My Perfume Wishlist
Yearning to smell weird and delicious
It’s that time of year again, when the gift guide industrial complex is in full swing. Instead of sharing ideas for what to get for the fragrance enthusiast based on their style and personal aesthetic, I thought I’d take this opportunity to expand on a fun little TikTok I recently made about the current full-size bottles and sample sets currently on my wish list.
I don’t have a particularly large perfume collection, preferring to sniff rather than shop around. But I do like to keep track of my 'to-smell’ list of fragrances and brands I want to try on my Notes app. It’s a long, disorganized list, but one that continues to come in handy when I stop by perfume stores or get lost in the chaos of having too many products in my shopping cart. Exploring my relationship to fragrance has also required confronting my relationship to consumption, especially as I figure out which scents I want to add to my vanity or spend more time with, and which ones I’d rather just get a whiff of every once and a while or pass along to a friend.
Here are some fun smells and brands that I’ve been dying to try or totally fascinated with lately. Who knows, maybe you’ll find something to add to your own wish list.
Listen, there’s nothing more than I want than to smell like a gothic Victorian beauty getting lost in the dark, dank caves of an ancient vampire lair. Described as an “Eau de Macabre” I love how it opens with the delicate florals of lilac, violet, and orris before dragging you down into the wet, antique incense-y muskiness of ambergris, oud, and labadum. Never hurts to smell a little sinister.
I first discovered Thin Wild Mercury through their Los Angeles Collection over the pandemic. Since then, I’ve been dying to get my hands on their tribute to New York City’s counterculture during the 1960s and 1970s. The scents that most intrigue me? Sheep Meadow (lavender, blueberry jam, and denim), Chelsea Staircase (lemon, earl grey, sunflowers, and stretched canvas), and Girl of the Year (lipstick and leather).
I’m always on the hunt for scents I can wear while I’m writing or researching in the library, and I’ve gone through more samples of this than I can count. I would call this more of a minimal scent, but far from boring or one-dimensional. Drawing inspiration from A Room of One’s Own, this is a thoughtful, intoxicating scent with notes of pear, carrot seed, and cashmere that pairs perfectly with the smell of books.
When I go to Mexico City, I’ll definitely be stopping at one of Xinú’s beautiful stores. A coworker went to them recently per my recommendation, and I’ve been treasuring the Monstera sample they brought back as a thank you gift. The brand draws inspiration from Mexico’s native botany and scent cultures. This perfume smells like lush dankness of a jungle after a rainstorm, with moments of sudden sharpness that remind me of dirt under your fingernails and the bite of vegetal decay. A delight.
Fantôme has been on my watchlist for a long time, but this collection in particular makes me so nostalgic for the time I spent in Romania as a child. The notes for these fragrances are so wonderfully weird, like mushrooms, wolf fur, steel, beets, and hay. I’m most excited for Marya Morevna, Baba Yaga, and Koschei the Deathless.
Andrea Maack is an iconic brand. Inspired by the landscapes of Iceland and Maack’s own performance art practice, each scent is an immersive olfactory experience. Magma draws its power from the island’s volcanic activity, warm and smoldering with saffron, rose, myrrh, patchouli, suede, and tonka bean. Where Magma is more bodily, Craft is pure atmosphere. In my quest to find church-like scents, this one ticks the box with its blend of cedar wood, aldehydes, and metal. It smells like sitting in the pews and watching snow fall through the stained glass. Witchy and wonderful.
I currently have a solid of this one, but I’m eager to take the plunge and splurge on an extrait. Calle Ocho was the gourmand that made me enjoy gourmands again (no joke). Cinnamon, rum, chocolate, tonka bean, jasmine, and tobacco leaf? Warmly nostalgic and richly sophisticated, it reminds me of the excitement of going to Miami as a kid.
Do you ever have a perfume that comes into your life for a brief moment and then you keep thinking about it long after its finished? That’s how I feel about Orris Tattoo. I want this to become my rotting in bed signature scent. It’s a cool, powdery ode to iris, one that sits so softly and intimately on the skin. While I usually gravitate to scents that feel like a sucker punch, sometimes I crave a little ethereal softness.
