Let Your Favorite Dessert Help You Find a Perfume

Source: Let Your Favorite Dessert Help You Find a Perfume

Your senses of taste and smell are inextricably linked. In fact, most of what you believe you're "tasting" actually comes from your nose. Your tongue can only taste five flavors (sweet, sour, salty, savory, and bitter), so it's up to your nose to determine whether you're eating a cream puff or peach preserves, for example. Your nose, not your tongue, really determines your favorite foods, so why not use your flavor knowledge to find a perfume you'll love, too? Find out what your favorite dessert might say about your scent preferences.

  • Fruit: If you love the sweet but acidic piquancy of fruit at the end of a meal, you'll probably also prefer the complexity of scents with a nectarous heart along with fibrous notes like sandalwood or hay.

In the land of gorgeously fruit-filled scents, there's none better than Hanae Mori Butterfly ($68), which somehow manages to make raspberry jam, strawberries, and wood notes work together beautifully.
For some people, the blend of fresh and sweet isn't what makes fruits so appealing; what they really like is the sophisticated flavor profile. And those individuals would be remiss not to try Juliette Has a Gun Miss Charming ($85), which smells like the inside of an Anthropologie store and makes just about anyone who puts it on feel a little jaunty.


  • Bubblegum: Does the smell of powdery pink bubblegum send you flying? Encens et Bubblegum ($80) will be a revelation, then. It smells just like Dubble Bubble, but transmogrified by the addition of church incense into a fragrance that's at once cheerful and adult.
    If you're just in it for the straight sugar rush, on the other hand, give Aquolina Pink Sugar ($36) a try. It's pure, unadulterated sugar cane dressed up by a little pepper and with all the pulpy, vegetal notes stripped out.

  • More from POPSUGAR Beauty: The Best New Perfumes For Spring



    • Chocolate Anything: Chocolate is so many people's first love: it's sweet and creamy, but has incredible depth of flavor and a taste that lingers long after you've finished your course.
      People whose staple treat is bittersweet or dark chocolate tend to prefer their sweets with an astringent kick, which makes Diptyque Do Son ($88) an excellent olfactory match. It's got the acidic bitterness of orange leaves blended with the softer bitterness of tuberose and then rounded out with musk to keep it from getting overly harsh.
      Does your mouth water at the mere mention of chocolate oranges? Don't try Lush Yuzu & Cocoa ($6) unless you want to get addicted, then. It's a bright, almost tropical fragrance made with real cocoa absolute, grapefruit oil, and tonka beans, and it smells exactly like it sounds. Also dangerous because you might be tempted to actually drink the stuff. (Don't.)


    • Crème Brûlée: Decadent, sweet, creamy desserts are for palates that love intensity but hate "sharp" flavors. If caramels and creams are the stuff of your cravings, you're probably going to love Thierry Mugler Angel ($79). It was the first gourmand scent, and it's still legendary. It's all cotton candy, caramel, and vanilla alchemically baked together into a perfume.
      Loving custard desserts could also indicate that you prefer light yet buttery textures and tastes, though, so if you're in this group, try a similarly sweet but less sybaritic treat, like Laura Mercier Crème Brûlée ($50). It reproduces the sugary-milky accord of the dessert without any of the heaviness.


    More from POPSUGAR Beauty: Yes, There's a Right (and Wrong) Way to Apply Perfume



    • Key Lime Pie: Key lime pie is refreshing, just tart enough to wake up your senses, and there's always room for more. Lime lovers are the perfect candidates for citrus and green fragrances, which have lots of crisp notes and tend to fall into the cologne and body splash categories as opposed to being heftier "perfume."
      The best cheap and cheerful option in this category is probably Demeter Happy Hour Gin & Tonic Cologne Spray ($20). Demeter is great at re-creating scents, and this one has the distinct fizz of tonic with a bunch of limes floating in it. You can spray it on all day and never find yourself offensively over-perfumed, too.
      Should you be the type who loves key lime for its freshness and hint of organic flavor, you might prefer Fresh Citron de Vigne ($38). It's all bright, sweet citrus on top, but it also has green notes like bergamot, sandalwood, and rose.


    • Macarons: Macarons combine lots of sugar and cream with unexpected flavors and a pleasant little crunch. They're the sort of petite dessert that's best for savoring, so if you adore them, it's wise to look for similar traits in a scent.
      Tokyo Milk Honey and The Moon No. 10 ($30) has a note composition very reminiscent of the little not-quite-cookies. It starts off smelling like sweet violet pastilles, then settles down into a jasmine and sandalwood blend that geranium flavor lovers should enjoy.
      Loving macarons can be more about the experience of them than the specific flavor, though, so if what appeals to you is the fun of small bites and interesting flavor combinations, do give CB I Hate Perfume's To See a Flower ($14) a try. Instead of a traditional perfume, it's a scent journey from the first sprouting of a seed to its final bloom. You won't be able to stop smelling yourself as it develops, and after about 20 minutes it dries down to the soft scent of honey.


    • Irish Coffee: Ah, Irish coffee. It's the simultaneously invigorating and relaxing nightcap that makes going back out into a January blizzard seem just a little bit less abominable. You can take similar solace in By Killian Straight to Heaven ($95); it has that same subtle whiff of booze and a nice draught of warmth, too.

      Alternately, if you love the juxtaposition of coffee's bitterness and whiskey's tongue-picking grain accord, you might enjoy wearing Fresh Citron De Vigne ($38). It smells like the bitter skin of almonds blended with tannin-heavy pinot noir. There are a few citrus notes on top to liven things up, but the heart of the fragrance is uniquely acerbic.


    More from POPSUGAR Beauty: Why a Hangover Can Change the Way Your Perfume Smells



    • A Spot of Tea: The refined, slightly toasted sapor of tea is one of humanity's best-loved flavors, and its disciples are rarely willing to go a day (or meal, for that matter) without it. If you're part of that merry, caffeine-addicted crew, the scent for you should be profoundly comforting, but with a certain delicacy and lightness as well.

      Enter Serge Lutens Five O'Clock Gingembre ($120), which seeks to be the embodiment of everything that's beautiful about tea time. It smells like tea with honey and a gingerbread cookie for dipping. Lots of spice and a touch of sweetness, but never loud or overwhelming.
      Those who prefer their tea untrammeled by the niceties of biscuits and milk, however, might want to set their sights on A Rather Novel Collection 1856 Darjeeling ($48), which replicates the scent of cardamom-spiked jasmine tea.


    • No Dessert, Please; I Prefer Savory Flavors: The savory palate is a rare and urbane one, and those without a sweet tooth are unlikely to respond well to gourmand scents, florals, or light, green fragrances like fougeres.
      Fans of fatty, meaty treats like steak or duck will enjoy the rich scent of Miller Harris Feuilles de Tabac ($95). It smells like suede, sage, and tobacco leaves all wrapped up together.
      If you'd prefer a shepherd's pie, or can't get enough of chicken Marsala, Yosh Sombra Negra ($130) may appeal to you. It smells like mushrooms, pepper, teak, and cypress - lots of depth, seriously herbaceous, and plenty to sink your teeth into.



    Related Content:
    Discover the Latest (and Greatest) in Cloth Facial Masks