Autumn / Winter Perfumes

Autumn / winter calls for warmer everything: clothes, food, perfumes. Here are eight of my favourite perfumes which err on the spicier, deeper side.

Elizabeth I

The lightest and perhaps the most unusual of the bunch, I got this perfume from Hampton Court, of all places. It is supposedly based on a perfume recipe made for my idol, Queen Elizabeth I, the recipe of which is listed on the bottle: 'take eight grains of musk and put in rose-water eight spoonfuls, three spoonfuls o Damask water and a quarter of an ounce of sugar. Boil for five hours and strain.' From that description you can tell that this is a very sweet perfume, which is rather fitting for a queen who had a notorious sweet tooth. Of course, back in the days, being able to use sugar in one's cosmetics was definitely a symbol of status of wealth.

The modern take of Elizabeth I's perfume is unsurprisingly sweet, but it is also very light. I absolutely love it, and my only complaint is that it is very little staying power. Perfume generally lingers for a long time on my skin (I have a cool surface temperature), but this one only lasts about half a day on me.

Moment Volé

Another unusual perfume, Moment Volé translates directly to 'stolen moment', and was created in celebration of its fragrance museum in Grasse. Fragonard is one of the largest fragrance houses in the Grasse area, and each year they bring out beautiful yet inexpensive perfumes which showcase the flowers of the region. Moment Volé has an evocative name, and the perfume itself is as romantic and elusive as the name suggests: has fruity, light top notes of blackcurrant, raspberry and violent leaf; floral middle notes of Damask rose, iris and violet; and a rich amber back note.

Benefit My Place or Yours Gina

One of the original 'girls' in Benefit's scent collection, Gina is the only one I like. Deeper than its sisters, Gina is marketed as a 'seductive' scent - I disagree, it is far too sweet and girlish to be truly 'seductive'. It is a sweet oriental-woody perfume with top notes of pink pepper, bergamot and tangerine; middle notes of peony, raspberry and white lily; and base notes of patchouli, tonka bean and vanilla bean. From these ingredients alone you can imagine how sweet it is - but thankfully it is balanced enough not to be sickly sweet.

Estee Lauder Modern Muse Chic

The second installment in Estee Lauder's 'Modern Muse' collection, Modern Muse Chic is a stylish,  more complex version of the original Modern Muse. It is a rather innovative perfume due to the fact that it has two distinctly different accords: a floral accord and an ebony woods accord, making it quite an intriguing scent because until you realise it has two accords you can't quite put your finger on the scent. Accordingly, it has a complex and long list of notes: two kinds of jasmin, davana, plum, honey, stargazer lilies, tuberose, suede musks, cashmere woods, patchouli, agarwood, labdanum and Madagascar vanilla.

Dior J'adore

Over the years, Dior has created some truly iconic perfumes. One of my earliest memories of wrongdoing was stealing a sniff at my mother's glass bottle of Diorissimo, and acidentally spilling all of its contents. I have tried, and tried, and tried to find a replacement bottle, and although the perfume is still among the Dior collection, I cannot for the life of me find the same bottle: it must have been limited edition. They say smell is the sense most closely linked to memories, and I cannot smell Diorissimo without feeling an overwhelming sense of joy and guilt. Joy because it brought back memories of me stealing sniffs at my mother's rather impressive collection of perfume miniatures; and guilt because, will, I spilled my absolute favourite.

So despite Diorissimo being my favourite Dior perfume, I cannot wear it. I have to turn to a modern classic instead, and that is J'adore. I love that the bottle is shaped like a Greek amphora, and the bottle is as golden as the perfume smells. The top notes are citrusy and fruity with mandarin being a stand-out; the middle notes are floral with a strong jasmine, rose and orchid; and the base note is a soft musk.

McQueen Kingdom

This is a divisive perfume. Bold, strong and musky almost to the point of masculinity, Kingdom is not everybody's cup of tea, and I love it precisely because it stands out from the myriad of perfumes which try to make women smell 'feminine'.

Dior Midnight Poison

This perfume breaks my heart - because it is no longer in production. It has the structure of my perfect scent: a citrus top note, a rose heart note and a patchouli base note. I haven't worn it in a long time, because once this bottle is gone, it will be hard to get my hands on another one.

Federic Malle, Portrait of a Lady

Portrait of a Lady is my first 'serious' perfume. Named after a Henry James novel, this perfume is a a spicy oriental with the most notable top note being rose, the most notable heart note being patchouli and the most notable base note of amber.