Perfume Skeletons in Your Closet

Serguey, thank you for such an interesting, spot-on article! In my case it couldn’t have come at a better time! I’ve been thinking a lot about this issue lately: do we put on perfume to please ourselves or to generate some reaction on others? Or a contradictory, risky combination of both? :)

I’ve always been against the notion of “closet fragrances”. I always wore Opium, Poison, Cabotine and Chanel N. 5 edt to work (to name just a few of the head turners I used to wear with no hint of embarrassment) and I never seemed to bother anyone. If someone remarked on my fragrance they made nice complimentary comments, and sometimes they even decided to buy the perfume I was wearing for themselves or their beloved. But now that I am experimenting with less “perfumey” scents, I’m afraid I’ll begin to have closet frags.

For instance, for the last two weeks I’ve been wearing Ambre Fétiche, which I adore. As much as I try not to overuse it, some of my coworkers have been commenting on “that weird incense smell”, without actually identifying it as perfume, but rather as an arty but inappropriate new air freshener our company is using LOL And those that have noticed that that “weird smell” is my fragrance have called it “a church scent”, and have assumed I must be as “churchy” as the fragrance I’m wearing. Yes, this may be funny, but then what sort of situation is the most appropriate for me to wear Ambre Fétiche? Church-going? Yoga lessons? New age rituals? Séances? Esoteric trade fairs? :P I wouldn’t like to limit my use of the fragrance to the intimacy of my scarce free time at home, but I’m afraid I’ll have to do so. So I ended up making the same decision as you, as I guess being ourselves in our work environment is not always positive. But isn’t this a little sad?

Serguey, I don't have closet fragrances and I don't have a coffee-scented one, but since I like coffee and since Starbuck's offers dried grounds to gardeners...they made my car smell so good that I never put them out in the garden. So I think I could go for such a scent.

Some fragrances I choose not to wear in public because they don't match with my personality. I love to wear them at home because I love the way they smell(Royal Rouge,Elizabeth Taylor Passion). Some I like, but I'm not so sure that I can pull off(Ulysee, Realm, Gaultier 2,Vanille Patchouli).

Once I become comfortable wearing them at home then I'll venture out into the public with them. It took me a while to build up the courage to wear Fleur Du Male and Hanae Morie HM.Then there's Bvlgari Black, while I lolve the way it smells, I just don't feel comfortable in public smelling like sweet rubber.

I try not to worry about reactions from other people in regards to my fragrance choices each day. Diptyque's L'Autre, McQueen's Kingdom - I wear them all to work. It's fun to live on the edge and makes for some great conversations with people who notice :)

That said, I can sometimes be influenced by reviews of a particular fragrance. A collective overwhelmingly positive opinion can make me reconsider my take on a scent, and so can universal disapproval. Panned fragrances sometimes become "closet fragrances" for me.

For me that would be Arpege, have been wearing it to work but after receiving comments like: "it smells like my grandmother in here" , "hairspray", I have decided to keep this one all to myself.

Donna Karan Unleaded & Leaded

My favorite "closet scent" is Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune. I LOVE it, and I think it smells beautiful, but the negative reactions I get from others (ranging from "arm pit" "lack of deodorant for a week" and "did a cat pee on you") assure me that I need to keep this one all to myself for cold winter days spent at home, completely alone. Sometimes I sniff the bottle just to get a whiff of the uplifting scent, but my husband asked me to never, ever wear it if he's within 50 miles of me.

For reference, things that I will wear in public, as a woman, are – female: Knowing, Aromatics Elixir; male: M7, Pino Sylvestre; unisex: Rasasi Esraa, SL Arabie. Now for the skeletons I wear in secret.

1) Banana scents, particularly Gorilla perfumes' 'Ladyboy' and Possets' 'Isotta and Sigismundo', both based on banana ketones. I don't like the taste of banana, but the banana smell is some sort of bizarre human catnip to me. I realise that few people feel the same way, which is probably a good thing.

2) Cheap-grade vetiver EO. Smells halfway between a sticking plaster and a puncture repair kit. Tarry stuff that I will not wear out of the house, and I am a person who will happily wear raw patchouli EO in winter. I know that there are expensive, artistic 'burning rubber' scents out there, and even friendly versions like Bvlgari Black, but I won't pay more because I would never wear them in public. I have similar problems with anything that smells mainly of cloves – Geo. Trumper's 'Milk of Flowers' is a retro carnation bomb, but I don't want anyone to be in my presence and wonder why they're getting dentistry vibes.

3) Old-school dinosaur lavenders. I love lavender, especially combined with beeswax and turpentine, which is a recipe for dressing the leather of antiquarian books, and immediately makes me think of scholars in esoteric libraries. But the time for a feminine lavender revival is not yet come; like patchouli, it probably needs some commercial genius to sweeten it, lighten it, and remove any medicinal note...and then I will probably dislike it for being too 'popular'.

I now have 2 celeb scents in my wardrobe and as much as I try not to give in, I really like Kate Moss Vintage. SJP LOvely, not as much...

