Perfume Diary: Fragrance Filling the sleeves

Author: Cai Hui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-01
Features: It's not the gentle and refined scent of Kenzo or Issey Miyake, nor the refreshing coolness of Davidoff's Cool Water or Armani's Acqua di Gio. This men's fragrance gives me a cold feeling: coldly watching the rise and fall of waves, coldly watching the birth and end of love, coldly brushing away others' clamor, as if wiping away a speck of dust from clothes. Trouble is a relatively new women's fragrance, with a slightly powdery top note and a slightly alluring middle note. First, let's look at the style of the advertisement—it has a hint of Dior's Hypnotic Poison, but when you smell it, it lacks a bit of allure compared to Hypnotic Poison, making its appeal to men much weaker: it's obviously troublesome and lacks the strong temptation to attract men, so it's better to stay away. If we compare the overall styles of various fragrance brands, we can say that Chanel is like a graceful middle-aged noblewoman, Christian Dior is like a charming fashionable celebrity, Guerlain is like a cold and aloof iceberg beauty, Lancome is like a gentle and sweet young woman, YSL is like a wild and sexy creature, and Cacharel is like an innocent neighborhood girl—cute enough to make you want to pat her head, and vulnerable enough to make you want to hold her close and whisper words of comfort. Allure's women's fragrance and Estée Lauder's Pleasures give me a similar impression—they are both gentle yet strong, no longer naive young girls who haven't experienced the trials of life yet. The difference lies in that Allure is more suitable for office use, with a slightly aggressive vibe, and a bit more sensual than Pleasures; while Pleasures has more tranquility, tolerance, and a sense of detachment from the world. This book can be read in several ways: as an introductory book to perfumes, a reference book for fashion, or a leisurely read. It can be considered an introductory book to perfumes because it introduces more than forty fragrance brands and hundreds of their fragrances. Additionally, short notes about perfumes and my personal recommendations are interspersed throughout the text for reference. Reading it as a fashion reference book is also worthwhile because it mentions all the brands that have made a name for themselves or once did in the fashion world, along with their brand histories and some related stories, and it also exclusively shares my views on fashion culture. Leisurely brewing a cup of coffee or tea and reading this book can also be a great way to pass the time. In my writing, apart from perfumes, I also dedicate a lot of space to fashion, food, travel, entertainment—all things that make life more comfortable, lively, and diverse.