“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” -Albert Camus
I love the fall season.
That is a relatively recent development though. In previous, unenlightened (read: pre-perfumania) times, I didn’t particularly care for the sadness of nature’s involution, my naturally pessimistic disposition chose to focus on the depressing aspects of fall – decline, decay, decrepitude, deterioration, dissolution, death.
I was quite the cheerful gal! 😉
Perfume allowed me to see the other side more clearly. Crisp air, agreeable temperatures after the summer’s oppressive heat (see, I’m just not one to derive much happiness from the weather), beautiful colors, nature going down with a fanfare. And most importantly of all – the chance to wear wonderful perfumes, to go all out, to choose from the whole palette.
Fall is perfume time, anything goes and it is the time to rediscover old favorites in your collection once again and with a fresh nose.
Guerlain Tonka Impériale: my security blanket, warm and cuddly and ravishingly pretty, this works every time, anywhere.
Ginestet Botryitis: a honey perfume, a grown-up gourmand, Botrytis is golden fall sunlight in a bottle, which is as unusual and beautiful like the perfume itself.
Sonoma Scent Studio Champagne de Bois: a walk in the multi-colored woods, shoving fallen leaves away with your feet and loving the sound and feel of it. (Chanel Bois des Iles is also in that category for me.)
Amouage Memoir Woman: Dark, mysterious, ever changing and unlike anything else, Memoir is unique and the ultimate heart-wrenching fall beauty that doesn’t close its eyes to the darker side of things.
Cuir de Lancome: pure elegance and sophistication that prefers cool temperatures to really shine.
Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur: an on-again, off-again heated love affair of mine, always on that thin red line between love and hate. Cuddly and repulsive at once. I hate you, don’t leave me…
Puredistance M: my husband’s signature scent. M smells like him, but on cold fall days that is exactly what I need, the next best thing to an embrace when circumstances make the real thing impossible.
Dior Privée Patchouli Impérial: like a best friend among perfumes, Patchouli Impérial is dependable, reliable and fun. It’s great to spend time with it and its color matches the trees outside.
Chanel Coromandel: earthy elegance and polished poise, Coromandel manages to unite warmth and sophistication. It shows you need not be distant and aloof, to be elegant and refined.
Ormonde Jayne Woman: an enchanted forest, a fairy-tale, an enigmatic companion on your journey though the day, it raises heads and questions, but despite its mysterious allures, it essentially keeps you safe and sound.
Take a look at the fall favorites lists of my collaborating bloggers Persolaise, Eyeliner on a cat and Fragrant Moments.
What are your fall favorites?
Olfactoria's Travels 
Let’s just say I can drag Mr. Serge L. from the back of my drawer together with some heavy winter clothes. Mysterious, colourful and dark at the same time. I consider these kind of perfume like some additional layer of clothes as they give me some special warmth. Many of the Andy Tauer perfumes will also get a chance to see the daylight ;-).
Lutens and Tauer – perfect fall and winter choices. I agree with your extra layer of warmth theory, nothing better than the embracing sillage of Ambre Sultan or Feminité du Bois.
Exactly these two ;-).
🙂
What a wonderful list, thank you. And guess what: I nearly included Lancome’s Cuir on mine. It’s heavenly stuff.
I see we both went for an Amouage. Surprise surprise 😉
Good Morning, P!
I’m glad you enjoy Cuir de Lancome as well, it is a true gem.
