How to Pick a Perfume: Spicy Fragrances and Musky Scents

Perfumes and personalities should match rather than clash; introverts like spicy  perfumes, while animalic or musky fragrances appeal to a wide variety.

There’s a good deal of overlap between animalic scents (musk, civet, etc.),  spicy fragrances, and amber-based Oriental perfumes. The personality types drawn  to each may share many of the same characteristics; yet there are definite  differences between those who choose to wear musk oil-based fragrances and those  who prefer cinnamon, saffron, or clove scents.

Although the following article provides general rules to help pick out  perfume as a gift or for yourself, it is important to remember that no perfume  and personality guidelines are set in stone. There will always be talkative  extroverts who love spicy fragrances, and tomboyish outdoors types who adore  classically feminine florals.

Personality and Perfume: Spicy Scents

Most would probably guess that people who choose spicy perfumes have “spicy  personalities,” but fragrances based on exotic spices often have a stronger  appeal to quiet, introverted, intellectual types. They may prefer ultra-tailored  suits and dark colors to brightly colored fashions; and their makeup tends to be  subdued and carefully applied rather than flamboyant. Spicy scent lovers may  occasionally exhibit a barely-suppressed streak of the exotic, though; and will  then use a single piece of extravagant jewelry or a jewel-toned scarf to provide  a glamorous touch and alleviate an overly severe outfit.

Women who enjoy cooking with spices, making potpourri from spices, or  consuming heavily seasoned cuisine may be drawn to spicy fragrances as well.  Some spice-lovers who have skin allergies and cannot wear perfumes like to carry  around small envelopes filled with a blend of spices. In other words, if a  person adores these types of scents, she will have great difficulty going  without them for long.

Excellent Perfumes Based on Spices

• Estée Lauder Cinnabar: Released in 1977 to compete with Opium, this classic  deserves to be rediscovered.
• Chanel Coco: Multifaceted and subtly spicy; though some reviewers find it “terribly dated,” women who wear Coco remain loyal to it for decades.
• Amouage Jubilation XXV: Marketed for men, but anyone who likes incense and  spices will enjoy it; expensive, but worth seeking out.
• L’Artisan Parfumeur Safran Troublant: Unique and fascinating scent that  combines vanilla and saffron. Called “high art at heart” in Perfumes: the A-Z  Guide.
• House of Fragrance Daman Unforgiven: Released in 2010, a confident man with a free spirit, seductive with the promise of hidden sensuality.

Personality and Perfume: Animalic or Musky Fragrances

An animalic perfume is one based on notes that resemble bodily odors. Such  aromas include musk, civet, and castoreum; although they used to be extracted  from animals such as the Himalayan musk deer, they are now primarily  synthetically derived. Consumers particularly concerned with animal rights  should take care to purchase fragrances that are not extremely expensive, since  cheaper fragrances never have ingredients derived from animals in them.

Musky fragrances may be either subtle or strong; light, sweet musks are often  enjoyed by shy, retiring types, while more outgoing individuals like a woodsy,  earthy, or at least “louder” version of the arresting aroma. Such perfumes are  chosen as favorites by so many different types of people that it is impossible  to come to even generalized conclusions about their appearance or personality  traits. In other words, when in doubt, try an animalic scent!

Interestingly, many women find the smell of animal scents sexually arousing;  while most men cannot even detect it. In fact, the musk molecule is so large and  unwieldy that not all women can smell all types of musk either. Of course,  science can only comment on what is or is not consciously smelled; there’s no  telling exactly what’s going on down at the subconscious level.

Perhaps for that very reason, notes of musk are used in practically all  perfumes; and have traditionally been one of the basic building blocks of any  quality fragrance. Ancient tribes used to wear leather, animal skins, and furs  to absorb some of the power, courage, and intense nature of the wild beasts they  hunted; possibly the same atavistic psychological drives are buried deep within  the modern-day lingering affection for animalic odors.

Musk Perfumes and Other Animalic Fragrances

• Serge Lutens Muscs Koublai Khan: Castoreum, civet, and synthetic musk;  fierce as a snarling feral cat, it somehow manages to both appeal and  appall.
• Theo Fennell Scent: Musk plus saffron, with a wood and Oriental-influenced  drydown. Nice unisex fragrance.
• Guerlain Jicky: Vanilla and herbs, but with strong undercurrent of civet;  except for the elimination of phototoxic nitro musks, Jicky’s formula has  remained reliably constant since 1889.
• House of Fragrance Daman Ultimate Sport: Smooth Vanilla Orchid, with White Musk and Black Pepper, a free thinker and confident man who is unafraid to take risks and push boundaries.
• Guerlain L’Instant Magic Elixir: Described as “radiant musk” in Perfumes:  the A-Z Guide.
• Jovan Musk for Women: light and cozy with floral notes; a likable and  perennial drugstore favorite.

Sources

• AriaMech, “How  to smell good without the use of perfume,” everything2.com.
• Fischer-Mirkin, Toby, Dress Code: Understanding the Hidden Meanings of  Women’s Clothes, Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 1995.
• “ Fragrances & Your Scent Personality,” squidoo.com.
• Gabriel, Julie, The Green Beauty Guide, Deerfield Beach, FL, Health  Communications, Inc., 2008.
• Turin, Luca and Sanchez, Tania, Perfumes: the A-Z Guide, New York: Penguin  Books, 2008, 2009.
• “What  Personality Does Your Perfume Reveal?,” beyondjane.com, 2010.

Descriptive quotes taken from Turin and Sanchez, pp. 315, 483.