There! I said it!!

I also am known for being a bit of a cougar (I'm 34- current BF is 20) and I own Opium but never dear to wear it outside of the house not to give ammunition to my friends and coworkers! I love Opium and it doesn't even smell cougary on my thin, dry skin I think. Meh.

Angel! I loved it when it first came out but it got so everyone was wearing it and it became so over done. Then it became passe. Got it out the other day and fell in love with it again. Still don't have the nerve to wear it when going out. One day it will be a classic because it was one of the first of a whole new genre.

It never occurred to me to try mens fragrances on myself. I guess it's more the vast selection for women that stopped me, rather than being scared, as I am "the Lady Gaga of" my workplace.
I have no closet perfumes. I did once steal a mini Lancome Tresor from my mum, then she got a mini Magnifique as well, so I swapped it. Magnifique is one of my favourites, but to me Tresor just smells like old lady.
Issey Miyake L'Eau de Issey is one I don't wear much but more because the top is broken and I like others more, rather than because I don't like it.

I've worn both mens and womens fragrances all my life, but I will say this. Women get the most choice and variety when it comes to fragrances. Mens fragrances tend to play it much safer in terms of smell and bottle design. Makes me feel a bit sorry for the guys!

I don't know if being gay does help but I've never been ashamed of wearing men fragrance in public, instead I find it chalenging...almost fun to see how other people react to it.

My younger brother likes dolls, and all those little cute things he can find (some of Disney's and Sanrio's) still he is a true killer that never questioned his sexuality. Despite of being comfortable when I tried to put my makeup on his face and painted his nails when we were younger, he only sees beauty in women's body (no offence to those into men's, he's just a butch in a man's body, lol)

SO PEOPLE! Life is too short, wear anything you want to wear and ditch other people's comments! Except when you're trying to win someone's heart that I allow you to wear things she/he will be melting in a whiff, for a while, lol.

So funny that you mentioned Drakkar! That is the quintacential men's fragrance of the 80's. from time to time I will smell it on someone and I wonder if they drove a trans am back in the say or an iroc. I snub the fragrance, but secretly, I like it......always have.
Head down in shame, I can't help but to pass judgement, don't ask why - I can't explain it.

BTW, Serguey, my boyfriend loves Tuberose and Jasmine and Gardenia - on him. He isn't shy to wear them in public.

I say, take some of those fragrances out for a walk! It's winter and some of that sweetness should be mitigated by the cold air.

I had Halston when it first came out in the 1970s. I recently found my bottle with a tiny bit of thick liquid in the bottom, but still reminding me of how it smelled new.

I still love chypres, so i bought a new bottle on-line on sale... oh, the horror! i wouldn't even were that in the closet. It was clearly reformulated by someone anosmic. Truly a sad end to a ground breaking fragrance.

I absolutely live for Nuit de Noel. It sings on my skin as if I am floating through the world with my own orchestral accompaniment. It is that glorious veil of sublime soft focus which renders us more appealing to those in our company. It is just a pure magical elixir. I could wax poetic about Nuit de Noel forever, but I am off to bathe...then I shall celebrate Christmas once more. Christmas Night with Caron, that is.

I'm the girl who wore Kouros and Yatagan in public and no one died; so I can't say that there is anything I WON'T wear in public. Admitting to some of the frags I own - now that's another story altogether.

I won't lie, I have a couple of really, really good knockoffs - I simply can't afford some of the more expensive frags. But I won't say which ones.

I think I'm even more embarrassed to say that one night on Facebook, Fragrantica had a sale for, okay everyone wait for this, All My Children Enchanted. I had never heard of the fragrance nor did I ever really watch the show but it was like $4 so I said, what the heck? It's a grown up floral-fruity. The pineapple is rather enjoyable but tell anyone what it is...uh, I don't know......


P.S. Both Yatagan and Kouros are extraordinary fragrances!
p.p.s. oops, I meant to say that fragrancenet.com had a sale on All My Children Enchanted. Good Lord! I'm still embarrassed!

Paris Hilton for Men...Yikes!

It just does not sound manly enough when you admit you are wearing a cologne named after a crazy blonde celebrity known for crazy adventures. But like I said in my review for this cologne it receives far more compliments by women than other more popular colognes I own. Strange but true!

Victoria's Secret Bombshell.

I wear it out in public (very seldom and hesitantly)
but what's interesting is I actually get compliments from people saying they "love my cologne."

Ha! Cologne. This pretty pink bottle is far from masculine, but for some reason I love it and apparently it works on my skin.

I have had Giorgio on my mind lately.Just because I loved it so much in the 80's, and then learned to hate it so much in the 80's as well(and thereafter).I think enough time has passed that I might actually enjoy the nostalgia again, but fear it would just become a skeleton in my closet!

I have no closet fragrances :P, life is too short.