An Amouage seems to be included in any list of mine, what can I do? 😉
I love fall and enjoyed reading your list. I love warm and cuddly perfumes in the cool months. Some new perfumes in my closet that will be in heavy rotation this fall are: Guerlain Gourmand Coquin, Guerlain Shanghai, A Lab on Fire What we do in Paris is Secret and list could go on. Now I just need some warm tea, a fire and a good book…
Oh, I’ll join you in front of that fire. 🙂
Great list, thank you! Now I need to revisit Memoir Woman and get my hands on a sample of Champagne de Bois, they both sound lovely! Autumn used to be a time of scents with leather, amber, spices and incense for me. That has slightly changed, or better, enhanced, my sweet tooth is very dominant lately. So I am looking forward to wearing Iris Ganache, Arquiste’s Anima Dulcis, Gourmand Coquin, Mona di Orio’s Oud and Vanilla and the cozy powdery Hilde Soliani Io. Also, I am eagerly awaiting a decant of Une Voix Noire, a blind buy, which sounds very much like an autumn-y scent to me. Almost forgot, my favourite “autumn” roses, Incense rose by Andy Tauer and Lyric Woman by Amouage. The new Andy Tauer – Loretta, is another one, I am looking forward to trying (hopefully) soon, it sounds like the perfect autumn tuberose to me! ;o)
Cheers
Safran
Sorry, your comment landed in the spam folder (wordpress acting up).
Oh, I love the things you list here and I’m excited about your Lutens blind buy, I very nearly did the same. Un Voix Noire sounds very, very interesting. Can’t wait to try it…
Ooh, major swoon for Tonka Imperiale! It’s one of my favorite tobacco-ish gourmands. And OJ Woman is so perfect for fall as well. Lovely post, Birgit!
The cool air and Tonka Imperiale = heaven! 🙂
Oh, my sister in pessimism – I know what you mean… And while I love autumn until it’s like today – a lovely crisp day with weak sunshine and mild temperature, and that inimitable light (faded, but mesmerizing), one only can have in fall – I dread those November days with wind and rain and cold.
Well, for those days I’ll dig up my Vetiver Oriental from Serge Lutens, and my Vetiver Sacre from L’Artisan Parfumeur, and another vetiver, which will be launched on 1st of October first (;-) ) – those are my warming Vetivers.
Do you like Hermessence Vetiver Tonka as well? It is a very cuddly vetiver.
Let’s keep each other company on some of those harsh November days! 🙂
Will be glad to do so – but in fact, I hope we can keep each other company somewhat earlier already, than November … 🙂
Again a scent I don’t know – they’ll crush me to death soon, all those unknown scents out there !
I hope so too! 🙂
I know! Will it ever end?
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I feel ashamed because I don’t know a single one from your autumn faves.
I think that this fall I will be wearing a lot of my new Rose Anonyme, probably Prada Amber Pour Homme will be sprayed quite often (I love it every season)
Maybe I’ll use up my samples of Black and White Aoud from Montale…
And I will be using Eau de Gloire when I buy it in November.
No need to feel ashamed at all!
You just have great things ahead of you to explore.
Yoy’re totally right. But when I will return to university I won’t be able to be this much up to date as I am now
I’m so glad perfume has enabled you to see the joys of autumn. I feel exactly the same.
Your list is gorgeous. There’s something so appealing about the leathery, honeyed, incensey, woody, leafy perfumes that go so well with the season.
My favourites are all on your list – Bois des Iles, Cuir de Lancome, Botrytis and Ormonde Woman. OJ’s Ta’if is a nice autumn rose too. If I was lucky enough to own them, I’d also add Bois d’Armenie and Bois d’Encens.
I had these two on my list as well, but I had to keep the numbers down. 🙂
We seem to agree perfectly on cuddly perfumes.
Oh that’s too funny! 🙂
In thinking about this, I realize I have a ton of fall appropriate scents for someone who lives in a place with no autumn season! I have to go with Interlude Man for my number one (the smoke reminds me of the wood stove at my parents house and how we would always have the first fires in the fall) and then pretty much any of the Serge Lutens I own and Ambre Orient from Armani Prive. Memoir Woman is on my wish list too!
I’m glad you are not deterred to wear these gorgeous perfumes because of the weather in your part of the world.