Two amazing scents with two completely different vibes: The Point will have you smelling like a shipwreck washed up on shore or an ancient sea creature emerging from the ocean’s abyssal depths. Mineralic and ever-so-slightly fishy. With The Candlestick is like “Hark! Who goes there?” wandering around a haunted castle in fragrance form. Cherry communion wine and melted wax. For the days when I want to pick between smelling like a science fiction story or a gothic horror novel.
D. Grayi is a really exciting Vietnamese American fragrance house known for their fun interpretations of Asian foods (like Jasmine Rice and Pandan) and their playful series of cat-themed perfumes (like Matcha Cat, Low Carb Cat, and Black Cat). Strawberry Support was originally inspired by picking strawberries in Tokyo, but has since evolved to honor Gaza’s rich history of strawberry cultivation and the land’s ongoing genocidal devastation. Proceeds go to the Palestine Children Relief Fund.
Amphora has quickly become one of my favorite brands and I can’t wait to upgrade my little samples into full-sized bottles. Primal Yell’s blend of cherry, hot iron, rose, and vetiver always has me feeling feral. Baby Boy takes you on a journey, from its sweet opening of grape juice and candied peach into civet (my favorite funky musk).
I tried French Poetry on a whim at Stele a few months ago and, on the entire commute home, I couldn’t stop sneaking whiffs of my wrist. This perfume smells like romanticized heartbreak: long afternoons at an outdoor cafe spent hunched over a notebook sipping coffee and smoking cigarettes contemplatively.
While I’ve smelled this before in candle form, I can’t wait to wear this on my skin. The citrus notes of lemon, mandarin, and orange flower meet plum, basil, and cardamom to tell a nostalgic story of making flower crowns and running through open fields.
I’ll admit it, I’ve fallen for the hype around this collection after I’ve seen so many reviews on Perfumetok. I personally want to get my hands on this because I’d like to be transported back to my first trip to Japan I did last year. D’Annam first made a big splash with Vietnam-inspired scents, and I’m curious how these will compare. Tokyo Nights, Matcha Soft Serve, Arashiyama, and Moonlight Samurai intrigue me most.
Listen, I love a good horse girl perfume. Something that captures the feeling of equestrian joy and power. Epona fully commits to the vibe with a horse skin accord and notes of leather, saddle soap, and green petitgrain. Named after the perfumer’s horse, this is long trail rides through sweet grazing meadows under a clear blue sky.
Elorea is already responsible for my go-to vacation scent. If I’m going to add another one to my collection, it will definitely be this fragrance inspired by Korean fermented sauces. There’s something so cozy and comforting about its notes of jinjang, soybean, charcoal, ylang ylang, and petrichor. Pair this with a read of Crying In H Mart.
Honestly, I want to try all of Pearfat’s offerings, but their discovery kit makes for a great introduction to the brand. Every scent has such a strong, exciting concept and a willingness to play with experimental notes and whimsical accords. My most desired ones are Big Floppy Flowers, Stomped on Bed of Lettuce, and Multiball.
For the entire time I had a sample of Tuberose Tantra, I never stopped getting compliments. I wasn’t super familiar with tuberose when I first tried this, but it’s still my favorite interpretation of the note. There’s ginger, clove, and patchouli too that wraps you up in a sensual, ethereal cloud of blooming florals.
Byredo’s prices make me wince (and they don’t offer this in travel size), but I have yet to find a dupe that captures this scent’s unique essence. Academically androgynous, the mix of plum, cinnamon, leather, violet, birch, and vanilla keep things woody, yet warm. This smells like carved antique furniture, aged paper, and a cluttered desk.
Perfumes inspired by dance music history? I’m sold. Gillie, a DJ and a Chicago native, started making perfume during the pandemic when his gigs dried up, and he quickly developed a cult following. While his newest release Jazz looks like a lot of fun, I’m so curious about Techno’s evocation of Detroit in the 1980s, Disco’s electric 1970s celebration, and House’s ode to Chicago’s ‘80s underground scene.