Smell is the sense most closely tied to memory. A single note — wet stone, orange peel, a particular soap — can return you to a room you haven't stood in for twenty years. It is no surprise, then, that the way people talk about fragrance is changing. Fewer people ask what is popular. More ask what something reminds them of.
Scent as autobiography
The fragrances that generate the most devoted followings now are often the most specific: the smell of a fig tree in late summer, of a library, of a grandmother's handbag. They are less about projecting glamour and more about telling a story, even if only to the wearer.
How to choose
Our advice is old-fashioned: test on skin, not paper, and wait. The opening of a fragrance is only the first chapter; what it becomes after an hour is what you will live with. Wear a sample for a full day before buying a bottle, and ignore the reviews until you have formed your own opinion.
