Top 15 scents

The most exciting scent right now is Jo Malone which will open its own store in Greenbelt 5 on Oct. 9 with Estee Lauder and Bench as partners.

A bottle of perfume does not just contain a mixture of flowers, fruits and spices making a scent. Each bottle also holds a lot of history, romance and emotions.

This is what I found out after visiting several perfume factories and interviewing their founders or heirs in France and Italy in the course of my job as lifestyle editor.

Naturally, four of my choices are those scents I have come to love all these years, after seeing upclose how the scents originated and have evolved with the changing times. And how, with much passion, the heirs have blended history with modernity.

Why has the obsession with perfumes stayed on from biblical times ?  Why have writers like James Joyce, John Steinbeck and W. Somerset Maugham devoted words to it? And why have perfumers even created scents in honor of popes?

Are perfumes also an opium of the people? A palliative during troubled times? Perfumes are definitely not to be sniffed at.

As Christian Dior once said: “A woman’s perfume tells more about her than her handwriting.” And don’t laugh at Coco Chanel who said: “A woman who does not wear perfume has no future.”

So let’s get nosey with this list of top scents:

Acca Kappa: Tilia Cordata

When I interviewed the beautiful Acca Kappa president/CEO Elisa Gera in 2006, my favorite scent was White Moss, her brand’s most popular scent then, because it smelled clean, refreshing and elegant. Just like her.

Elisa  welcomed me to Treviso, Italy in a beautiful house on Venetian hills planted with flowers and fruit trees. With barons and baronesses as her forebears, Elisa got her work ethic from her clan of industrialists — ancestors of her mother Virginia Krull — that has been producing Italy’s finest brushes since 1869, as well as from her father, wine producer Francisco Gera.

To reach this ancestral house, you pass through a boulevard flanked by linden trees.” During summer, the intense dreamy perfume of linden flowers made me think of many beautiful and meaningful memories,” said Elisa. No wonder her latest scent launched last year, Tilia Cordata,  has the essence of those linden blossoms.

One thing I can’t forget about Elisa: This European aristocrat, wearing mostly white and tan outfits during my four-day visit in Treviso, was proudly wearing pearls she bought in Greenhills.

Annick Goutal: L’ ile au The

This scent made of citrus and tea leaves has a nice, distinct quality. It is a favorite of Madonna and Nicole Kidman, but so what? What I care for more is the story of the woman who created the brand.

I visited the Annick Goutal lab at Rue des Renaudes in Paris in 2004 and was met by the founder’s lovely daughter Camille Goutal who told me the story of her mother. Annick Goutal grew up amid scents — in a famous confectionary shop owned by her family in Paris. She was, however, forced to master musical notes as a pianist, later becoming a model and a skincare specialist until she went back to more scent-sible notes as a perfumer.

Annick obeyed not her father’s wish, but rather followed her nose and her heart. She created different scents in honor of persons she loved, most notably Grand Amour, for the love of her life with whom she was reunited. She would pack every bottle by hand, with two signature butterflies kissing in the logo. When Annick died of breast cancer in 1999, her daughter Camille was trained to be a nose by her mother’s assistant Isabelle Doyen.

L’Occitane: Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc

Imagine fields in Provence blanketed with lavender blooms. Imagine a charming man, Olivier Baussan, showing you the old machine he purchased in 1976, which he used in producing rosemary oil, and later, soap with the use of lavender flowers. Then you have a picture of where L’Occitane began.

Then you’ll also learn that an orange fruit — not a flower — was the ingredient used  in making the first eau de toilette in the 16th century. L’Occitane uses 2,000 pounds of Neroli orange blooms to create 35 ounces of essential oil.

“For many years, it was this orange that sustained the reputation of the Grasse region,”explained Baussan whom I interviewed in Provence in 2005.

There are many bestselling L’Occitane scents, but right now, it’s Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc that is the current hit. “You always look for scents in your memory,” Baussan said then.

If this perfumer sounds a bit poetic, it is because he studied poetry and literature. “A lot of human work goes into the making of our products,” he said,  referring to the villagers in Burkina Faso, Africa where he discovered the wondrous beauty ingredient shea butter. “We forged an alliance and we value this. I call this respect.”

