Hi there Posse, Portia from Australian Perfume Junkies here with some fond reminiscences and fragrant life surprises. Back in the 1980’s my Mum and her friends were introduced to the idea of layering scent. Back then it was important to be hefty scent wearers and having your fragrance, gasp, fade away was like running nude through the local mall carpark screaming “I’m poor, I’m poor!” at least that was how it seemed t o extremely impressionable teen me by the way it was talked about. Many of them discovered and lived by the rule of fragrant layering for extra length of scent wear. They would use the soap/gel wash in the shower, body lotion and an EdT over that and then just as they left to go out a parfum dabbed back of neck at hairline and behind elbows. This was routine for them,
LAYERING! Amouage, Guerlain, Kiehl’s, Korres, L’Artisan, Paris Hilton
Photo Stolen Frank Kovalchek Flickr
So with that in mind it’s no surprise that I too love to layer stuff. My way is a bit different though because I rarely have complete sets of stuff so I have to mix and match. Here is a short list of some of the better outcomes I have with Guerlain’s Shalimar and L’Artisan Nuit de Tubereuse.
Layering Shalimar by Guerlain
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
I never really need to buy Shalimar flankers because I have my own different versions of it through my pre spritz choices. I have often worn Shalimar after washing and moisturising with Korres Japanese Rose bath gel and body lotion. It creates an glorious rosy patina across Shalimar, bringing to the front spicy, fruity rose notes that are not usually so prominent. It’s a fun and different way to wear the same scent. Bath & Unwind has Korres Japanese Rose Body Milk 200ml/$22
Similarly I have an Amouage Gold body lotion. It’s an excellent fragrance all by itself but the other day without thinking I spritzed Shalimar (recent but not current EdP) over the top and it is absolutely sublime. The skank of Gold lifts and dirties Shalimar, it increases the incense value and overall gives a very modern twist to my favourite fragrance. The pair also help to make my fragrance last all day. If you want to feel like Queen Of The World, this could be your ticket. I love that the Amouage Body Lotions are far more reasonable priced that the fragrances around $85/300ml at Beauty Encounter
Layering Nuit de Tubereuse by L’Artisan Parfumeur
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
One of things I love about L’Artisan is that they rarely last more than 4 hours. It means I can wear something in the morning and be ready for a change by the time I’ve had some lunch. There are times though when I need to keep fragrant beyond the regular 4 hours, if I’m working or going out with mates I don’t want to have to respritz through the night or carry a precious bottle in my bag or car, BORING!!
So I have two particular favourite body lotions that I love layering with Nuit de Tubereuse, for a dirtier, sexier tuberose that smells like it’s been madly and passionately made love to by a hefty musclebound tradesman after a long day at work then I use Kiehl’s Original Musk lotion underneath it. It’s still a beautiful fruity tuberose/jasmine fragrance but the amber is now joined by much stronger musk which creates an unusual and lovely depth. Keihl’s has Original Musk lotion $32/250ml
The other lotion I use under Nuit de Tubereuse is Paris Hilton’s Fairy Dust. In this instance the fruity white flowers of both work together in perfect harmony, as the Fairy Dust is a little skankier than Nuit de Tubereuse you’ll find it fuller, rounder and more of an alpha female/male fragrance. Instead of being a pretty wallflower Nuit de Tubereuse becomes a beautiful stand out glamour girl. Lasting power more than doubled so make sure you want to smell like this till your next shower. It is a sensational dry down too with Fairy Dust lotion adding a dose of patchouli that works really well. You can grab Paris Hilton’s Fairy Dust lotion $4/100ml from FragranceNet. It doesn’t get much more affordable than that.
Nuit de Tuereuse and Shalimar samples are both available from Surrender To Chance
So tell me about your non matching layering surprises please? I love to read new and improved frag wearing ways.
Anyone caught in the deep freeze, good luck. I hope you are all OK.
Portia xx
Hi there Tara,
That does sound like an excellent layer. I like the JPGII, and you say the oil is good? Hmmmmmm
Portia x
Ooh, need to get me some of that Amouage body lotion!
My favourite layering is using the JP Gaultier2 massage oil under L’Artisan Parfumeur Timbuktu. Sweetens it up and gets compliments every time.
