Scent Stories: Old, New, and Everything In Between

As much as I enjoy wearing perfume and am fascinated by the science and art behind it, I made the decision earlier this year to step back from the fraghead community and the constant exposure to new fragrances. I have a curated collection that offers something for every season and mood, so there is no need for me to keep looking for the ‘next thing’. As I mentioned in my last post, I also generally prefer fragrances of older vintage, which tend to get less attention in the community than current and new releases. And being happy with my current collection, it seemed to only make sense to stop buying perfume.

Well, unless the thrift gods dangle something too tempting to resist in front of my nose.

Which brings me to today’s subjects — a true mix bag, if there ever was one.

Under the “old” rubric, I randomly stumbled on a perfume that had caught my attention months ago, while reading Luca Turin’s original guidebook. Turin and his co-reviewer Tania Sanchez are economical with their 5-star reviews, so I usually end up doing a little extra research into the perfumes that land one of them. Beyond Paradise from Estee Lauder was released in 2003, so it fits right into the timeframe of most of my favourite perfumes. It’s a white floral fragrance created by Calice Becker, with top notes of Hyacinth, orange blossom, grapefruit, bergamot and lemon; middle notes of jasmine, gardenia, honeysuckle and orchid; and base notes of hibiscus, plum wood, and amber. It has since been reformulated and reissued, but the internet consensus is that the current version doesn’t really smell like the original. Bottles of the original are pretty expensive on the resale market, and while I was intrigued by Sanchez & Turin’s descriptions of the fragrance, I wasn’t convinced it was something I needed to try.

But I was very pleased when I came across a travel size rollerball of it for less than $20. I knew it was the OG formulation because the glass had the distinctive rainbow ombre effect of the original bottle design.

I have a feeling that the ‘juice’ in my rollerball has suffered a bit from the effects of time (though it came in a box, so it was likely not over-exposed to light, the main culprit in the denaturation of perfumes); it is not as potent as Beyond Paradise is described in reviews to have been. That being said, it’s a really lovely fragrance. The fruity notes are well blended with the floral ones, giving it a tropical vibe. I am tempted to compare it to Calyx, which also blends fruits and florals in a tropical way, but they are interestingly different; Calyx smells greener and more humid/aquatic, but less sweet, than Beyond Paradise. That being said, and despite the tropical vibe, Beyond Paradise is not an overly sweet or heady fragrance but rather a very elegant, understated floral. There are definite similarities with Estee Lauder Pleasures as well, though this one is fruitier.

Under the ‘new’ rubric, and on the other end of the brand scale, there is Sweet Melon:

I picked this up purely based on a quick sniff test: despite the name, it’s a cherry-forward fragrance, which is something I had wanted to add to my collection. After some googling, I was able to determine that Sweet Melon is made by a “dupe” brand, specializing in perfumes that smell like various popular designer fragrances. I believe Sweet Melon is intended to be a dupe of Tom Ford’s Lost Cherry. Having subsequently had the opportunity to test Lost Cherry at Sephora, and I can attest that the two do, in fact, smell very similar. I have no idea what the notes in Sweet Melon are, because it doesn’t pop up in Fragrantica or similar websites, but they must include cherry and sandalwood. There is a pleasant woody smokiness that takes the cherry from candy-like to something a little darker. It’s not an overly sweet perfume, and the cherry doesn’t veer into medicinal territory as far as my nose is concerned. (Online reviews are mixed on this.) The potency and longevity are pretty poor — this is NOT a two-spray perfume, more of a spray-liberally one — but for the price, one can hardly complain. I paid $10 at the thrift, and I’m pretty sure that’s its regular retail price as well.

Lastly, there is Hypnose by Lancome:

Released in 2005 and created by Annick Menardo (who also created the original Lolita Lempicka perfume, another fave of mine) and Thierry Wasser, Hypnose is the same vintage as Beyond Paradise; unlike the latter, however, it is still around in more or less the same formulation. It’s listed as having passionflower as a top note; jasmine and gardenia as middle notes, and vanilla and vetiver as base notes. The best way I can describe it is as a pillowy cloud of vanilla marshmallow. It’s soooo smooth and soothing. It has the sweetness of a gourmand fragrance without any heaviness, and without smelling like actual dessert. There is a creamy, dreamy vibe that, well, I just can’t get enough of. To me, it’s a vanilla-forward fragrance that doesn’t smell like a run-of-the-mill vanilla-forward fragrance. Maybe it’s the passionflower, but there is something unusual, out of the ordinary about Hypnose. I wear it to bed a lot, and also on days when I want to feel relaxed and happy.

Hypnose was not a thrift find, but rather a birthday gift from my dad. I thought it would be a nice tradition to create for us; perfume is what my dad would often buy for my mom for birthdays and Christmases, and it’s easier for him to do the same for me than try to figure out a different present every year. I chose Hypnose (and told him about it) because it had stuck with me for months after I sampled it. I like to think it’s a perfume my mom would have loved too, and it reminds me of both of them when I wear it.