Birgit I love the title of this post. I tried to come up with something but I had nothing 😉 I think we feel the same way about Musc Ravageur. I used to love that one but recently, it didn’t move me. I guess that happens with time. Great list. I must get my hands on Sonoma Scent. I have yet to experience it.
Thank you, Barney!
Monsieur Camus can always be trusted to make a great headline. 😉
SSS perfumes are well worth a try.
Heading over to your post now!
I love the leathers this time of year. Cuir de Lancome (hands down my favorite) and Cuir de Russie. Bois des Iles – it is scent of such beauty but with some loss lurking in the background (for me). Thanks for a lovely autumn post, Birgit!
You describe Bois des Iles very beautifully, Amy!
What a glorious list, there is absolutely no doubt that this is my favourite season. Plus Ginestet Botryitis jumps straight to the top of my ‘To Try’ list!
Botrytis is very much under the radar, I think it is very unique and just gorgeous! I have Tara to thank for it!
I’m right there with you on Puredistance M, Coromandel and Memoir Woman (if I had a bottle of Memoir Woman … oy, my lust for Amouage perfumes never ends). I’d add to that list Amouage Epic Woman, Amouage Opus VI, Caron Tabac Blond extrait, Serge Lutens Fumerie Turque, Serge Lutens Arabie, Serge Lutens Muscs Koublai Khan, Serge Lutens Boxeuses … hmm, I’ll stop. Civava is right – Serge Lutens has so many that are perfect for fall.
Oh yes, Tabac Blond is amazing in fall too! And Caron’s Farnesiana too!
I guess I need to smell Cuir de lancome, and probably own it, I want Ormonde Jayne Woman, and a few others. At the moment, it is Bois du Champagne (love) 🙂
I love these lists, and seeing where to focus on the fragrance spectrum, as it relates to the seasons.
I’m glad you enjoy the lists, I do too. There is something so satisfying (if agonizing) about compiling lists. 🙂
Cuir de Lancome is perfection.
In the past fall meant getting out all those perfumes that were on hold for the summer until…
Last fall I discovered two of my decants smell especially perfect in the fall: Vanille Insensee and L’Heure Fougueuse.
I recently got Memoir in a swap, so I’ll soon know if it will take it’s place in my list as well. (Lists rock!)
I can imagine L’Heure Fougeuse’s outdoor vibe must be great in the crisp air.
I hope you enjoy Memoir Woman, it’s very unusual.
My fall favourites:
Montale – Patchouli Leaves, Red Aoud
Serge Lutens – Chergui, Feminite du Bois
Teo Cabanel – Alahine
Amouage – Lyric Woman, Memoir Woman
Guerlain – Shalimar
Hermes – Hermessense Vetiver Tonka, Ambre Narguille
Mona di Orio – Les Nombres d’Or Musc and Vanille
Chanel – Coromandel
Oh, God, I love them all!!!)))
Wonderful list, Ellia! How could I leave out Shalimar??? (Well, probably because I shamelessly wear it year-round. 😉 )
so do I 🙂 but I never use it so often as during the fall period)
Reading over your list, I’m noticing that some of your fall favorites are my winter favorites, like Coromandel and Champagne de Bois; basically, all the snugglies. I think I set those aside for winter because it’s so long here (a good 5 or 6 months), and the comfort aspect is important. Autumn in the Canadian Rockies is an interesting season: mornings so cold you need gloves, mid-day temperatures still as hot as summer, not a lot of change in tree color because of the predominance of spruce and pine, and the season only lasts a month or two.
Because I’m about to face a long winter, this is the time I find myself craving scents that evoke that marvellous golden sun: Jour Ensolleilé is top of my list, and a newly acquired Golden Cattleya hits the spot too. My incenses seem to get a lot of rotation as well, since there’s something about September that has me contemplative and examining what I want to change, far more than January does.
Five or six months of winter is indeed very long, oh my.
I can see how comfort is incredibly important, you have a few excellent ones in there to do the job.
