Today we’re helping Lilian, who lives in Brazil and wants to find two new fragrances that will work in Brazil’s hot weather: one for work and one for not-at-work. She can buy online, and is also planning a trip to the US so will have other shopping opportunities. She isn’t worried about the price. Here is what we know about Lilian:
She’s a doctor in her early 30s, is active all day long, and says she is happy but introspective.
She wears “colorful but not fancy clothes” ranging from high heels to jeans and t-shirts.
She loves reading, watching movies, running, going to the gym and practicing yoga, and she also loves nature and camping with her boyfriend.
Lilian would like her daytime fragrance to be “fresh, a bit elegant and remarkable”, and she’d prefer something other than citrus…
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Today’s subject is Jonathan. Jonathan lives in Berlin, and is looking for an evening fragrance — something to wear dancing at night. His perfect scent would combine traces of the grilled hazelnut from Hermès Vétiver Tonka, the floral aspects of Le Labo Rose 31 and the spices, the flint and the non-musk of Terre d’Hermès. He’s willing to spend up to $140.
Jonathan is in his 20s, and works in the engineering business. He compares himself to the man in the Terre d’Hermès commercial: a grounded dreamer…
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Denise, who says she is an “amateur perfumista at best”, is getting married in early May:
It will be a late afternoon Catholic mass in a beautiful chapel, followed by a reception at an inn built in the 1700s. So, it will be traditional but not super formal, with whimsical touches.
She wants to find something that will make her feel classic and elegant. It should be substantial but not overwhelming, and although she has a number of perfumes in her current rotation, she wants something new and special for her wedding. She can pay up to $200, and she lives in New York City so has excellent access to perfume stores. Here is what we know about Denise:
She’s in her late 20s, and doesn’t like to go to bed on time…
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Today we’re helping Lauren. Lauren is interested in perfume, but says she’s not yet a perfumista. She works as a nurse, and she wants to find a versatile signature scent that isn’t so strong that it will nauseate her patients. At the same time, she’d like it to be flirty and chic. She hasn’t set a budget for her new fragrance. Here is what we know about Lauren:
She’s in her early 20s and lives in Chicago…
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Today we’re helping Edward, who is looking for a sophisticated but reserved fragrance, preferably niche. His ideal scent will “evoke curiosity and interest” but be modest in sillage: it should not be a “showy” fragrance. Edward wears mostly women’s perfumes, but does buy the occasional unisex. He’s willing to spend up to $500 to get just what he wants, but he’d prefer not to shop online.
Here is what we know about Edward:
He’s a researcher in his mid-30s.
He loves hosting Friday night dinner with a few close friends.
He always goes for the finer things in life, and that holds true for food and fragrances.
Edwards admires the work of perfumers Olivia Giacobetti and Jean-Claude Ellena…
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Elise wants to find a signature scent as unique as her life, but at the same time, she wants the fragrance to be accessible to the people she encounters during the day. She’d like to keep the cost at $100 or less, and she has good access to perfume stores and is happy to shop online. Here is what we know about Elise:
She’s in her early 40s, and works as an instructor at the college level. She’s also finishing her Ph.D. and is active in volunteer work.
She’s a published poet and playwright (her most recent play was produced in Chico, CA).
She has three children, all adopted internationally…
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May (who comments here as perfumegeek) is getting married in April. It will be an intimate morning ceremony on the beach (you can see her wedding dress after the jump) in Florida. She’s thinking the temperature will probably be in the low 60s. She wants a perfect perfume — something she loves and will have as a keepsake — and is willing to pay up to $200 to get it.
Here is what we know about May:
She’s a chemist (the kind that plays with lasers, strong magnets and colorful compounds) in her 20s.
She’s a bookworm (she loves Jhumpa Lahiri and Neil Gaiman among others), a music lover (Chopin, Debussy, The Shins, Brandi Carlile), a museum freak (The Victoria and Albert in London, Georgia O’Keefe in Santa Fe), and an outdoorsy woodsy girl (hiking, snowshoeing, fishing)…
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Amy, who comments here as alltheprettythings, wants our help finding a new perfume. She’s got lots of favorites already, but she gets bored easily and would like to find another. It should be something she can wear anywhere, in any season. She can spend up to $200, and she is in New York twice a week — not far from Aedes! — so her access to perfume stores is excellent.
Here is what Amy wants us to know about her:
My personality: raised to be a Lady (Brit Mum), so am very proper in manners and decorum but am a 38-year old small business owner secret-wild-child with a love for vintage clothing, dancing, laughter, all sorts of music, breaking rules, smashing glasses in joy and anger, impulsive, creative…
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Today’s subject is Peggy, who is looking for a casual office fragrance. She’d like to keep the expense below $100, but she might go higher for something absolutely perfect. Here is what we know about Peggy:
She’s in her late 30s. She says she works in television but never watches it.
She loves books, and is also a semi-professional musician and visual artist.
Peggy says she can be a workaholic, but she also has a strong navel-gazing bohemian bent…
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Today’s subject is Jenny, who is just entering the world of perfume and finding it overwhelming. She’d like to find a casual everyday fragrance, something light and simple, and perhaps fragrances for summer and winter as well. She has very good access to stores, and she’d rather not spend more than $100 on any one perfume. Here is what we know about Jenny:
She’s in her early 30s, happily married and lives in Southern California.
She describes herself as outgoing and personable.
She is involved in a non-profit organization helping individuals suffering from mental illness and their families. She attends several board and committee meetings each week and greatly enjoys the help she give to others.