I still wear a lot of vintage Poison original to work, i started to wear my signature Angel again everywhere and i am not afraid to shock people, simply because i am very egoistic, i guess. I better smell of overdose of Poison than the smell of french fries, that i have smelled from the person near me in the train today. I think i even like to provoke people with my vintages, so they will defenitly notice me, not only of my presentation, but my smell as well. I know, that not many like my fragrances, but one thing for sure, they always remember me for them. I don´t understand a term "to offend someone with their perfume", sorry, just move, if you don´t like it. I know, i am egoistic, but i can´t help it. So far nobody openly complained.
I never ever wear mens fragrances, but not because i am afraid but because i love to smell them on the right men, not on me, I am so satisfied with my female fragrances, and don´t see a point in wearing men´s cologne, simple as that.. But i love when i have men´scologne trail on me, my skin, my hair, if i really like that guy, but i this case, i wouldn´t want to be at that moment in public, it is strictly my moment to enjoy.

I enjoyed this article so much, Thank You!


My reasons for keeping a beloved scent to myself are several and varied.

For instance, I will not be wearing a fragrance with the word "sexy" in it's name around certain relations. They are more than apt to ask the name, completely enjoying this "scandalous" bit of gossip to repeat ad nauseum.

And I cannot wear a friendly, sweeter scent when forced into close quarters with complete strangers ~ or those I don't wish to be near. No! Better to wear something cooler, less warm.

But for the most part, I WILL wear the most exotic evening fragrances or the most "outdated" scents anytime and anywhere! Vive la Fragrance Freedom!!!

I've got a couple of these skeletons:

1. Tabu by Dana.

Lovely, loud, animalic, spicy, Oriental with a capital O. It's just so very 20th century. Can't even pass as something remotely modern. That's usually ok with me, but the sillage is so enormous there is no practical situation for so much glamour and blatant 50's sex appeal in everyone's face.

2. Jelly Belly Blueberry Muffin by Demeter

Again, sillage as subtle as an elephant. Smells exactly as it sounds, which is an odd yet very pleasant smell...to me because I frequently buy products with the same smell (lip balms, candles, etc)- so it's a very oddly specific taste. Have yet to try it on the population.

EDIT: one more I forgot.

Miel de Sauvage et Tabac from Alkemia

Again, atomic bomb sillage that radiates onto everything I touch. Kind of dirty smelling, was NOT a hit with the family. One skeleton that doesn't even get to leave my room :[ I love it though I'm just afraid of the reaction I got from my family which was an overwhelming consensus of "Do not wear that again."

I wear anything I have and I secretly want to try Pamela Andersons Malibu fragrances and Jessica Simpsons fragrances, just because who they are, but I absolutely hate the idea of me wearing a celebrity fragrance. Anyways, I would still wear them. I have a secret crush to Jessica and Pamela both and maybe thats the reason, I am dying to try their fragrances, but I hate the idea of me being one of celebrity fragrance users.

Sergei,

I believe that as we grow and pass a certain age, we open the closet again... :) There are moments that we want to wear what is new, what is in, to be popular, to be able to have the latest.
As we mature, what really matters is the fragrance, the aroma, the memories that they bring. Time makes us realize what a fragrance has behind it too.

Do you want to know why a fragrance is a classic? Well at a certain moment of your life, all this does matter. I sell fragrances and I talk with many fragrance lovers and it is amazing to see how fragrance can change your life. Blessings!!

I'll wear almost anything without fear - except florientals from the 90s. As much as I love Samsara, I feel I can't wear that one in public. It is one of a very few scents (All of Givenchy's feminines) that is admittedly not unisex.

I have totally worn Nuit de Noel to work more than once!

Honestly, so far I've never had skeletons in my closet in fact of perfumes :)
I'd rather say there are some fragrances which, for various reasons, I tend not to wear often because they're somehow "difficult" or a bit too far from my style (Chanel n. 5 EDT is one of those), nonetheless I'd wear them (and I actually wore them) in the right occasions.
Another I truly love but I find it quite hard to pull off when I am among people is Organza by Givenchy, which I've never bought for that reason. Too sultry and intense probably, at least until it gets to the fabulous woody-vanillic drydown.
This article's subject is very interesting by the way.

Ah, my dears !!!

Sergey: you wear whatever you please ! We love so many in common...

Alas, my favorite perfumes tend to 'frighten people', LOL.
Alone, I bathe in exotic, growlingly animalic, vintage wonders.

In public- especially at work- I need to 'tone it down'- where the softer, more subtle florals, greenery, musks, or orientals can abide [if they aren't too rich].

There are quite a few things in my closet which would probably make someone else happy ;-0

I continue to try to share with those folk....

Brave Serguey, wearing Aromatics Elixir in public! I love this one but wear it only at home, since I rarely smell it on anyone under the age of 60 and I fear it will "age" me to wear it in public (plus it is so strong!)

Same with many of my other classic scents--Trussardi, Coriandre, Femme. I save those for home/weekends, and I tend to wear my newer, modern, sweeter scents if I know I will be close enough to people that they can smell my perfume.