Gold and Shalimar together sound fantastic. And I definitely want to feel like the Queen of the World!
Hi there FearsMice,
Feeling like Queen of the World is cool. This is a ticket to ride. Please come back and tell me how you used your power.
Portia xx
note to self: must try Korres bath products–they look tempting. I highly recommend layering Shalimar with one of the Ode a la Vanille flankers (the Mexique is much easier to find).
Hi there Caroline,
Use both the scents at once or do a Mexican wash and lotion?
Portia xx
usually layer the regular edp over the Mexique edp, for a little more oomphy vanillic drydown
Aha! I will try it. Next order from Surrender To Chance. It sounds beautiful, thanks for the tip.
Portia xx
Howdy, poolside Portia! 🙂 I know hearing about it is getting old, but the Lush Rose Jam shower gel has worked nicely under many rose-laden scents that I’ve tried: Safran Troublant, Lyric Woman and several others whose names escape me. Need to find a good lotion/cream to go under though.
Ann,
I am hearing so much about the LUSH Rose Jam. So many people have been bowled over by its beauty. SERIOUS lemming indeed. I have a LUSH nearby and keep forgetting to grab some. it never gets old reading about good stuff.
Portia x
As one who only ventures to our local mall once a year before Christmas, I was stunned yesterday (yes, yes, after C I know but I had to return something!) to find a LUSH store slap bang in the middle of it! With echoes of “LUSH Rose Jam – the bloggers say I *must* get it” shrieking in my head, I ventured forth amidst the fascinating piles of brightly colored bubble bombs and soaps, only to discover that the Holy Grail of gels was a Christmas special and gone, gone, GONE!! “Where you here before Christmas?” I stupidly asked. Well of course they were. I managed to stop myself from asking why didn’t I even notice the store on my pre-Yule visit, not wanting to sound like a complete twit. So I came away Jamless but clutching a bag of Crème Anglaise body cream and 2 shower gels – The Olive Branch (citruses) and Flying Fox (jasmine and honey).
Back in the day when I singlehandedly kept YSL afloat with purchases of Opium, I was a layering maniac – body wash, body cream, powder, parfum. OMGOMG you smelled me coming from 3 blocks away, which was the thing then. (Now I don’t wear much Opium, even though it was my signature for many years, as its way too heady.) I don’t layer much either, although I do have some body creams – Shalimar, Samsara, Amouage Gold. I also make my own with unscented lotion and a few drops of perfume.
BUT now I have read this great article. Portia, I think I might venture more into the layering world. I wonder what would be a good perfume to try with my new LUSH purchases? Oh, and I wonder if you will have better luck getting the Rose Jam, Portia, in Oz??
There is a 500ml Rose Jam Shower Gel or the Perfume left here in Sydney Sally M. Want them?
Portia xx
Am I too late??? Can I email you? I’ll go through APJ!!
I didn’t even know there was such a thing as Fairy Dust – must investigate (and yes, I stomped on my own NO SNOBBERY edict for just a minute there. Then I remembered that, fwiw, I would give an ankle for Paris Hilton’s life. And so would everybody else. You know you would 😉
xoxoxA
Musette,
Paris hilton is a very good businesswoman. She has been quiet on the Oz front lately but it still going gangbusaters through a lot of Asia. Such perserverence deserves rewards, I like her and yes her life would be incredible.
Portia xx
Amouage lotion, what a great idea, I’ll bet they’re wonderful. And Portia, I never would have thought to layer rose under Shalimar although I’ve worn vanilla lotion several times. Yves Rocher vanilla lotion is great stuff. Both of my favorite layering scents came from March, here at the Posse. I wrote to her years ago for a recommendation of a woodsy scent and she turned me onto Coty Wild Woods, which is great with lots of things when I want to boost the base notes or tone down sweetness. In a post, March called L’Artisan Passage d’Enfer an all purpose fragrance enhancer and that’s true; something about the clean yet ashy incense smells great with lots of things and a blend I wear quite often is PdE, Wild Woods and Kiehl’s Musk.
that March! 😀
xoxoxoxoA
WOW! That reads like a super blend. Kiehl’s Musk is an excellent base for heaps of stuff. I will look now for Wild Woods too. March, mmmmmmm Such a lovely princess.