Jenny likes fruity scents and earthy scents…
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Today we’re helping Lauren, who needs a few perfumes she can tango in — right now, all she’s got is Donna Karan Black Cashmere and she’s getting tired of it. Her tango scent should not be too powerful, nor should it be too crazy: it should be interesting but crowd-friendly. Lauren is looking for “the olfactory equivalent of Cat Power’s voice — sensual, but not overly sexy, with character”.
Here is what we know about Lauren:
She’s in her 20s, and lives in the Pacific Northwest. She goes out to tango about 3 times a week.
Lauren majored in Russian Literature and now works in a veterinary diagnostic lab. She says she has a dark/dry sense of humor, and is prone to sarcasm.
Her tango wardrobe is mostly black, purple, and red, and she has two pairs of tango shoes: one purple with laces that go around the ankle, the other copper with crossing ankle straps…
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Today we’re helping Jules, who is looking for a signature scent — something she can wear all day, every day. Jules has good access to perfume stores, and has not set a budget for her purchase. Here are a few details about Jules:
She’s in her early 20s, and considers herself “fairly minimalist in aesthetic” — she likes clean, classic fashion that is “understated but still directional”, and she “prefers monochromatic expression in clothing and photography”.
Jules says she is shy, but she strives for deep relationships with people she knows.
She is a pianist, and and prefers early 20th Century classical music; her favorite composer is Prokofiev…
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Today we’re helping Kevin, who is looking for the perfect leafy green fragrance:
My favorite smell is of leaves. You know when you take a leaf and break it open and this wonderful green and alive smell comes out? Love.
Kevin would like to find that scent for no more than $140. He lives in Vancouver and so has access to good perfume stores, and he’d prefer to shop in person, not online. Here are some other details about Kevin…
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This is an open thread for participants in the Monday Mail articles to share their experiences, and hopefully let us know if they found what they were looking for (or went bankrupt trying). I’m sending out emails tonight requesting feedback from everyone who took part between May and August of this year, so check back over the next few days to see what we can find out.
Here are links to the articles for each participant…
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Today we’re helping Satya, who owns about 100 bottles of perfume but is tired of them and wants something new. Her criteria for her new scent: it must be something unique that will stop people in the street when she walks by, but it can’t be so overpowering or cloying that it will bother her co-workers. She’s also like it to be warm, dark and smoky, but with some clean/green notes. She can spend between $50 and $100. Here is what we know about Satya:
She’s in her late 30s. She was born in Trinidad & Tobago and is now living New York City. She works in Property Management but her “inner career choice” would be something in fashion or home decoration…
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Today we’re helping Lindsay, who recently moved from Kentucky to Turkmenistan. She’s got a trip to London coming up, and she wants our help deciding what fabulous perfume she should buy while she’s there. She’s looking for something “that is evocative of winter and/or is a good cold-weather scent”, and she’s willing to spend up to $200.
Here is what we know about Lindsay:
She’s in her early 30s, and is a kindergarten teacher and mother of twin boys.
Lindsay says she is artistic, and she enjoys fashion, reading, and lounging…
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Today we’re helping Elsa, who is looking for the perfect fragrance for the dark fall and winter months, one that will make her “feel a bit better sitting on the cold bus every morning”. The fragrance should be casual, but should also make “a warm, sensual statement”. Elsa is willing to pay up to $150, but bear in mind that that’s a big splurge for her, and she’d prefer something less expensive. She’s willing to shop online, and the only stores close to her are Macy’s, Dillards, and Sephora. Here is what we know about Elsa:
She’s in her mid-20s and in her second year of law school, where she spends “long hours in the law library, which is beautiful with its gothic windows and dark woods and dusty legal tomes”.
She isn’t sure about her decision to attend law school, and misses her days as an English Literature major…
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Today we’re helping Gillian, who lives in the UK and is looking for three specific fragrances: a lemongrass and ginger scent, a spicy carnation, and a juicy apple that isn’t too sharp. She’d rather not spend more than £60 on any one fragrance. She lives near several department stores, and is willing to order samples online.
Gillian is in her late 20s, and describes her style as quirky. Gillian likes…
…vintage clothes (mainly greens and blues), outsider music, houmous, vintage prints, the smell of old telephones, my green Pashley bicycle, finding strange objects in charity shops and sewing and crafting…
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Today we’re helping Susan, who has been wearing the same two fragrances, Cacharel Anaïs Anaïs and Dolce & Gabbana The One, for some time and needs a change. Anaïs Anaïs was a favorite of a friend of hers who died young, and Susan been wearing it for years. Lately she has been finding The One too cloying, and sometimes she washes it off after a few hours.
Susan wants a daytime fragrance, something distinctive but not overpowering, that would be suitable for work, lunch with friends, shopping, etc etc. She has good access to department stores, and she’s willing to shop online, but she’d like to keep the cost below $100. Here is what we know about Susan:
She works in a creative field, and says her lifestyle is “very simple and casual”…
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Today’s subject is Zaheer. He lives in South Africa, and says new fragrances take some time to get to his area (assuming they get there at all). He’s looking for the perfect fragrance, one that will go from a day in the office to a night out on the town. Here are a few details about Zaheer:
He’s in his mid-20s and works as a copywriter.
His hobbies: reading and blogging. Zaheer prefers overcast wet weather to sunny and clear.
He has a tendency to be very formal in his attire. He loves the Baroque era, and his apartment is “very Victorian in its décor”.
Zaheer is attracted to woody scents and “dark mature fragrances”. Notes he loves include olive wood, cypress, bergamot, jasmine, mandarin…
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