- 12 Dec, 2025 *
Earlier this year, some time around May, I began to become interested in fragrance. I honestly can’t remember what made me suddenly take an interest in it, but it’s become a little all-consuming. I’ve gone from owning one scent - Versace Eros, which my partner bought me years ago and I basically never wear - to having dozens of decants and samples and having bought a few bottles of things I’ve fallen in love with. I’ve even made a wishlist of different scents I’d like to own. (It turns out that this is an expensive hobby. Who could have guessed?)
I’m getting married in June, and my partner had suggested several months ago - before I developed this new obsession - that we do the Jo Malone wedding experience.…
- 12 Dec, 2025 *
Earlier this year, some time around May, I began to become interested in fragrance. I honestly can’t remember what made me suddenly take an interest in it, but it’s become a little all-consuming. I’ve gone from owning one scent - Versace Eros, which my partner bought me years ago and I basically never wear - to having dozens of decants and samples and having bought a few bottles of things I’ve fallen in love with. I’ve even made a wishlist of different scents I’d like to own. (It turns out that this is an expensive hobby. Who could have guessed?)
I’m getting married in June, and my partner had suggested several months ago - before I developed this new obsession - that we do the Jo Malone wedding experience. This is where they pick a couple of scents for you to layer together, give you some prosecco, and try to upsell you room diffusers and candles. It does sound like a fun date idea, to be honest.
We might not do that now, but I do like the idea of having a specific wedding fragrance that I only wear on the day and on anniversaries and that is entirely associated with the wedding in my mind. I’d had my heart set on Jo Malone’s Myrrh & Tonka for ages, but I realised yesterday that we’re getting married in summer and that’s very much a heavy, wintery scent. So now I get the joy of spending the next six months trying out new fragrances and trying to pick a "wedding signature".
And of course I’m going to blog about it, because I have no other outlet for this. (I’ve started keeping a journal, too, and of course there’s also a spreadsheet, since that’s just who I am. I have the vague idea of giving my partner the journal on our wedding day, but we’ll see what it actually turns into. I’m not particularly worried about writing that here and ruining the surprise because I’m fairly sure she has no idea this blog exists.)
I have no idea how to write about fragrance, so these blogs will likely be an exercise in figuring out how to do that, too. But that’s fun as well - it’s always nice to flex the writing muscle in a new way.
I know that I like citrus in the openings of my fragrances - especially lime and bergamot. I also know that I like a warm, creamy vanilla and/or Tonka dry down. My partner also really likes those scents on me, and I’ve noticed that many of the fragrances she really loves on me have oakmoss in the base. I’m not a big fan of strong "photorealistic" (I hate that term for scent but it’s what people seem to use) woods and tobaccos and I really don’t like leather, but I’ve found I love fougères and Oriental (another term I hate) fragrances. My tastes definitely tend towards dark, warmth, and winter, so trying to find a light summer scent that isn’t a soap-smelling freshie could be a lot of fun.
I have a short list of things I want to try and a bigger list of samples I own but haven’t worn yet, so I’m just going to start putting them on and seeing how I feel about it.
At some point this blog will start talking about books again, too. I’m currently reading Mrs. Dalloway and really enjoying it, but while I’m not in a reading slump anymore I’m definitely in a slow period. That’s fine, but if you’re here for book reviews above everything else there may be a bit of a wait.