Why I Love Powdery Scents

Call me old fashioned, but the new-fangled gourmand and chypre scents really get my goat. I find chypre too young for my taste and gourmand scents too cloying. But give me anything that smells like an old musty cupboard stocked with grandma’s pearls and soaps and I’m a happy girl. It’s perhaps the reason why I love the ‘powdery’ category in perfumes. Powdery scents usually have notes such as iris or voilet in them. Originally, in the 1920s and 30s, these notes were used to scent lipsticks and powders, therefore the name of the category.

Another characteristic of powdery scents is that they smell dry, so if you’re someone who swears by aqua perfumes, you need to stop reading this post now. Here are four of my favourites in no order of preference:

1. Les Exclusifs de Chanel in Misia
The first perfume created by Olivier Polge, who is now the nose at Chanel, this perfume is designed to smell like the backstage of the Russian Ballet. Notes include iris, voilet and rose.

2. Prada Infusion D’Iris
The perfect perfume for women who are new to the powder category, this scents is not so dry. Perhaps that’s because it blends iris with juicy notes such as orange and neroli.

3. Bulgari Le Gemme In Ashmelah
I have got a compliment every time wear this fragrance. This is the mother of all powdery perfumes as it blends not one, not two, but three notes (voilet, iris and heliotrope) that are powder essentials.

4. L’Occitane Iris Bleu Iris Blanc
This perfume smells like lipstick, a fact that I love. It blends two types of iris with ylang ylang and woods. This means that the perfume is super dry and ideal for those who understand the powdery category.