Portia xx
Shalimar is my favorite fragrance too, and I like to layer it sometimes with simple citrus colognes, such as Divine Bergamote, specially on a warm day. Or, to take a different route, I also tend to layer It with the vanilla extract I made. Today it’s way too hot, though! Wearing Eau d’Hadrien and waiting for the tropical storm.
Heya Solanace,
Yes I love putting a simple vanilla under Shalimar too, it can burnish the scent beautifully, like the Vanille de….. range that Guerlain has been doing with Shalimar but WAY CHEAPER and easier. Sometimes the Vanilla Oil goes well with it.
Portia xxx
Am I the only one having trouble getting past being wildly and passionately made love to by the hefty musclebound tradesman?
I am not generally successful when I layer different scents, but I do love to layer within a fragrance via lotions and powders. I am a major powder ho, which I ascribe to being Southern and raised without air conditioning. (Or electricity, for that matter!)
I did one time have a great combination of a different scent on each wrist, but I can’t recall which two they were at the moment, because…hefty, musclebound tradesman.
…I’m sorry, were we talking about fragrance here? I got distracted.
🙂
drooool…..
You guys are SO FREAKING FUNNY! I am siting here chuckling like an idiot. Thanks
Portia xx
Before I really got going with my perfume collection, more often than not, when I did get perfume, I did get the matching bath stuff to go with it. My ultimate favorite soap and lotions is CK Obsession. I don’t care who turns their nose up at Obsession, it’s great if you use it in small doses or the body wash alone can last you. I’ve tried layering Sarrasins with Chene and that didn’t end well. I’ve layered Mitsouko with No. 19 and that was somewhat OK but Mitsouko is a prima donna and doesn’t like to be layered. So I don’t layer my perfumes.
Oh, I love Obsession. I never wore it, because my best friend has worn it as her signature ever since it came out, but I think it’s a great fragrance.
It was my best friend’s signature back in the day so I never wore it. Now I love it, 30 years later. The lotion is gorgeous, too.
Mitsouko is a toughie, I agree – but you know what goes well with Mitz? Jergens. Really. Try it.
xoxoxoA
ps. NO SNOBBERY! Remember? 😉 Besides, Obsession is beautiful.
Yes, yes, Obsession is lovely in small doses, no matter what anyone says. I didn’t wear it much, though, because Must de Cartier had come out prior to that and it was fairly similar, at least the original was, back then.
I still love Obsession Men. Even the reformulation smells good to me. I think I wrote on the Posse a while back about smelling some woman at the check out of a grocery store and asking her what smelled so good, Obsession. She was thrilled to be asked and embarrassed to reply, she sure smelled fabulous though.
Portia xx
Portia, Do you think that you could layer with something without scent to make the frag last longer?
In the winter, I need to use Vaseline just to get my perfumes (except the Amouages) to get them to stick around because I’ve got dry skin. If you got oily skin, a regular “unscented” lotion will do.
Hi there Ellen,
One of the APJ writers got me onto ULTRABALM from LUSH. It has a slight scent that takes a couple of minutes to burn off. If you apply straight after your bath/shower and then spritz just before you get dressed of the scent will have a great surface that will grab it and give it a longer life, up to double with certain easily lost beauties.
Portia xx
Thank you for the lovely ideas! I really enjoy some of the Amouage scents, but hate the prices. The lotion may be a nice option. And, since we are in the heart of winter now where I am, I’m desperate for good lotions.
Hi Spiker,
Yes, the Amouages will do the trick and they are so fragrant you need hardly any.
I hope you aren’t in deep freeze areas.
Portia xx
Portia, we are ALL of us in the deep freeze area! 😛 (Last I heard, even the SoCalis are getting down into the 30s at night, which means half of them are probably calling in sick from work!)
Hey Tammy,
Sorry I was less than pointed. Yes, if you are in North America then good luck. I think Europe is merely cool and Asia not so bad, South America is summer. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
He He he I think the So Cols are not so soft. He he he, You have made me laugh.
Portia xx
I love layering my fragrances! I find that it creates a whole new scent and makes it last much longer on my skin! My favourite combo is vintage Calvin klein Obsession layered with Omnia Madera – Yumm!!!
Hi there Amarah,
Nice to see you at the Posse. I don’t even know this Omnia Madera, please tell me more.
Portia xx