Thanks for reminding me of Jour Ensoleillée, it’s golden beauty should be worn now.
Dionne, we must live in the same area, lol! I’m in the city, 3 hours from the mountains. But the weather is much the same. The winter is so long and can get bitterly cold. I’ve never tried the scents you’ve mentioned, off to read more about them. 🙂
That would be so cool to have a perfumista who lives close to me! Melis, drop me a line at botoblog@live.com, and we’ll talk more.
So many good suggestions here,both yours Birgit, and in the comments. I completely agree that Autumn time is Serge time; I think Douce Amere and Rousse, and on the really cold days Fumerie Turque, and on the melancholic ones; De Profundis. Also Cuir Noir does it for me, then there is Wazamba, and Idole. Iris Ganache and Songe d’un Bois d’Ete (thanks to a special perfume fairy ❤ ) Ooh, and if I had a bottle of Tabac Blond, I'd surely bathe in it 🙂 That was 10! Scary, what about all the others?
It is too easy to end up with ten in no time. 🙂
So you like Songe du Bois d’Eté?
My fall picks would be warm, heavy, blanket-y fragrances like Boucheron and Habanita. I love how these smell while rising from warm flesh and diffusing into the crisp fall air. The contrast of warmth and coolness.
That contrast is wonderful indeed. 🙂
I wish I could feel the love for Amouage like yourself and others. Bought the discovery set recently but there is something common between the fragrances, except for Reflection, that doesn’t work well with my skin. I think I have it pinned down to the combination of rose and oakmoss. I am sad as I had hoped to adore them. I may have to plan a giveaway in the very near future!
I love fall too! Coromandel and Musc Ravageur makes it on my list. So does Serge Lutens’ Chergui and Tubereuse Criminelle.
The latter two are more summery for me, great for reminiscing about the longer, warmer days we have to leave behind…
Lovely quote! Autumn has long been my favourite season – and in the UK and Ireland it lasts a long time, with foliage taking its time about falling from the trees. I love the crisp weather, the smell of gently decomposing apples and plums, and the rediscovery of my cold-weather wardrobe – winter coat, cashmere jumper, proper boots and black opaque tights. And then of course the perfumes:
Chanel Coromandel (tho I do wear this in summer)
Cuir de Lancome
Fracas parfum
Since the weather suddenly turned chilly last week I’ve also rediscovered last autumn’s lemmings: By Kilian Rose Oud and PG Indochine. And Sycomore is great in this weather too – so I’m v keen to try out Vetiver Tonka, which sounds like an even cuddlier, more autumnal vetiver.
I love my winter wardrobe too, there is something so much more chic about boots compared to flip-flops. 😉
Great fragrant choices, Figuier!
When I lived in the country where we had winters (often nasty ones, I should add) I didn’t like autumns. But since I moved to North California where most seasons are very mild Fall is one of the best times of the year: I can wear my cooler weather perfumes AND holidays are coming.
I plan to start wearing all those beautiful amber perfumes that felt slightly wrong even in cold summer days. I’m testing more Guerlain perfumes. I’ll get out several leather perfumes that require more attention. It’s still really warm here but I’m looking forward to cooler weather and planning my Fall perfume wardrobe.
Northern California has a lovely climate, I wouldn’t want to live in LA, but the Bay Area or wine country… sigh, I think I’d love it there.
Some perfumes are just made for fall, aren’t they?
I bought a bottle of Cuir de Lancome a few years back and I get it out every autumn. This week I got some Alien Essence Absolou body cream and I now realise that they have something in common in the dry down. It’s not about sweetness, and I don’t like amber on the whole, but these both have a bit of scowl on.
Both are gorgeous scents, perfect for fall.
There is an Alien Essence Absolue Body Cream? Yum. 🙂
£22 and long-lasting. I like creams for scents that are sleepy. I can’t imagine a citrus in a cream.
That’s true, creams work best for warm florals and orientals.