Dior: Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet

“Like a dress embroidered with a thousand flowers.” That is how this scent pays homage to Christian Dior, known for his passion for flowers.

The legendary Dior founded his clothing line in 1946 in Paris and in 1947 forever changed the way women dress with his New Look. His Christian Dior Parfums was launched same year with his first scent, Miss Dior. There have been other scents like Diorama and Diorella, but personally, one of my fave Dior scents is Eau Savage, which was created in 1966 for men but embraced by women worldwide.

Miss Dior Blooming Beauty, created from a blend of citrus, floral and woody notes, takes the same shape as its previous variants and is decorated with the silver ribbon as well.

Rance: Les Etoiles

It was Napoleon Bonaparte who declared that a perfume’s formula and ingredients must be written on every bottle.

I learned about this when I interviewed the descendants of a French aristocracy that has been creating perfumes for 400 years. Rance is a brand  started by Louis Rance who popularized perfumed gloves in the 17th century.

The perfume dynasty’s 11th generation heiress Jeanne Sandra Rance gave me a tour of the Rance Perfume Museum at Via Lombardin in Milan, Italy in 2009 together with her husband Felice  D’Elia and their handsome son Giovanni D’Elia Rance. This family has incorporated high-tech methods of producing perfume, at the same time making use of secret recipes handed down to them.

Over sumptuous Italian meals in three of Milan’s best restaurants, the Rances shared stories behind scents that have been created through generations. Rance was the favorite perfume of Napoleon Bonaparte. And yes, it was Josephine Bonaparte who inspired the creation of the scent L’Imperatrice.

In 2011, Sandra presented the Les Etoiles collection consisting of Rose de Rose, Jasmin du Malabar and Pres de Toi, created for today’s generation of hip aristocrats who like elegance.

Bench: Baby Bench Colonia

Ben Chan sure has a nose for bestselling scents as created by his Bench company and its endorsers. His Love (Lucy Torres-Gomez), Conquer ( Richard Gomez) and In Love, War & Haute Couture ( Cary Santiago), only P368 up per bottle, are top people’s favorites. And so are his Daily Scents in nine variants, sold at wonderful prices starting at P16 for a 25 ml. bottle.

But my top favorite for many years now is the Baby Bench Colonia, “created for the kid in all of us.”

Ben says this line is “reminiscent of Spanish-type baby colognes and dermatologically tested, coming in seven variants.

Aside from its “fresh-from-the-shower” appeal, the Baby Bench Colonia is available in three sizes, starting from the 50 ml., only P35 each, which is my perfect choice because the size fits neatly inside my bag and is travel-friendly, meeting the size that will certainly pass security requirements at airports.

I buy all seven variants, but my faves are Bubble Gum (citrus floral) and Ice Mint (floral powdery), followed by Lemon Drop (citrus), Gummy Bear (fruity floral), Jelly Bean (floral), Popsicle (citrus fougere) and Cotton Candy (green fruity). Strong scents usually make a woman matronly. Nothing beats baby  colognes in making you feel and smell younger.

Chanel: Chance Eau Vive

“Perfume is the unseen , unforgettable ultimate accessory of fashion that heralds your arrival and prolongs your departure,” Coco Chanel once said.

Chanel is such an iconic figure that decades after her death in 1971, she is still a mighty inspiration in the fashion and beauty industry. She introduced the Chanel suit and Little Black Dress in 1925 yet today these styles are worn by women in various incarnations.

She launched her first perfume — Chanel No. 5 — in the 1920s, and today the legendary scent continues to be a topseller around the world. From orphan to sewing student to singer (her nickname “Coco” is said to have been derived from “cocotte” meaning fashionable kept woman), Chanel is unseen — but very much smelled  on glamorous women. Younger women go for Coco Mademoiselle.

“Chance only comes to those who know how to recognize it, carried by a gust of optimism,” Chanel famously said. It is not by chance that Chanel’s Chance perfume is also on top of vanity shelves. Chance Eau Vive (the third after Eau Fraiche and Eau Tendre) is made of grapefruit, citrus, jasmine, white musk and vetiver.

