The scent of fashion
FREDERIC MALLE Uncut Gem
The blurb for Uncut Gem features a pic of a man’s crotch snugly sheathed in denim — discordant but titillating, like the perfume itself. This is fresh elevated to beyond, the sensation of laying your head on a cold marble pillow.
£188 for 50ml, from 19 Sep, at libertylondon.com
MAISON FRANCIS KURKDJIAN 724
Ex-ballet dancer Francis K stages his perfumes as concepts: the smell of money with artist Sophie Calle, eau de blood for artist Hratch Arbach. 724 dumps the blood for the bouj: a soaring glass skyscraper built from jasmine and aldehydes. £110 for 35ml, at harrods.com PHLUR Missing Person Ohhhhh… this is some Pretty Baby shizz right here. Proper Seventies style drugstore white musk as deployed by a wannabe groupie with Pamela Des Barres aspirations. So wrong it’s absolutely right.
£98 for 50ml, at selfridges.com
CHANEL Les Exclusifs de Chanel Sycomore Extrait
Sycomore extrait says I’m a bad bitch with expensive tastes takin’ care of business. This huskier version of the eau de parfum smogs out the signature vetiver with iris, cedar and leather, rendering one simultaneously terrifying and f***able. £207 for 15ml (chanel.com) D’ORSAY GA Dandy or Not Leather-bound books, steaming black tea, cedarwood chests filled with your… dandy gear? You can forgo the stripy tights, moustache wax and codpiece, and still cut a dash with GA Dandy or Not.
£65 for 90ml, at harrods.com
PENHALIGON’S Legacy of Petra
Perfume can transform you from an annoying human to a shape-shifting force that unmasks the desires of those around you. Legacy of Petra’s hot cross bunniness of spices, liquorice and syrupy myrrh may result in you being sniffed, or licked, or both.
£190 for 100ml (penhaligons.com)
PHLUR Missing Person
Ohhhhh… this is some Pretty Baby shizz right here. Proper Seventies style drugstore white musk as deployed by a wannabe groupie with Pamela Des Barres aspirations. So wrong it’s absolutely right.
£98 for 50ml, at selfridges.com
D’ORSAY GA Dandy or Not
Leather-bound books, steaming black tea, cedarwood chests filled with your… dandy gear? You can forgo the stripy tights, moustache wax and codpiece, and still cut a dash with GA Dandy or Not.
£65 for 90ml, at harrods.com
DIOR J’Adore Parfum D’eau
Every iteration of this Dior favourite plays up its technical brilliance: the blinding radiance of jasmine, rose and honeysuckle drenched in the wettest wetness. In this alcohol-free version, Parfum d’eau snatches the tablecloth while leaving the dinner undisturbed. Neat trick.
£89 for 50ml (dior.com)
TOM FORD Noir Extreme Parfum
First there was Noir, then Noir Extreme, and now Noir Extreme Parfum, a black hole-level reduction sauce of the original ambery-leather confection. Less ‘kitten with a whip’ than ‘man with a kitten’. Puts the purr in your fur.
£165 for 100ml (tomford.co.uk)
