Quote Originally Posted by chas View Post
When designing a fragrance is there a conflict between what we like to smell on ourselves & what others would like to smell on us ... ? But we all feel better if we wear a fragrance which we like the smell of on us. I like a gentle warm musky smell - clean warm skin ? A fresh smell (what notes are employed here ?) in hot weather is refreshing, & yet a warm spicy smell (which notes ?) is attractive in cold weather so the outside temperature is is relevant here. Different scents for different seasons ?
Interestingly, there's a theory that smells you like will tend to be the ones that smell good on you. So if there's a smell you can't get enough of, go for it I guess. Fresh smells are typically citrus in the top note, almost always. Lavender as a top note is fresh, but a tad bit heavier. Menthol and mints are fresh. Eucalyptus and camphor are fresh. Spices are top notes, but are more popular in the winter. I like them all year round, honestly. Linalool (which smells like the top note of rosewood) is a fresh smell and is quite often used. And some of the artificial musks ("white" musks) are fresh smelling. Geranium. Ylang ylang is kind of fresh. Herbal notes like rosemary or clary can enhance freshness. Pine is fresh. Artificial melon smells (pretty much the only kind of melon smell there is in perfume) are fresh. Sandalwood as a base note can enhance freshness, as it's not that heavy smelling. Ambrette seed as a base note probably supports freshness. Neroli is often thought to smell soapy, which makes it a fresh smell too. Real musk, properly used, can be fresh if diluted enough because of its "transparency" when compared to something more "dense" like vetiver or patchouili. There you go -- everything you never needed to know about freshness in perfume. If you took all the stuff I just named and threw it in a bottle in reasonable proportions, you'd have a fresh smelling cologne. I wasn't a big fan of citrus, but now that I understand how citrus works I rather like it. The citrus smell doesn't really matter, because it's gone in a half hour anyway. You better have something else that smells good underneath it.