The Different Company: Pure eVe

Trust Eman Pineda of Adora to offer not your usual, mainstream scent.

Pure eVe is an unpretentious, comfortable and fresh perfume which is as soft and elegant as a seersucker shirt or a little black dress.

“Celine Ellena used the best quality of musk which reminds us of the sensation of silk mixed with cotton on our skin, structured by cedar wood and softened by the Calisson, a French candy.” This is clearly for the refined woman.

Jo Malone: Lime Basil & Mandarin Cologne

Perhaps the most exciting scent right now in Manila is Jo Malone, which Estee Lauder is bringing in, in partnership with Bench’s umbrella company Suyen Corp. Its first store opens on Oct. 9 in Greenbelt 5.

Jo Malone has had a cult following since its founder opened her London store in the early 1990s. It is said that customers would line up and the scent became the choice of fashion industry insiders and celebrities.

Starting as a facialist who mixed bath oils with aromatic ingredients for clients, Malone was only 27 when she created her first Jo Malone scent, a nutmeg and cinnamon concoction which became an instant hit. Unlike other brands, Jo Malone usually has only one or two notes, making it a top favorite among both men and women today for its”addicting, nature-based signature scents which are understated and modern.”

In 1999, Jo Malone was acquired by Estee Lauder.

Penhaligon: Bayolea

 Again, an uncommon scent from Adora which is “a bright and exhilarating fragrance, with a refreshing hint of mandarin, tangerine and lemongrass.”

For me, lemongrass spells magic in food as well as scents.

Maison Francis Kurkdjian: Acqua Vitae Forte

This scent, also available only at Adora, allows the skin to breathe to smell good. “It caresses the senses and relaxes the body.“ Smells good, feels good.

Hermes: Jour d’Hermes

Best known for its pricey leather bags — notably the Kelly and Birkin — Hermes is also known for its scents.

Hermes was founded in 1837 by Thierry Hermes as a high-quality maker of harness and bridles for carriages and later, saddles for horses, before it went into bags. It was in 1949 that his grandson Emile Hermes started the perfume line with Eau d’Hermes.

The perfume line also serves as an entry point to the esteemed brand for those aspiring to own a Kelly or Birkin. In perfumes as in bags, Hermes is known for its excellent craftsmanship, merging tradition with innovation.

The scent Jour d’Hermes is a favorite because it is “unabashedly feminine.” It is described as a scent bringing “an armful of flowers, inspired by delicate women painted by Botticelli and elegantly graceful and modest women in Japanese prints.”

Also notable is Eau de Mandarine Ambree, which “ brings a cheeky yet gentle vitality to the genre of colognes... a burst of passion fruit with notes of amber.”

Yes to both scents!

Bulgari: Omnia Amethyste

The truth is, my favorite Bulgari scent was Petit et Mamans, an alcohol-free “baby cologne” which is “like a gentle mama’s hug“ introduced in 1997. Now I am crying like a baby because it seems nowhere to be found. It is probably the first fragrance created for children, celebrating innocence and childlike wonder. Waaah, is it gone too soon?

Anyway, I find comfort in Bulgari’s Omnia Amethyste eau de toilette, with its delicate femininity, described as a blend of “iris and rose caressed with morning dew.”

Bulgari was started in 1884 in Rome, Italy by jeweller Sotirio Boulgaris. Now it is renowned for its bold and intricate designs in jewelry, watches and fragrance-- and now it is in the bag and hotel businesses too.

Scents Of A Man

Giorgio Armani: Acqua di Gio

Masculine, contemporary and sophisticated describe this woody aromatic blend in a subtle polished glass with a magnetic cap. Available at the beauty department of The SM Store.

Ralph Lauren: Polo Red Intense

Invigorating red ginger, intoxicating red leather and addictive red roasted coffee go into Polo Red Intense by Ralph Lauren.

Perfect for the man who goes for adventures. "A great car transports you to a different world," says Lauren. And so does this scent. Available at the beauty department of The SM Store.

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