Editor's Choice Fragrances: Edisa Shahini's 5 Favourites
"People won't remember your bag, but they will remember how you smell." For me, perfume is like an accessory. It's that important final 'touch' to complete my look. It showcases personality, taste and lifestyle. A fragrance is one of my favourite things to put on my skin every day, even if I don't have to go anywhere.
There is something special about having a unique signature scent, which makes people remember you.
The perfume culture in my family had a big influence on finding my own favourite top and base notes. I wear perfume every day, just like I wear my favourite accessories. It's part of my daily routine after my morning shower, even when I go to bed - I want to smell good.
I own many perfumes, but I always have two favourite scents for spring and summer and autumn and winter and I don't change that. In the colder seasons, I love more masculine fragrances with main accords like woody, warm-spicy, powdery, amber, patchouli and oud notes. For spring and summer, I prefer fresh-spicy, powdery, citrusy and green-aromatic scents.
My Top 5 Scents
1. GUERLAIN - Néroli Outrenoir
2. Van Cleef & Arpels - Oud Blanc
3. CREED – Virgin Island Water
4. Frédéric Malle – Portrait of a Lady
5. L’Artisan Parfumeur - PATCHOULI PATCH
GUERLAIN - Néroli Outrenoir
Inspired and determined, the perfumer of the Maison Guerlain has chosen a luminous neroli beautifully complemented by bergamot and contrasted with notes of smoky tea, myrrh, and dark woods (gaiac and oud).
The fragrance stands out for its woody, floral aromatic character.
- Top notes: Petitgrain, Bergamot
- Heart notes Neroli, orange blossom, smoky tea notes.
- Base notes: Ambergris seed, moss, and myrrh
Van Cleef & Arpels - Oud Blanc
The perfume contains notes of fig milk, musk powder and is addictive in a gentle way. The perfume is unisex. The fragrance gives personality and a sense of uniqueness is exclusive and timeless.
- Top notes: mandarin, fig milk
- Heart notes: violet, cedarwood essence
- Base notes: musk, tonka beans
CREED - Virgin Island Water
It is probably no coincidence that this was the perfume that came to Olivier Creed's mind when he was sailing through the Sir Francis Drake Channel towards Ginger Island in 2006. Glass-clear water, the winds of the sea - the perfect inspiration for a day at the seaside, all combined in this bottle. Seductive coconut, lime, and hibiscus he jotted down as an idea in his notebook, which he presented as a creation in Paris six months later.
- Top notes: Coconut, lime, bergamot, mandarin.
- Heart notes: Hibiscus, ginger, ylang-ylang, jasmine
- Base notes: Sugar cane, rum, musk
Frédéric Malle - Portrait of a Lady - Dominique Ropion
Dominique Ropion uses an oriental rose that balances on an accord of benzoin, cinnamon, sandalwood, and above all patchouli, musk, and incense. A fragrance that makes its wearer almost magnetic.
Dominique Ropion is considered one of the most famous perfumers of his guild and made a true statement with this fragrance.
- Top notes: Clove, raspberry, rose, blackcurrant, cinnamon.
- Heart notes: patchouli, sandalwood, incense
- Base notes: ambergris, benzoin, musk
L’Artisan Parfumeur - PATCHOULI PATCH
Released in 2002, patchouli not only gives the fragrance its name but is also present in all its diversity on the skin. The beautiful bottle, which looks wonderful as a decorative object in any bathroom, would already have earned its own prize, but the contents are even more overwhelming.
The unisex perfume is from the amber fragrance family and settles on the skin with a velvetiness that you won't find a second time. You have literally been whisked away into another world that shines with sensuality and seduction.
It was created by Evelyne Boulanger and Bertrand Duchaufour.
Top notes: Patchouli, caraway, star anise, white musk.
Heart notes: Patchouli, white musk, osmanthus, iris.
Base notes: Sandalwood, vetiver, cedar
