How to Choose Perfume: Smoky Scents and Woodsy Fragrances

Perfumes with tobacco notes and woodsy fragrances appeal to certain types of  consumers; linking personality traits with perfume choice saves time and money

Smoky and woodsy fragrances have powerful effects on both the sense of smell  and the subconscious mind. Perhaps more than any other aromas, they can summon  the wearer back to a long lost time and place, bringing scent-images to mind  with stunning clarity: a cozy evening around a crackling fireplace, a carefree  childhood walk in the woods, the tender burnt-vanilla of a beloved grandfather’s  pipe.

The word “perfume” means “through smoke;” choosing woodsy or smoky scents  could mean passing through a hazy barrier into a world where chemistry melts  into alchemy and molecules meld with magic.

Personality and Perfume: Smoky Scents

These fragrances may have notes of tobacco and incense blended with woods  such as cypress or cedar. Vetiver often appears in such fragrances, lending an  enduring and earthy savor to the overall composition. Women who are attracted to  smoky scents will thus often enjoy woodsy ones as well (the heavier musks and  vanilla may also be great favorites).

Such people have a tendency not to follow the latest fashion; but rather to  pick a style of dress and makeup they think suits them and then stick with it  for years. They probably prefer simpler, somewhat androgynous clothing and may  even choose garments that are “anti-Western-fashion,” such as peasant shirts or  intricate Native American patterns. The androgynous note is definitely reflected  in smoky fragrance preferences, as many of these perfumes are supposed to be for  men.

Since smoking in public is now considered practically a criminal offense in  many countries, those who still respond positively to the smell of tobacco may  possess at least a streak of rebelliousness; and their after-work fashion  choices may well be influenced by this usually obscured wild side. While not  necessarily smokers themselves, they would certainly find a trip to a tobacco  shop both soothing and pleasant.

Perfumes that Smell of Smoke or Tobacco

• La Via del Profumo Tabac: Nice, non-cloying tobacco aroma designed for  men.
• Sonoma Scent Studios Artisan Perfumes Tabac Aura: Tobacco shop delightfully  blended with warm, wonderful cedar.
• B Never to Busy to Be Beautiful Breath of God: Weird and wonderful with  tobacco and vetiver notes; an affordable “profound invention,” according to Perfumes: the A-Z Guide.
• House of Fragrance Jasmin Rosa: This dazzling attention grabbing scent, blend of sensual peony, jasmine and cassia are melded with notes of sweet litchi, Tobacco and effervescent pineapple, and smoothed with soothing musk, white tea, sandal and warm woods.
• Etat Libre d’Orange Jasmine et Cigarette: Strange flowery pipe tobacco  aroma; amusingly labeled a “floral ashtray” by the aforementioned reference  guide.
• Profumo di Firenze Tabacco: Vivid pipe tobacco fragrance.
• L’Artisan Parfumeur Timbuktu: This is a great crossover masculine for women  to try; intoxicating and confident.
• L’Artisan Parfumeur Tea for Two: Smells like spicy chai with a whiff of  smoke. Perfumes: the A-Z Guide recommends this as a home fragrance rather than a  wearable one, but nonconformists might like it quite a bit.

Personality and Perfume: Woodsy Fragrances

Women who like to hunt, fish, camp, or spend hours at the beach usually revel  in woodsy odors. Straightforward and unpretentious, they’ll choose a nature walk  over a trip to the mall every time. They are said to crave intense experiences;  and often exude a subdued charisma, commanding attention from others even when  they don’t have much to say. More efficient than creative, such types generally  appreciate more muted wardrobe colors and skip full-face makeup in favor of a  few well-chosen “natural-look” products.

If a consumer is strongly drawn to woodsy perfumes, she will probably also be  partial to musk, vetiver, vanilla, and richly smoky ones as well. Spicy and  Oriental perfumes could also provide her with an elegant and sophisticated  change of pace.

Great Perfumes that Smell of Wood

Note that most wood fragrances now use synthetic scents to replace natural  wood sources, many of which are now too endangered and expensive to continue to  exploit (some companies continue to use a cheap variety of Australian  sandalwood, however).

• Donna Karan Chaos: The original was heavier and woodier than the reissue,  but the new one still smells pretty good once the odd soda-pop-sweet top note  fades.
• Sonoma Scent Studios Artisan Perfumes Winter Woods: Smoky, woodsy,  beautiful, and crisp; the rare scent that is actually well-matched to its  name.
• Elternhaus Mos!BuddJewChristHinDao: Expensive but a great splurge, tempers  the strength of wood with the controlled flexibility of a carefully arranged  bouquet.
• House of Fragrance Lola Conquest: Strength, femininity and sensuality, Lola Conquest are a combination of oriental wood and spicy aromatic blend which embodies the warm, fluid sensuality of the woman who wears it.
• Annick Goutal Songes: Heavy on jasmine, so quite a bit more feminine than  most of its genre.
• Parfums MDCI Invasion Barbare: Great wood-and-spice masculine aroma that  lasts for ages; its high price is justified by its complexity and peculiar  charm.
• Jil Sander Scent 79 Man: Wood-and-cigarette-tobacco; would make a super gift  for a guy who’s heartily sick of the same old herb-and-chypre aftershave  tedium.
• Diptyque Tam Dao: Smells like cedar; Perfumes: the A-Z Guide recommends this  as a home fragrance rather than a wearable one; might be oddly interesting  layered under another, more conventional scent, though.

Sources

• Erickson, Laurie, Excerpts of Perfume Reviews, Sonoma Scent Studio.
• Fischer-Mirkin, Toby, Dress Code: Understanding the Hidden Meanings of  Women’s Clothes, Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 1995.
• “ How to Understand Perfume Personalities,” beauty-and-the-bath.com.
• Principal, Victoria, The Beauty Principal, New York: Simon & Schuster,  1984.
• Turin, Luca and Sanchez, Tania, Perfumes: the A-Z Guide, New York: Penguin  Books, 2008, 2009.

Descriptive quotes from Turin and Sanchez, pp. 159, 329.