Fougère Bengale is a masculine fragrance. There is nothing unisex about it, but I am inexplicably drawn to its complex beauty. Every time I wear it, I discover new facets and dimensions within it, like the patterns seen in a kaleidoscope. That’s one of the things I love about it. That, and the way that it smells.

Oeillet Bengale was created by Rodrigo Flores-Roux in 2014 for American niche line and fragrance store, Aedes de Venustas.

Le Temps d'Une Fête opens up sparkling, bright and herbal from galbanum, giving the fragrance a tone of that early spring chilliness.

Mon Cuir from the Spanish indie line Ramón Monegal Parfums opens with a burst of sweet, prim orange flowers. As they slowly bloom, they go from prim to indolic. At this stage, I start to notice the resinous, camphourous note of birch tar – the smell of leather.

IV L’Heure Fougueuse dries down to a refined, alluring scent that’s well-crafted, complex, and perfectly balanced. It smells of horse, hay and leather, meadows, grass, and flowers. The contrasts between the crisp, airy opening, the earthy, green base, the florals, and the leather make it dynamic and exciting to wear.

La Belle Hélène dries down to a sensuous, soft stunner. It isn’t dessert sweet; it’s much more sophisticated than that. 

Nero opens with sparkling, bright bergamot and herbaceous dill, creating a delicate, fresh, green opening. The dill has a spicy aspect that warms Nero.

I am sitting in an outdoor café in Paris. A warm, gentle breeze carries the scent of flowers, green grass, my leather-bound journal, and the cream in my café crème. I feel cocooned in its serene beauty whenever I wear Field Notes from Paris.

Tango is an olfactory experience of a tango that begins with restrained ardour and builds to an exciting, passionate crescendo. It’s a heady, dense, captivating fragrance with a dry down that’s sweet, gently animalic, and seductive.

If Romanza were an act and a scene in an opera, it would be a scene-stealer. As a fragrance, it’s a heart-stealer with no regard for gender.  

Terrasse à St-Germain is the scent expression of the first meeting of Julien Blanchard, globe-trotting biologist, inventor, and entrepreneur, and Madalina Stoica, a graduate of the Cosmetics and Fragrances Marketing program at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC and traveler in Paris, on the terrace of a café in St-Germain. 

Invasion Barbare dries down to a luxuriously refined scent that struts just a little bit. This is a modern update of a classic fougère that’s somehow new but familiar.  

Iris Silver Mist opens with a green metallic tang from galbanum. Soon, its earthy aspect links to damp, earthy, cold Tuscan iris pallida rhizomes. It smells raw and vegetal and real.

Sartorial opens clean, fresh, and slightly soapy from aldehydes. It’s the scent of a traditional barbershop that’s a nod to Penhaligon's origins.

Après l'Ondée dries down to a delicate, romantic, feminine fragrance that is the essence of a walk in a garden after a spring shower.

Aria di Capri is the experience of the ‘air of Capri’ – lemons, oranges, peaches, warm sun, fresh flowers, woods and herbs carried on a gentle salty sea breeze.  

The Language Of Glaciers opens with a nose-tingling note of white pine that’s fresh, clean and invigorating without being sharp or harsh.

Guimauve de Nöel / 31 is built around three main notes: orange blossom, vanilla, and sugar. It opens with the nose-tingling note of a bright, effervescent orange blossom tinged with a flick of green that creates excitement and anticipation.

Over the years, I’ve visited the Maître Parfumeur et Gantier store in Paris because there’s one fragrance that I can’t shake: Ambre Précieux – considered the benchmark amber when it was launched in 1988.

Escale à Portofino is one of Les Escales de Dior - the fragrance collection that was based on Dior’s Couture Cruise Collection. Inspired by the idea of casual cruise travel, François Demachy, Dior’s in-house perfumer, created a series of fragrances based on specific ports of call or ‘escales’.

M/Mink opens with sparkling, tingling aldehydes, leading to a cold blast of a fresh, salty, marine breeze. This fave of mine is the result of a collaboration between graphic design firm M/M and Byredo, the perfume brand founded by Ben Gorham.

Victor Wong, founder and creative director of Zoologist Perfumes, in 2015 launched the original version of Bat by nose Ellen Covey.

Ormonde Woman dries down to a beautiful intermingling of fresh and powdery and woody notes that’s a one-of-a-kind fragrance.

Eau Noire has a pungent, herbal start from warm sage and dry thyme. A note of licoricey anise joins the herbs, making the opening verdant and dark.