Scent Appeal: How To Match Your Fragrance With Your Personality

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Scent Appeal: How To Match Your Fragrance With Your Personality

Words by Ms Molly Isabella Smith

19 December 2019

More so than sight or touch, our sense of smell plays a principal role in evoking memories and emotions. Arguably, then, your choice of fragrance is of far greater concern than the cut of your suit or strength of your handshake. It’s the olfactory equivalent of your name. It should announce, but not shout, your presence and tell the world who you are. So, who are you? Or, perhaps more importantly, who do you want to be?

The clue is in the name with this intoxicating number from scent specialist Frédéric Malle. The amber and vanilla-laced Musc Ravageur is a deeply masculine scent, by which we mean it helps if you own many leather-bound books and a mahogany desk set. For those who are not so lucky, we say fake it till you make it.

Mr Fresh is a man without a hair out of place, a gentleman immaculate, if you will. And he deserves a fragrance as clean as his recently polished shoes. Hampshire-based brand Laboratory Perfumes has just the thing. Samphire is its all-natural juniper and verbena eau de toilette, inspired by a zesty spring afternoon.

A true trailblazer in the world of perfumery, Mr Tom Ford once told us that men shouldn’t be afraid of fragrance. And what Mr Tom Ford says, well, goes. For the brave and the bold, then, his Oud Wood Intense spritz is a punchy concoction of smoky sandalwood, spicy cardamom and warming amber inspired by the incense-filled temples of Bhutan. Think of it as the man himself, bottled.

For the man who knows what he likes and cares little what you think of him thank you very much, Jo Malone London’s sweet but woody Pomegranate Noir is a heady haze of ripe red berries, pink pepper and Casablanca lilies. Pro tip: invest in the co-ordinating shower gel and body lotion to ensure the scent sings all day long.

Warm and inviting, like a thatched cottage seeping with the aroma of something freshly baked, Le Labo’s Tonka 25 is serious stuff. It took celebrated nose Ms Daphne Bugey three years of tinkering to perfect the enigmatic blend of tonka bean, orange blossom and Atlas cedar, all of which mingle to make it a scent that stays with you.