I am an island.

Perfume created for a Place – tell me yours.

Wearing Fidji parfum today. Classic perfumery, with aldehydes, fresh florals, soapiness, and an woodsy ambery base. So powerful that I could smell 1 spray on my skin even after a shower, so this really does stick to your skin.

Fidji came out in 1966 but it’s got an overconfidence that could come from the 80’s. Feminine, beautiful, but also complicated on a way that’s interesting. It’s more of a cool floral than a warm one that I would imagine when I think of tropical islands, and I like that it has a creamy drydown thanks to the sandalwood, but I can smell the florals in this throughout the time that I wear it. Ylang ylang, carnation, jasmine, and rose are al blended to seamlessly in Fidji. Instead of an approximation of what Fiji the place smells like, this is maybe what I would wear on my way to Fiji. It’s cool and fresh, and very feminine and classy. The lady who wears this perfume carries a hat box as carry-on.

It’s hilarious to think of a perfume brand imagining an island far away and creating a perfume for those who want the “Exotic”, but then yesterday I smelled Magnificently Dubai from Zara and it’s a stereotypical and generic rose-oud number, and Luca Turin hates on Zoologist Camel for smelling stereotypically like a souk. There are so many perfumes created for ideas of places but actually most good perfume is transportive, if not to a physical destination then to a state of mine. Olfactory escapism will never actually go away (thank goodness) and I’ll always volunteer to get on a ride via perfume bottle, regardless of whether the destination is real or imagined.

What’s your favourite perfume created for a place?