LES PARFUMS DE LA RENTRÉE

Changing Your Perfume as the School Year Begins

After a sweltering summer, when we indulged in refreshing fragrances, we’re looking forward to wrapping ourselves in soft, cozy scents as we head back to school. Vacation is over, and we’re getting back to our routines at the office, at work, or simply at school.

Everyone is waiting for us—friends, family—our look has changed, and our light summer clothes are tucked away in the closet. The same goes for perfume: you’ll store your fresh, light scents in your cabinets, ideally in their original boxes, which you’ll have kept to protect them from light and UV rays. They’ll come out again next year at the end of spring.

Fall has well and truly arrived and proves to be just as exciting as spring: rich in scents, colors, and flavors. It’s one of the most fragrant seasons, and I invite you to discover it. Humidity and water in the air act as a volatile, catalytic solvent. The scents of nature create a fragrant atmosphere at this time of year.  These fallen leaves, which beautifully carpet our ground, leave a most intriguing trail of woody, damp, wet, earthy, and mineral notes. It’s also the season for boletes in the undergrowth; they have a resinous scent and evoke the fragrant notes of moss, patchouli, and opoponax.

As soon as September arrives, you can sense this duality between the slightly sharp scent of warm mornings and the typical scents of fall—such as squash, pattypan squash, and topinambur—which, when snapped off at the stem, give off a slightly green, sweet, and musky scent with woody undertones.

Head out into nature to hunt for flowers, herbs, and fruits that prove autumn is a cascade of scents.

Perfumers know this well. To create their fragrances, they draw on these characteristic autumnal atmospheres. They work with this seasonal duality between mineral freshness and the warm glow of sunny afternoons—such as milky woody notes, undergrowth mosses, and opoponax with its resinous, mushroom-like scent. The whole is harmonized by a cold flint accord and a touch of earthy musk that evokes the scent of the ground after rain.

The back-to-school fragrances awaiting you should be chosen based on their intensity and leave a noticeable yet subtle scent trail.

In fact, according to the current trend, the bold, overpowering fragrances that once flooded the world with their intense scents have gone out of style. Thankfully—thank goodness—we no longer see those women who used to douse themselves in perfume and overwhelm you with their scent. Today, we seek more nuance, olfactory harmony, authenticity, and a more sophisticated scent trail that the brand’s master perfumer has developed and created with great refinement. That’s a good thing—it’s the philosophy I’ve always championed here in Paris and throughout France, the cradle of perfume.

Fall Fragrance Trends

All fragrance families can be worn this fall depending on your taste: woody, floral, amber, green fragrances, etc.—except for citrus scents, of course!

Clean, elegant LUXURY is making a big comeback. All gourmand fragrances with that sweet, smooth quality can be worn this month; they’ll be brought out beautifully by this transitional weather. You’re sure to find a seductive fragrance that appeals to you.

Depending on your tastes, you can choose from the collection of both women’s and men’s fragrances. What matters is the olfactory experience it evokes and how well it harmonizes with your skin. Don’t pay attention to the “WOMEN/MEN” classification mentioned by some—it’s designed for beginners who are new to the world of fragrance.

Iris, vetiver, and sandalwood: this season's signature scents

Today, fragrances evoke the image of smooth, clean skin and understated elegance, particularly with new powdery iris scents like CREED’s IRIS DEBONAIR.

Today’s elegant new woody fragrances are perfect for wearing as fall begins. Their sophisticated facets are expressed with great artistry. The new VETIVER GLACIER by Montblanc is particularly intriguing with its contrasting HOT-COLD facets.

Vetiver brings warmth that contrasts with menthol, which is the go-to ingredient for an immediate ice-cold effect. Discover it by clicking on our website (VETIVER GLACIER).

This is the perfect time to wear patchouli-based fragrances. Depending on your personal preferences, you can wear them in the morning to assert your strong personality or in the evening to create a warm and intimate atmosphere.

The scent of patchouli is the most powerful of all plant-based scents. It’s an aphrodisiac that seduces and envelops the wearer. Its olfactory composition is very rich, opening with a soft, herbaceous facet. Then comes an earthy heart note with a hint of camphor. This evolves into a dry, woody, and spicy base note. Its longevity is wonderful for all women and men who are looking for a long-lasting fragrance.

High-quality patchouli is a fragrance that ages well, developing a rich, distinctive note with a hint of fruitiness.

We’ve selected the best patchouli fragrances for you: VAN CLEEF, NICOLAÏ, LA CLOSERIE, MONT BLANC, and AUTOUR DU PARFUM—all at an affordable price. Discover them all by typing “PATCHOULI” into the search bar on our website’s homepage and take a journey through the olfactory world, from France to Southeast Asia.

However, SANDALWOOD is my “favorite” raw material for the start of the school year. It’s truly very trendy. First of all, it offers a creamy, milky, and velvety quality and has the advantage of being unisex. It also gives the sensation of being wrapped in soft, delicate cashmere. Its rounded, enveloping woody note reaches the nose like a delicate, sensorial caress without being overpowering. It’s an intimate scent, and your skin will love it for its comforting quality.

Sandalwood has a sacred and spiritual aspect, historically used by Indians in their temples. It can take on a more mystical quality by adding a touch of incense.

My favorite fragrances:

• SANTAL BLANC by Van Cleef
• SANTAL PRECIEUX by Caron

This raw material is one of the most emotionally evocative; it is at once luxurious, sensual, modern, and unisex.

Set out to discover it for your greatest pleasure.