If you’re a long time reader of Good Golly Miss Hollie, you’ll most likely already know that I have a real penchant for perfume. Heck, there’s even a whole section dedicated to fragrance. Whether it’s catching a whiff of my favourite scent on my scarf during the day, or admiring the stunning bottles lined up prettily on my dressing table – I just LOVE the power of perfume and have done ever since I was gifted my first bottle of Cinema by YSL aged 11.
In this blog post, I’m going to talk about my 2019 perfume collection and boy has it come a long way since the original 2017 perfume collectionpost. So if you’re a perfume lover like myself, this one is for you.
My perfume collection
All thanks to a bit of content geekery, I created a word cloud to see if there was a common theme between the scents in my perfume collection. It appeared that there was, and the notes that I am gravitating towards are: White floral, woody, warm, sweet and spicy!
Also, just a side note – Don’t worry, I’m not going to pretend I know what I’m talking about when it comes to describing scents and how they dry down. I’ll just describe as I smell and accept a little help from Fragantica.
Strong heady fragrances that seriously pack a punch
Some of my favourite perfumes in my collection are the ones that seriously pack a punch and/or make anyone within my vicinity feel sick or headachey. Sorry about that. And so onto the good stuff, I’d say my favourite perfume at the moment is Obsession by Calvin Klein (1985) which is a very heavy, powdery scent with really warm base notes. I absolutely adore the bottle also with is shaped like an egg and is so ergonomic to hold.
Other perfumes I enjoy in this category include,YSL’s Opium(1977) which is just pure filth/sex/debauchery in a bottle. I mostly wear this bad boy at night time as it’s so smokey and spicey and definitely inspires getting up to no good.
And finally, the latest addition to the strong, heady fragrances family is Red Door by Elizabeth Arden(1989). I’ve admired this scent for years having first been introduced to it via my aunt. Not quite as pungent as the previous two perfumes mentioned, but still a statement scent none the less all thanks to those white floral, powdery notes. For staying power, this is your gal.
Fragrance from the professional makeup artist, Mary Greenwell
I’m typing this section with a heavy heart. Mary Greenwell fragrances are no longer available to buy, which is SO SAD because they truly are a treat. I’ve previously interviewed Mary, who was Princess Di’s makeup artist, (You can read the interview here!) and she really is one of life’s legends. So you’ll understand that I was even more saddened to learn, through a podcast (or an article) I can’t quite remember which, that since her fragrance line was discontinued, Mary doesn’t care to wear perfume anymore. Man, that makes me sad!
Housed in a striking and simple square bottle with a seriously heavy gold orb lid, my personal favourite fragrances from Mary are ‘Plum’ (2010) a sweet, woody and fruity scent as well as ‘Fire’ (2013), a spicy scent that is undoubtedly unisex. Though, given that they have been discontinued, I wear them both sparingly these days to keep them in my collection for as long as possible.
Light and delicate fragrances
I’ve previously written about the light, barely-there fragrancein my collection so I won’t linger here too long, however, I definitely turn to the following perfumes on hot summer days or for ‘prim and proper’ occasions such as job interviews. After all, even I don’t want to whiff super pungent perfume ALL the time.
And so my lighter fragrances include Blackberry and Bay by Jo Malone (2012), a fruity, citrusy, fresh and woody scent that I quite often take the lid off the bottle just to sniff. Gabrielle by Chanel (2017) a very subtly sweet and floral scent that to me, dries down as more of a cologne. And finally J’Adore by Dior (1999), another floral, sweet scent that is silently powerful. They all make me feel super confident and as though I have my shit together.
The ones that I call my ‘Grown up’ fragrances
Of course, I am a grown up (lol) however, there are a few perfumes in my collection that truly make me feel like one. Those are, Tom Ford’s ‘White Patchouli (2008) which is very floral, yet sophisticated and warm on your skin.
A recent addition to my perfume collection is the beautifully bottled Decadence from Marc Jacobs(2015). I think this bottle has to be my all time favourite perfume bottle. Another woody and powdery scent it is the perfect out-for-dinner fragrance. And my old favourite, which I hope to never be without a bottle of – Cinema by YSL(2004) a glamorous amber, vanilla, floral scent that reminds me of growing up from a kid into a teenager and into an adult.
And the best of the rest…
Broadly speaking, Aura by Mugler (2017) is by far and away the most unique fragrance that I have in my collection. In fact, it’s so polarising that I had to beg my boyfriend to buy me it for my birthday because he thinks it’s not at all that nice, and neither does my Mum. I personally LOVE the sour, churchy, woody, vanilla scent and the bottle is to die for! This one has serious lasting power too so definitely one to wear if you want your scent to stay full throttle all day (or night) long.
I was gifted Calvin Klein’s iconic Euphoria (2005) by my boyfriend’s late father, so I like to keep this one around in my collection, though it truly is a gorgeous scent and perfect for all occasions all thanks to floral notes that are there…but not overpowering.
And finally, a true icon in my collection and one I hope to never be without because it reminds me of my Nana. It’sCoty L’aimant (1927). This is SUCH an underrated perfume that you can buy at your local supermarket for literally £10!? For a truly vintage fragrance that stands the test of time, this is one of the greats.
And so to round up, here are some of the scents that I’d like to add to my collection in the near future. I absolutely adore Glossier’s debut fragrance, You(2017) it is a really sophisticated scent with notes of musk. As well as Hermes’s 24 Faubourg(1995) which of course has absolutely NOTHING to do with being Princess Diana’s alleged favourite scent of the 90s.
