gracefully with black currant and jasmine. At the base there is a hint of greenness, vetiver, musk, and leather. An outstanding base for a sweet fruity perfume! As a result, the perfume opens bright and dusky and mysterious. The scent is as fanciful as its faceted cobalt-blue bottle.
Creed, the gentlemanly toiletries expert, is hailed across Europe and the US. Creed Silver Mountain Water is a widely popular unisex fragrance that has been copied and spoofed for years now. Silver Mountain Water is a highly complex and unique scent that tends to induce a great variety of readings. Basically it’s a blackcurrant turned masculine, with a hint of white musk. The soft and light fruity sweetness is matched with effervescent notes of tea, ink, metal and sometimes even chemicals. This indescribable cooling note makes Silver Mountain Water refreshing and zingy. Though it’s mostly used by men, Silver Mountain Water is also loved by woman for such its daring take on a soft, feminine fruit.
Bond No. 9 is dexterous and classy perfume house that celebrates all things New York. Bond No. 9 Chinatown is a full-bodied unique scent that is all about notes that can be found in foods. Though it’s not a gourmand scent, Chinatown effuses accords of spices, creamy fruits, and heavy incense. Another big Bond No. 9 scent is Little Italy. Straying from the heavy and complex, Little Italy is linear, simple and cute. Little Italy is like candied oranges eaten on a hot summer day. There are also splashes of lime and green. Though many complain that Little Italy’s a scent that lacks depth or evolution, it’s a masterfully constructed citrus scent that never turns sour and never looses its zest. Little Italy is freshly peeled, juicy oranges from start to finish.
