OOOOHHHHH! Mood scent 4 week! YAY! This month we sniff some spices. Spicy frags are up to bat. Now spice is a HUGE genre, so much choice. Some very fine houses got completely ignored today, sorry. I do think we have a nice cross section of price, availability and designer or niche. Some are pretty new and others are world builders. I’m hoping a couple will be new to you and at least one a total surprise.
Can’t wait to read about your fave spicy frags in the comments too.
So excited to be blogging with these three superstars again: Esperanza L’Esperessence, Megan Megan In Sainte Maxime and Samantha I Scent You A Day. Check theirs out too.
Mood Scent 4: Spice It Up
Spice It Up! This was a very hard set to put together. SO MANY fragrances are spicy or show a couple of spices off beautifully.
Caravelle Épicée by Frapin
I’m pretty sure Caravelle Epicee has been on my list of faves for another Mood Scent 4 but when we start talking spices it’s one of the best. Pepper is surrounded by a cupboards worth of other hot and flavourful spices and some herbs. There are woods, patchouli and a sweet honeyed, smoky tobacco. Underneath all of this is a very slight brininess to give the scent a feeling of a spice trader ship at sea. Awesome stuff.
Jaipur Homme by Boucheron
My last long term partner is an Indian hotelier who lives in Alwar, halfway between Delhi and Jaipur. I have bought him bottles of Jaipur over the years and he absolutely loves the designers version of a French/Indian fusion. A recent re-acquisition to my collection, it’s a happy memory scent. After a very cool citrus opening cardamom, nutmeg, clove and cinnamon are fused with flowers. The heart and dry down add resins and tonka for a sheer wearing spicy beauty.
№ 12 Eau d’Épices by Tauer Perfumes
Eau d’Epices was my first niche buy. I’d just discovered the scentbloggosphere. I was reading EVERYTHING I could till the birds started singing each morning. It drove Jin bonkers that I’d become so obsessed with perfume. Eau d’Epices and LDDM were my two favourites from the sample set I’d ordered and I knew my BFF would fall in love with LDDM so I finally took the plunge and ordered a bottle of each for Xmas. Just put every spice you can find, scaldingly hot citruses, roses, resins, grass, ambergris and some super sweet amber in a blender, amp it up to 1,000 and spritz yourself. It is huge, beautiful, rich and gorgeous. Totally DCd. Sorry.
Parfum de Maroc by Aftelier
I’ve not been to Morocco, though have dreamed of going for decades. Visiting india, Asia and the Middle East though I have an idea of what markets smell like in those regions. This sadly discontinued rare gem of a fragrance is one of my Go-To spice scents. Nutmeg, ginger, pepper, cardamom and saffron with roses and resins. TBH I can only smell most of these spices as a group rather than their stand alone scents. The blending is flawless and underneath all the spices there is a hint of dust and humanity.
Spice Must Flow by Etat Libre d’Orange
How could I write about spice and not refer to the luxe ELdO lines yummiest release? Spice Must Flow is a sweet peppered ginger adventure with cinnamon for extra warmth. It comes with the rose/saffron/patchouli accord we see so often in modern niche. Not telling a brand new story but telling it nicely. I find it wearable and comfortable without being generic. That it references one of my all time favourite books could have something to do with my mad love for it too.
Youth-Dew by Estée Lauder
It’s so exciting to put one of my long term favourite perfumes here in this list. Youth Dew is arguable the starting point for American designer perfumery. A super spice bomb that wears as beautifully today as it did nearly 70 years ago. Don’t write off this aged beauty, She can stand tall with many and far above a slew of the most expensive niche perfumes on offer today. Sparkling aldehydes, spices, citrus, clove, flowers and resins drizzled over vanilla and wafting through smoky incense laden air.
Don’t forget to go across and read the other three members of the Mood Scent 4 crew:
Esperanza L’Esperessence
Megan Megan In Sainte Maxime
Samantha I Scent You A Day.
Please share your Spice It Up faves
Portia xx
A Bottled Rose 
Snap on the Tauer! Love that one. I also have a decant of Spice Must Flow.
My additions: Noir Épices by Frédéric Malle/Michel Roudnitska and Parfums MDCI Fêtes Persanes. When I want spice these are my top two. Sweeter and mostly cinnamon is Micallef Denis Durand Couture in the lace-wrapped bottle. It’s a powerhouse of sweet and spice.
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YAY TaraC,
Love Noir Epices! Excellent addition.
Not familiar with the others though. Interesting.
