Wealden Times | WT178 | December 2016 | Interiors supplement inside

Beauty
for perfume
In the mood
There’s more to scent than a pretty smell… Josephine
Fairley explains how you can use it to get in the zone
What you’re about to read is deeply unscientific.
Not a scrap of evidence exists for what I’m
about to say. But nevertheless, I defy any
perfume-lover to deny that the fragrances we wear have a
definite impact on our mood – and our ‘awakeness’, too.
A little bit of research has been done into aromatherapy
oils (the scent jasmine, for instance, has been definitively
found to aid sleep), but perfume? Nada.
I’ve always reached for fragrance to ‘put me in the
mood’. I can be yearning for a night on the sofa with a
box set of Suits – and a spritz of something glamorous
will have me reaching for my party shoes. If I want to
feel ‘cosy’, I’ve scents for that, too. And for feeling that
bit more ‘professional’ and pulled-together. A delusion? I
don’t think so.
Having set up The Perfume Society two years ago – a
website that works as a hub for perfume-lovers, with
events all over the country, including this neck of the
woods – I hear an endless stream of feedback from
women (and increasing numbers of men) who turn to
perfume as… well, a mood-altering substance. (One
that’s entirely legal, of course.)
In my ‘arsenal’, then – for I truly think of it that way –
there are some very specific scents I turn to. And here are
so me of my suggestions, for you.
When the last thing you want to do is go to a party…
Time to reach for something elegant, grown-up, infused
with invisible glamour. Try the new Chanel No.5 L’Eau,
£68 for 50ml Eau de Parfum, a dazzling, almost sparkling
and modern spin on the classic, or Sisley Eau du Soir,
£81 for 30ml, a classic Chypre (the most sophisticated
of the fragrance ‘families’ – you can read more about all
that on the Perfume Society website, link below) which
almost demands its own chauffeur, it’s so classy.
I often spray myself (and my dress – fabric’s a great
‘carrier’ of scent) with Guerlain Shalimar, £50 for 30ml
Eau de Parfum: sweet-yet-fresh, an enduring classic for
very good reason. Jimmy Choo Eau de Parfum, from
£41 for 40ml, is the equivalent of slipping on a pair of
those shoes, in terms of getting you party-ready, with a
wonderfully woody sexiness.
117 wealdentimes.co.uk