Portia xx
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I had to think about this one. I have a couple of Trayee travels, which I do wear. They would count as spicy I guess, and it is quite gorgeous. And the Cardamusc from Hermès? I would not think of it as spicy though. Hmmmmm. I hate with a capital H cinnamon in anything, from perfume to food. I love saffron though, but don’t count say Dries (it is being discontinued you know) as spicy. Am sure there are drops of spice in a million things, but “a spicy perfume” is not my jam. Still pondering through. xxx
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Hey Val,
Pepper is a spice! Your beloved Rose & Cuir is peppery. That counts.
Cardamom is definitely a spice too and Trayee is spicy up the wazoo. Can you believe it’s 10 years old this year?
Portia xx
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But I would never describe R&C as spicy. Yes – Trayee is a bomb, and I love most of it, but drydown can be a bit dodgy. I am a Mohur woman ——- Ten years? Wow.
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HA HA HA! Is that because your car smelled of the Trayee dry down for a couple of years after I sat in it?
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That car is now somewhere in Moldavia or something. No doubt it still smells.
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HA HA HA HA HA
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Dries is discontinued? I feel a lot less bad about my backup bottle now. What a pity.
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Superstitious and Dries. As of September as far as I know. I think – do not quite me – Dries V himself is launching a fragrance line. Stay tuned.
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Hey Portia
I can manage and enjoy lightly spiced perfumes. Val reminded me I love saffron if it’s fairly low key and also cardamom. Gingerbread style notes are also lovely.
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Hey Tara!
Yes! I love ginger in perfume. Do you like 5 O’Clock eau Gingembre by Serge?
Portia xx
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I do!
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It’s my most worn Serge by far.
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It must be one of his most wearable but still interesting.
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Yay for Youth Dew! That Grande Dame doesn’t get enough appreciation these days. My 73 year old Mum won’t wear it as it’s too old for her! I’m 51 and I love those Mae West vibes it gives off. As for Tauer, nobody does hot spice on a hot day like him. LADDM is one of those rare scents that’s perfect for hot weather and cosy in cold. Man’s a genius.
Nice to see Aftelier in there too. I have visited Mandy and she gave me a little tour of her mixing room and let me sniff ingredients and rifle through the sample drawer. I was in perfume heaven!
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O M G! You went to Mandy’s place. Colour me jealous. that would have been amazing.
ONE DAY!
Portia xx
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DSH Cimabue is my favourite spice scent – and one I keep meaning to rebuy, so thanks for reminding me of the style. I also like Poivre 23 by Le Labo, and L’Artisan Safran Troublant, and Opium Fleur de Shanghai.
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OOOOHHH! Vanessa, you’ve just named four perfume bottles in my collection! I never knew we snapped so well. My Cimabue is about half left of an 8ml though so not REALLY a bottle.
Portia xx
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Love your picks, Portia. Especially CARAVELLE ÉPICÉE BY FRAPIN spices and tobacco, wow. Has been so long since I tried Youth Dew, must retry it some time as well. Mandy’s Maroc sounds like a wonderful concoction ad you would expect from her. Sam is a lucky girl to have visited her studio/museum. XxxEsperanza
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Hey Esperanza,
The frappe is one of my faves. So beautifully put together and wears well in so many weathers.
Portia xx
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Hi Portia – you have lots of goodies in yours. Love Youth Dew too and the Andy Tauer I had a sample of way back in the day. . Xxx
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HA! Back in the day. You make us sound like dinosaurs Megan!
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I think I don’t really like spicy perfumes. I mean, I’m sure I have some in my collection, but I can’t really think of any, and after spending a looong time scrolling through Fragrantica’s list of perfumes with spicy notes, all I could find was Jo Malone Black Vetiver Cafe.
I disliked Tauer’s perfume many years ago when I tried it first, but when I tried it again a year ago or so, I realized that my tastes changed, and that time I found it pleasant.
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That’s so interesting Undina, I’d have picked you as someone who liked ginger, pepper or cardamom at the very least. Maybe even some chilli and saffron.
Thank everything that we all have different taste though, eh? It would be a pretty linear life if we all only liked same.
Portia xx
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I think that I just have a different notion of “spicy” 🙂 It’s a language thing. In my native language “spicy” means “hot” (read – with black pepper, chili or such) and not “with spices.” I do like some not hot spices in perfumes.
It looks like a potential topic for a post 🙂
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Yeah, I love that language and understanding depend on your upbringing. That would be a really cool post Undina.
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I love spicy perfumes. I Didn’t realize, but looking at my collection, most of them are spicy. Some favorites are Parfum Sacré, Serge Noire, Memoir, Trayee, Tea for Two, Poivre 23, La Fumée, Oud for Love….
I will give some of your picks a try Portia. I’ve only sniffed Youth Dew and loved it.
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Sylvia! We snap on a LOT of perfumes. YAY!
Spice is US!
Portia xx
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